Team
Target Racing Team was born in january 1997 to combine the many experiences in the best motor-racing categories (Formula 1, Formula Indy, Formula 3000), the passion and the spirit of enterprise of the founder, Roberto Venieri. You can find above a synopsis of the team’s major achievements from 1997, when Target started his effort in the italian Formula 3 Championship and Formula 3 Federale Championship, till 2002, a triumphant season topped by the victories in the Formula 3 Championship and Trofeo Csai F.Renault Monza under 19. The 2003 season saw Target establish his dominance at the top of the F.3 with a second “tricolore” shield in a row, conquered by Fausto Ippoliti who got two races under his belt. Also Omar Galeffi, in Pergusa, signed a win, in a week-end where the second step of the podium climbed by Ippoliti iced the cake for Target. In 2004 the romagna-based team started with two Dallara 304-Opel entrusted to Alessandro Ciompi and Andrea Tiso. During the season Ciompi left the team, but before the change he signed a pole position with Target.
2006 was a turning point for Target: the move from the Dallara chassis to the equally Italian SLC one, and the decision to measure themselves in a more competitive championship such as the German one. Target, in collaboration with the SLC technicians, devoted to the development of the cars, fielding Riccardo Azzoli and the promising Salvatore Gatto again, the duo that Target had already brought on-track in F.Azzurra. The results gained by both were interesting, but unfortunately budget problems hampered work done. After a 2007 season away from motorsports to focus on preparation, the Ravenna-based team was back in Italian F.3 in 2018, in a spec Dallara-Fiat series, with 2007 F. Azzurra Champion Salvatore Cicatelli.
The 2008 season featured the Target team, joined by Giuseppe Mazzotti's BVM, among the stars of the Italian series. Cicatelli established himself among the best national prospects by taking third place and the chance to test a F.1 Ferrari in the postseason prize test. In 2009, however, the Italian increased in terms of car counts and interest from the media. And Target-BVM focused on the run for title, eventually leading Daniel Zampieri to the ultimate victory at his F.3 debut. An outstanding result, confirmed by the second place of team-mate Marco Zipoli. At the end of 2009, Zampieri and Zipoli could test the F.1 Ferrari at Jerez. Zampieri was also chosen by Ferrari for the new Driver Academy program: another reason for pride for Roberto Venieri and all his staff. In 2010 it was another exciting season for Target-BVM. This time it was Cesar Ramos to secure the national F.3 title, a goal achieved in the season finale at Monza. It was a phenomenal satisfaction for the team based in Lugo di Ravenna, that had already extended its activity to the grand touring cars in the Trofeo Lamborghini. The results were great too because even in this category Venieri took home first place using the name Black Bull!
In 2011, there was a small big revolution. Target, always united with BVM, joined the World Series Renault 3.5 with drivers Daniel Zampieri and Sergio Canamasas. Roberto Venieri's team focused on the preparation of the powerful cars provided by Dallara, leaving the BVM headquarters to manage the F.3 cars, and continuing to field GT cars under the Black Bull banner. No more Trofeo Lamborghini, but Endurance races, with a Ferrari 430 lined-up in Blancpain GT and in the races organized by Peroni Promotions. In the World Series Renault, there were plenty of good results with Spaniard Canamasas capable of signing off a pole position in Budapest and scoring podium finishes en-route to an eighth finish. Not bad for a rookie team in such a high-profile international championship!
In 2012, the World Series Renault 3.5 operation continued in a double commitment that saw BVM Target line-up in single seaters and Black Bull enter the Blancpain Endurance GT. The drivers for the 3.5 championship were Italian Giovanni Venturini and Russian Nikolay Martsenko. The points finishes started to come soon, but Venturini decided to leave after only four rounds. Venieri then lined-up other drivers like Sergey Sirotkin, Tamas Pal Kiss, Daniel Zampieri and Davide Rigon, while retaining the services of Martsenko. At the end of 2013, the team called time on their World Series Renault 3.5 campaign, moving full-time to GT under the Black Bull banner. The team raced in the Blancpain Endurance GT, GT Italia championship and Coppa Italia Peroni Promotion races.
In 2013, the team entered the Italian GT3 Championship under the Black Bull Swiss Racing banner, scoring impressive results right away. The team posted second place in the series with Maino-Venturi. The following year, Venieri went back to single-seaters in the Italian Formula 4 Championship as Malta Formula Racing. Once again, the operation proved highly competitive scoring second place with Mattia Drudi.
The F4 presence continued in 2015 with youngsters Guzman and Kanayet, in addition to the return to GT racing, precisely in the European Blancpain Endurance Championship, with the Birzhin-Mancini-Mastronardi trio fielded in three rounds, at Monza, Le Castellet and Silverstone as Glorax Racing.
2016 was an extremely challenging season for the Lugo-based squad. In F4, under the banner of DR Formula Racing, Raul Guzman took third place (he was partnered by Petrov and Wohlwend) while more great satisfactions came from GT: running in the Italian GT3 championship, Black Bull Swiss Racing cruised the overall title with Gai-Venturi.
The debut in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe saw Venieri's team win the championship with Lind, again under the banner of Raton Racing, and they carried on to take home the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final too. In the wake of such outstanding results, DR Formula continued to take part in the Italian F4 Championship in 2017 with Petrov, Braquinho and Festante, while Gai-Rugolo-Venturi took second place overall in Italian GT Competition. In addition, Giannoni secured second place in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe in the Am category.
At the end of the year, Target Racing continued to endure a positive run taking first place in the GTX class at the Abu Dhabi 12 Hours with Lammers-Sereethoranakul-Al Azhari as drivers.
Another challenging but exciting season came in 2018. In the Italian F4 championship, DR Formula fielded Petrov, Morricone and Toth. The team took part in the Blancpain Endurance Championship for the legendary 24 Hours of Spa with Di Folco-Costantini-Delhez-Debs who eventually cruised to take second place in class. The team, running with Di Folco-Costantini, entered the full International GT Open championship for the first time. Last but not least, the commitment to the Lamborghini Europa Super Trofeo continued. Giannoni, Lind-Larsson and Boguslavsky-Shaitar ran in different classes with additional appearances by Forné and Atoev.
The 2019 season saw the end of the commitment to Formula 4, but at the same time, the team tripled its involvement in GT Racing. The year started with the 24 Hours of Dubai, as Target Racing, with Lind-Altoè-Boguslavsky-Herbst sealing the fifth place in the Pro-Am class. Target Racing then entered the Super Trofeo Lamborghini Middle East, taking the overall win in the Pro Class with Boguslavsky-Schandorff and third place in Pro-Am with Larsson-Ohlsson. The team also fielded an impressive operation in the Super Trofeo Lamborghini Europe with cars for Di Folco-Venditti, Giannoni, Vossos, Harkema-Bakker and Schandorff-Cecotto. Schandorff and Cecotto went on to secure first place in the year-end Super Trofeo World Final. Raton Racing by Target entered the Blancpain Endurance GT3 championship ending up third in the Am class with Lenz-Costantini-Forné and as a team too. In addition, it also scored third place in the 24 Ore di Spa with Costantini-Forné-Di Folco. Last but not least, Raton Racing by Target raced in the International GT Open securing third place in the Am class with Liang-Giammaria. The Lenz-Di Folco pairing took part in the series too, with Perera joining one race.
The 2020 season was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw all racing competitions start late. Thanks to its outstanding effort, Target Racing still took part in the Super Trofeo Lamborghini Europe and scored brilliant results. The Ravenna-based squad won the Best Team title for 2020 and cruised to the AM title with Mantovani. Target Racing also claimed third place in the overall driver classification with the Rossel-Di Folco pairing, and sixth with Guzman-Pavlovic. Target Racing carried on its technical partnership with Raton Racing, fielding a Lamborghini Huracan at the 24 Hours of Spa.
In 2021, Target Racing continued to race in the Super Trofeo Lamborghini Europe, to which it added a program in the new GT2 Championship promoted by SRO. Once again, due to Covid-19, the effort has been massive in terms of logistics in managing a double European operation. In the end, bureaucracy was brilliantly overcome by the team effort. Target Racing impressed on track by claiming third place in the Super Trofeo Lamborghini World Final with Guzman-Van Berlo. The same pairing consistently fought at the front end of the charts in the Super Trofeo events throughout the season, showing a high competitive level for the Lugo di Romagna-based team. The GT2 Series effort was equally important, with Target Racing fielding one Lamborghini Huracan.
The 2022 season saw Target Racing achieve many wins, podium finishes and satisfactions. The Ravenna-based squad lined up for a new endeavour in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia. The results achieved together with AB Racing were immediately positive. The team eventually secured second place in the championship with South African driver Keagan Masters, and claimed fourth place in the Michelin Cup with Francesco Maria Fenici. It was an exciting season for Target Racing, as the team also competed in the Super Trofeo Lamborghini. Lining up in the series again, Target secured second place among teams, third place in the PRO class with Teekens-Moretti and fourth place in PRO-AM with Petelet-Gvazava.
In 2023, Target Racing once again competed in the European Super Trofeo Lamborghini. It was a really successful year for the Ravenna-based team, as it secured the Pro-Am category title with Au-Schandorff in the Vallelunga Finals. Throughout the season, the pairing won race 2 at Le Castellet, the first race at the Nurburgring, and another victory came in Valencia. They finished off the job with a double win in the Finals held at the Roman circuit. Target made its voice heard in the overall as well with Soderstrom-Ali, who secured first place in race 2 of the Vallelunga Finals and starred during the season with several podiums, so much so that they finished in the top 5 in the final classification.