Niccolò Antonelli (born 23 February 1996) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer who last competed in the 2025 Supersport World Championship for VFT Racing. He was the 2011 Italian 125GP champion.

Antonelli is not related to both fellow motorcycle racer Andrea Antonelli and the similarly-named Formula One driver Kimi Antonelli.

Career Junior career In 2010, Antonelli competed in the 2010 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, finishing eighth overall with 56 points. He scored points in all rounds except the first race in Germany. In 2011, then-15-year-old Antonelli became the Italian 125GP champion.

Moto3 World Championship San Carlo Gresini Moto3 (2012) The debut season for Antonelli in Grand Prix racing came in 2012, riding for the San Carlo Gresini Racing team. He showed pace and some consistency straight away, with two fourth place finishes in France and Germany as his best results of the year. Antonelli finished his rookie season 14th in the championship with 77 points.

Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 (2013–2014) Antonelli started the 2013 Moto3 World Championship with higher expectations, but pushed too hard and crashed too often. He began the season with four straight crashes and DNFs, finishing the season with six total, and only scored 47 points, enough for 16th in the final standings.

Staying with Gresini Racing, the 2014 Moto3 World Championship was much of the same, another crash-filled season for Antonelli, with a total of six crashes and DNFs. His season's best finish was fifth in Assen, with a pole position coming in the last race at Valencia, but only finished 14th in the final standings, with 68 points.

Ongetta-Rivacold (2015–2016) After disappointing seasons, Gresini and Antonelli parted ways. Racing for the new Rivacold Honda team, 2015 was the bounce-back year for Antonelli. After taking his first pole position the year prior, he took his first Moto3 podium and victory at the 2015 Czech Republic Grand Prix. Antonelli, who started the race from pole position, dropped to sixth on the opening lap but worked his way up the order to retake the lead on the penultimate lap, and held on to win ahead of Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder. He scored two third place finishes in the following races in Britain and San Marino, and added a second win later in the season at Motegi. Antonelli had a total of four podiums in the season, finishing fifth in the final standings with 174 points, in front of riders like Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, and Jorge Martín.

For the 2016 Moto3 World Championship, Antonelli was considered one of the title favourites, and started the season accordingly, winning the season opening race in Qatar. He would struggle throughout the rest of the season however, finishing the season with no other podiums, and two big crashes, one of which fractured his leg in Germany, causing him to miss a race. He ended the year 11th in the standings, with only 91 points.

Red Bull KTM Ajo (2017) Leaving the Rivacold Honda team for Red Bull KTM Ajo Motorsport, Antonelli was partnered by Bo Bendsneyder for the 2017 Moto3 World Championship. Both riders struggled, Antonelli finishing the season with only one podium, a second place in Japan, which amounted for more than half of his 38 points for the year.

Sic58 Squadra Corse (2018–2020) Being let go by the Ajo team, Antonelli signed with Sic58 Squadra Corse for the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, partnering Tatsuki Suzuki. Although not scoring any podiums, Antonelli had a better year, scoring 71 points, and finishing 15th in the standings.

Staying with Squadra Corse for the 2019 season, Antonelli scored his fourth and final victory in the Moto3 class in Jerez, and it was his only podium finish of the season. Following a crash in the San Marino Grand Prix, Antonelli missed the next two races in Aragón and Thailand, before making his return in Japan where he took pole position, but only finished the race in 12th. After being mathematically eliminated from championship contention, Antonelli sat out the last two races of the season in Australia and Valencia, to focus on rehab. Despite missing four races, he still managed to finish seventh in the standings, with 128 points, four points ahead of teammate Tatsuki Suzuki.

Staying with Squadra Corse for his final contract year, Antonelli was once again partnered by Tatsuki Suzuki in the 2020 season. Fortunes would be flipped however, with Antonelli having a woeful year, no podiums and only 40 points in the entire season, while Suzuki scored three pole positions in the first three races, winning a race in Jerez, and coming in third place in San Marino.

Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 (2021) Leaving Sic58 Squadra Corse and Tatsuki Suzuki, Antonelli would switch to Avintia Esponsorama Racing for the 2021 season. Antonelli started the season well, finishing third in the second race of the season at Doha. The middle of the season saw him constantly finish in the points, before his yearly recurring big crash in Austria caused him to miss two races, in which he was replaced by Elia Bartolini. He returned in Silverstone finishing second, before finishing fifth in Aragón, and another second place finish in Rimini, which was his tenth podium in the Moto3 category. He ended the year well, with a pole position turned 6th place in Misano, a third place podium finish in Portimao, and a ninth place in Valencia. Antonelli finished his final year of Moto3 sixth in the championship standings, with 152 points, his best tally since 2015.

Moto2 World Championship Mooney VR46 Racing Team (2022) In November 2021, following Marco Bezzecchi's promotion to MotoGP, it was announced by Pablo Nieto that Antonelli will be promoted to race in the 2022 Moto2 World Championship, for Mooney VR46 Racing Team, partnering Celestino Vietti.

The year was met with difficulties and he ended the season as the only full-time rider without scoring a point, finishing the year in 36th place out of 43 riders. His best race was at Spielberg. Qualifying 25th, a lot of falls raised him to 16th place, just six seconds shy of his first points. He was supposed to stay with the team (now renamed Fantic Motor) for 2023, but was unexpectedly replaced during the winter for Borja Gomez. Antonelli will race on the European Moto2 Championship in 2023.

Moto2 European Championship Team MMR (2023) In the 2023 season, Antonelli raced with Team MMR in the FIM JuniorGP Moto2 World Championship.

Career statistics

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Pts 2010 SPA1 SPA2 ITA NED1 NED2 GER1 GER2 CZE1 CZE2 RSM 9th 79

FIM Moto2 European Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2023 Kalex EST1 EST2 VAL1 JER POR1 POR2 CAT1 CAT2 ARA1 ARA2 VAL2 11th 50 Season still in progress.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Moto3 Honda San Carlo Gresini Moto3 23 1 0 0 0 0 77 14th FTR Honda 15 Moto3 FTR Honda GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 23 17 0 0 0 0 47 16th Moto3 KTM Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 23 18 0 0 1 0 68 14th Moto3 Honda Ongetta-Rivacold 23 18 2 4 2 2 174 5th Moto3 Honda Ongetta-Rivacold 23 17 1 1 1 0 91 11th Moto3 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 23 16 0 1 0 0 38 18th Moto3 Honda Sic58 Squadra Corse 23 16 0 0 1 0 71 15th Moto3 Honda Sic58 Squadra Corse 23 15 1 1 3 2 128 7th Moto3 Honda Sic58 Squadra Corse 23 14 0 0 0 0 40 19th Moto3 KTM Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 23 16 0 4 1 0 152 6th Moto2 Kalex Mooney VR46 Racing Team 28 20 0 0 0 0 0 36th Total 183 4 11 9 4 886

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto3 2012–2021 2012 Qatar 2015 Czech Republic 2015 Czech Republic 163 4 11 9 4 886 0 Moto2 2022 2022 Qatar 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 2012–2022 183 4 11 9 4 886 0

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts Moto3 Honda QAT 14th 77 FTR Honda SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL Moto3 FTR Honda QAT AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL 16th 47 Moto3 KTM QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 14th 68 Moto3 Honda QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 5th 174 Moto3 Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPNAUS MAL VAL 11th 91 Moto3 KTM QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 18th 38 Moto3 Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 15th 71 Moto3 Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 7th 128 Moto3 Honda QAT SPA ANC CZE AUT STY RSM EMI CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL POR 19th 40 Moto3 KTM QAT DOH POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED STY AUT GBR ARA RSM AME EMI ALR VAL 6th 152 Moto2 Kalex QAT INA ARG AME POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED GBR AUT RSM ARA JPN THA AUS MAL VAL 36th 0

Supersport World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Ducati AUS AUS SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA GBR GBR CZE CZE POR POR FRA FRA ITA ITA SPA SPA POR POR SPA SPA 17th 46 Yamaha AUS AUS POR POR NED NED ITA ITA CZE CZE EMI EMI GBR GBR HUN HUN FRA FRA ARA ARA EST EST SPA SPA 26th 13

References

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