World rallying lost one of its great team leaders and strategists with this week's passing of Claudio Bortoletto. Andrea Adamo shares his thoughts on his manager, mentor and friend
Photography by Girardo & Co. Archive
Words by Andrea Adamo
Capo. I called him Capo. For me, he was always the boss.
He was Claudio Bortoletto. And for a few years, when I was starting my career, he was the big boss. But as the years went by, he became my friend. This week, we said goodbye to him. It’s life. But it doesn’t make it less sad.
Claudio was an incredible person, an incredible team manager. Now, you know me a little bit by now, you know I’m not going to sit here and say: “Ah, yeah, Capo was the perfect person always doing everything right…” Hey, he was a human.
When I was just a go-fer in Jolly Club in the late Eighties, he was already very much part of Jolly Club – he had been from the days of [Fiat] 131 and [Lancia] Stratos. Claudio was the kind of guy that walked into the room and immediately people had respect for him. He made sure everything was right, everything had to be perfect. When you took the car to scrutineering, you knew which trousers and which shirt you had to wear.
Adamo was a young mechanic when this trio were at the heart of Lancia's succeess: Ninni Russo (left), Bortoletto (center) and Cesare Fiorio (right)
I once got into trouble for leaving a bag on the seat instead of the floor of the service van. For him, when everything left the factory, it represented Jolly Club and Lancia and it had to be right. It was the same with the cars themselves, he wanted to make the best possible cars.
Watching as a young mechanic, you know, things like this they are really helping to shape your feelings and your approach to your career. I remember when I was winning in Monte Carlo [with Hyundai] in 2020. When we made this result, I went straight to Ninni [Russo]. Ninni and Claudio were the guys I remember so much from Lancia times and I was with the team when we won the Monte with [Didier] Auriol in 1992. This gave me such a big emotion in 2020.
Claudio was an intelligent person, really the clever guy and the incredible strategist. For me, the best result and the best rally would have to be Portugal in 1985. The Martini Lancia drivers were coming to this event, but they were withdrawn a couple of days before to focus on developing the Delta [S4]. Jolly Club ran Miki Biasion in a totip-liveried 037. He finished second, which was his best ever result in the WRC at that time. He was leading after the Tarmac stages, but then came the gravel and [Walter] Röhrl was coming past in the Audi.
Bortoletto had lit a fire underneath Biasion, pushing him to resist the charge of Röhrl's quattro to hold second in Portugal '85
Claudio was pushing Biasion and pushing him harder, Miki kept going. This was a great result from the mind of Claudio, he was strong. His thing was: “I’m not here to be liked, I’m here to win.”
Claudio was taking over the Lancia program in 1992 – remember when Lancia was officially pulling out and Jolly Club ran the Delta HF Integrale. They kept Martini sponsorship, but ran as Martini Racing. They won the manufacturer title, but somehow Didier [Auriol] missed the drivers’ despite winning six rallies from the first seven he entered. This was another amazing time for Bortoletto.
He was also running Carlos Sainz and [Andrea] Aghini in these Deltas the following year, but by then everything had moved on and without the development, without Lancia behind the car, it was coming behind. The magic had gone a little bit then.
The glory days: Bortoletto was running the show when Auriol narrowly missed out on his title – but they still won the makes' race even after Jolly Club had taken over running the Lancia program
After that, Jolly Club and Claudio was running Escorts in the Italian Championship and some other programs. It was sad to say, but the best years for Jolly Club had gone.
Claudio was always around though, always the smart guy. Whenever I saw him, we would talk a long time about everything. Like I said, he was the role model for me – I wanted to make everything perfect, like he did, and neither [of us] was so happy if it wasn’t this way.
For Lancia, for Ninni and for everybody from those days, this is a big loss. I send best wishes to his family and all of his friends around the world.
Ciao Capo.
DirtFish extends its own sympathies to Claudio Bortoletto’s family and friends.
Words:Andrea Adamo
Tags: Andrea Adamo, Claudio Bortoletto, Jolly Club, Lancia
Publish Date July 10, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/IpkrIS2J-Girardo_Co._Archive_538602-780x574.jpg July 10, 2025
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