Massimiliano Angelelli

Max Angelelli
Angelelli at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2008
Born	(1966-12-15) 15 December 1966 (age 50) Bologna, Italy
Nationality	Italian
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1994, 1999–2002
Best finish	9th (2002)

Massimiliano Angelelli (born 15 December 1966) is a retired Italian racecar driver. He won the 2005 and 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2001 Six Hours at the Glen. Also he was the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion in 2005 and 2013, as well as runner-up in 2010 and 2011.

His career began in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win was the 1992 Italian Formula Three title. Following that win he also raced German Formula Three (1993–1995), Macau Grand Prix for Formula 3 (1996), FIA GT Championship (1997–1998) and American Le Mans Series (1999–2002).

Angelelli is nicknamed the Axe because he has a knack of closing up and "chopping" off seconds behind the leader quickly in a race to set himself up to make a clean pass for the win.

Angelelli had a banner year in 2005. Angelelli and teammate Wayne Taylor won the 24 Hours of Daytona and captured the 2005 Grand American Daytona Prototype championship.

Angelelli was selected to run in the 2006 IROC series in America, along with teammate Wayne Taylor, becoming the first tandem in IROC history.

Angelelli is also known for being the safety car driver in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna followed Angelelli's safety car for 5 laps before his fatal accident.