Matteo Santoponte

Matteo Santoponte (born August 26, 1977 in Rome) is an Italian racing driver from Rome who has raced under the pseudonym "Babalus".

Santoponte competed part-time in Euro Formula 3000 from 2000 to 2004 for a variety of different teams. He finished 9th in series points in 2000 and 10th in series points in 2004.

8 November 2015 - Trofeo Pirelli World Final: Matteo Santoponte held off a late charge by Bjorn Grossmann to clinch the final win of the Ferrari Finali Mondiali weekend, becoming Trofeo Pirelli World Champion. Starting second behind Grossmann, Santoponte seized the advantage on the opening lap as his German rival ran wide into the gravel, taking a lead he would maintain all the way to chequered flag. But Santoponte could not afford to cruise in the closing stages, as Grossmann fought his way up from seventh back to second, falling only 0.7s short as the chequered flag fell. The final podium spot fell to Max Blancardi, who found a way by Florian Merckx after the pair had been passed by the recovering Grossmann, with Dario Caso completing the top five ahead of David Gostner.

Scarperia, 8 May – Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli:

The second round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli featuring diametrically different scenarios in the Pro and Am categories. In the Pro category, the star performer at the Monza weekend was “Babalus” who delivered a fantastic double victory thanks to superb driving and a little bit of good luck, sending him sprinting well out in front of the rest of the field. The Autoropa driver now looks down from his towering 44 points to the 19 of his nearest rivals David Gostner (Ineco-MP Racing) and John Farano (Rossocorsa).

Monza, 18 April – Ferrari Challenge Europe – Win for Babalus! The Trofeo Pirelli had the honor of officially opening the season with a race that delivered a whole slew of dogfights and thrills. At the start, Bjorn Grossmann managed to nip past the Italian Babalus who was in pole position, while Dario Caso hung on to third ahead of Florian Merckx. Just behind them, there was a bit of confusion in the pack. Thankfully, all the drivers managed to emerge unscathed from the first chicane, except for Maxim Lukyanov whose wheels went onto the grass, resulting in an ultimately harmless spin. Grossmann and Babalus then got locked into a one-on-one battle for the lead, which allowed Caso to catch up. Shortly afterward, at the Parabolica, Joe Macari and Stephen Earle’s cars made contact, ending the race for both drivers. On lap five, Dario Caso coasted up to the pitwall and retired, causing the Safety Car to come out. When the race was restarted, Babalus (Autoropa) was virtually glued to Grossmann’s tailpipes and, two laps later, managed to come out best of the Parabolica, slipping past the Octane 126 driver at the first chicane. Behind them, Florian Merckx was having no problem staying in third. Once out in front, Babalus put some distance between himself and Grossmann, eventually crossing the finish line 5”132 ahead of the German and 13”728 ahead of the Belgian Baron Service driver.

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