Early career Bernoldi was born on 19 October 1978, in
Curitiba,
Paraná. He originally wanted to be a jockey because he liked horses but he received a
go-kart from his parents as a gift for his seventh birthday. Bernoldi gained the inspiration to drive from watching compatriots
Nelson Piquet and
Ayrton Senna. He began
karting when he was nine years old, and he won multiple regional and national titles. Bernoldi won the Brazilian Paulista Kart Championship every year from 1989 to 1991 and claimed title honours in the Brazilian Kart Championship in 1990 and 1991. He went on to finish third at the 1992 Paulista Kart Championship in Brazil as well as placing third in the 1993 South American Kart Championship and fourth in the 1993 Pan-American Kart Championship. Bernoldi travelled to Europe at the age of sixteen to begin his car racing career. The following year, he took in nine victories in eleven rounds and the title, before entering
British Formula Three with the
Promatecme team in
1997. He took his first victory at
Spa-Francorchamps en route to fifth in the championship, and also finished third at that year's
Macau Grand Prix. Bernoldi remained with Promatecme for
1998 to take six more victories, and he was able to finish runner-up to compatriot
Mario Haberfeld. He finished second at the
1998 Masters of Formula 3 and third at the
1998 Macau Grand Prix. His first choice was
West Competition alongside
Nick Heidfeld but was not signed despite running fastest in a test session with the team. in addition to also testing for the
Prost Grand Prix team in 2000. Although touted before the start of the 2001 season to be joining either Prost,
Minardi, or Sauber, Bernoldi instead signed a three-year contract to drive for the
Arrows squad with the option to extend his stay at the team for a further two years after his first season with them.
Formula One teammate
Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the
2002 French Grand Prix. Driving the
A22-
Asiatech car that had a small fuel tank to take advantage of the tyre battle between
Bridgestone and
Michelin during the
2001 season, He failed to score any points in 2001 due to the car's engine being unreliable and Bernoldi making driver errors, with ten retirements from seventeen starts, his highest finish being an eighth at the
German Grand Prix. At
Sepang he notably overtook
Michael Schumacher, having been passed by the German as he attempted to fight through the field after a first-lap incident with
Juan Pablo Montoya, although his driving in that race was criticised by
Allan McNish. Due to serious financial problems, Arrows were forced to withdraw three-quarters of the way into the 2002 season. Bernoldi thus again did not score any points in the World Drivers' Championship in the 11 races he entered. after a potential drive for
Jordan Grand Prix failed to materialise due to legal constraints. He also participated in a "mega test", held by
Alfa Romeo, with a prospect of driving for the team in the
2004 European Touring Car Championship. Despite this test, he continued in the World Series in 2004, and finished third overall, with another pair of wins. In mid-2004 he was named a test driver for
BAR, completing two tests at the
Circuito de Jerez in Spain, in order to prevent the regular BAR drivers having to make several long-distance trips. He remained with the team after these sessions, also undertaking tests of BAR's "Concept Car" (a hybrid F1 car with a 2004 frontal setup mixed with a 2005 rear setup). He remained BAR's test driver for 2005, but began to look for pastures new in 2006, participating in less tests for the now-renamed
Honda Racing F1 Team - although he did remain as official test driver. Although he impressed in
Champ Car during a test for
Rocketsports, his solitary race during 2006 came in Argentina's
TC 2000 series.
IndyCar Series For 2008, Bernoldi signed a contract with Rocketsports for the 2008
Champ Car World Series. However, following the reunification of
Champ Car and the
Indy Racing League, Rocketsports withdrew, opting not to compete in the new, combined, series. It was later announced that Bernoldi would drive for
Conquest Racing in the newly combined series'
2008 season. His best result was fourth, in the final Champ Car-sanctioned race at Long Beach. His best result in the reunified
IndyCar Series was fifteenth at the
2008 Indianapolis 500. A collision with teammate
Jamie Camara at
Watkins Glen lead him to publicly criticize the team, and speculation that he might leave them. A thumb injury ruled him out of the final two races of the season, his seat being filled by
Alex Tagliani.
2009–present For 2009, Bernoldi was the full-time driver of
Flamengo in the
Superleague open wheel series and also he ran a partial schedule in
Stock Car Brasil. He also competed in the
FIA GT Championship for Sangari Team Brazil, taking his first win at Paul Ricard. In 2010, Bernoldi raced in the new
FIA GT1 World Championship for
Vitaphone Racing, scoring the pole position and winning his home race at Interlagos. In 2011, Bernoldi continued to race in the series, campaigning a
Nissan GT-R for the
Sumo Power GT team. He also entered four races of the
GT Brasil, driving for
Ford GT Racing Team BMG. In 2012, Bernoldi drove for
Vita4One Team Italy in the
Italian GT Championship, followed by appearances for
AF Waltrip in the
FIA World Endurance Championship, before making his debut in the
International GT Open, driving once more for AF Corse in a
Ferrari 458 GT2. He also made his debut in the
SPEED EuroSeries, driving for
Team JD in a
Tatuus CN, whilst entering the
500 Milhas de Kart do Beto Carreiro at the end of the year. In 2013, he entered the
International Challenge of the Stars, run by
Felipe Massa. Bernoldi retired from motor sport in 2015. ==Personal life==