Brancatelli's racing career began in 1973, in the Formula Abarth series. In 1975, he advanced to Italian
Formula 3 racing. Brancatelli entered 3
Formula One Grands Prix in
1979 with
Kauhsen (2 failures to qualify) and
Merzario (1 failure to pre-qualify). After his departure from Formula 1, Brancatelli went on to race in several
Touring Car series, with some success. He would finish 4th in the
1984 European Touring Car Championship driving a
BMW 635 CSi for
Eggenberger Motorsport. For the 1985 ETCC, Eggenberger switched to the turbocharged
Volvo 240T (while the championship winning
Tom Walkinshaw Racing would switch from their powerful
V12 Jaguar XJS' to the
V8 powered
Rover Vitesse), and along with
Swedish driver Thomas Lindström, Brancatelli became the European Touring Car Champion, winning six out of fourteen races (
Anderstorp,
Zeltweg,
Salzburgring,
Nürburgring,
Zolder and
Estoril), along with three 2nd places and two 3rd places. In
1986, Brancatelli switched to Tom Walkinshaw Racing where he drove a Rover Vitesse in the 1986 FIA International Touring Car Championship (essentially a renamed ETCC), but dropped to 12th in the standings winning only once at Andestorp. In 1987, he would again switch teams, driving a
BMW M3 for
Italian outfit CiBiemme Sport in the
1987 World Touring Car Championship where he partnered another former Formula One driver
Johnny Cecotto to win the
500 km de Bourgogne at
Dijon-Prenois. He finished eighth in the
WTCC while finishing fifth in the 1987 ETCC, also for CiBiemme, winning twice at Estoril and Zolder. The 1988 ETCC saw Brancatelli on the move again, this time going back to Eggenberger Motorsport where he would serve as a driver in the team's 3rd
Texaco Ford Sierra RS500 in a number of rounds. Brancatelli would also win the
1988 Italian Touring Car Championship driving a privately Jolly Club entered
Alfa Romeo 75. Other than his success in the 1985 ETCC, arguably Brancatelli's biggest wins in touring car racing were the
1985 Guia Race of Macau driving a Volvo 240T, and the
1989 Spa 24 Hours driving an Eggenberger Ford Sierra RS500 along with
Bernd Schneider (yet another F1 driver, this time a current one) and
Win Percy. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brancatelli also travelled to
Australia to drive in the
Bathurst 1000 touring car race, though success would generally elude him. His best finish was in the 1987 WTCC round, the
1987 James Hardie 1000 where he and
Johnny Cecotto would finish seventh outright and 3rd in class, though as they were the first registered WTCC drivers to finish the race they would receive top points for the round. His three other races at
Bathurst in
1989,
1990 and
1991 would result in two failed to finish and one disqualification due to a technical infringement. Brancatelli also raced at the
24 Hours of Le Mans on five occasions. His best finish was second place in the
1989 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a
Sauber C9 for Team
Sauber Mercedes, co-driving with ex-Formula One drivers
Mauro Baldi and
Kenny Acheson. His four other races at Le Mans (
1979,
1980,
1986 and
1990) all saw him fail to finish the race. Brancatelli would continue racing until his retirement in the late 1990s. ==Racing record==