Bertocchi was born in Budrio on 29 October 1907. His younger brother Gino shared his vocation, also working as a mechanic. Guerino joined the Maserati factory early in his career and made his first competitive appearance in 1926, serving as mechanic and co-driver alongside Alfieri Maserati in the Targa Florio — one of the most demanding and celebrated road races of the era.
Over the following two decades Bertocchi's skill and reliability earned him growing authority within the company. In 1947 he was formally appointed chief mechanic and test driver of the Maserati Formula One team, a dual role that put him at the heart of the marque's racing programme. His responsibilities also extended to road car development: he tested production machinery including the exclusive Maserati 5000 GT, applying a competition-honed eye to the evaluation of customer vehicles.
The defining chapter of Bertocchi's career unfolded in 1957, when he prepared the Maserati that carried Juan Manuel Fangio to his fourth and fifth world championship titles. Fangio's reliance on Bertocchi went beyond professional respect: the Argentine champion declared publicly that he would not take the wheel of any car unless Bertocchi had personally tested it beforehand. The statement made Bertocchi one of the very few mechanics of his generation to be publicly named as integral to a world champion's success — a tribute that acknowledged his feel for a car's behaviour as equal in importance to the driver's own preparation.
Though his primary role was always that of mechanic and test driver, Bertocchi maintained an active competitive career in parallel. Between 1931 and 1963 he entered the Mille Miglia thirteen times, one of the highest individual participation tallies in that marathon open-road event. He also competed once each in the Targa Florio, the 12 Hours of Pescara, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His best result as a competitor came in the 1953 Mille Miglia, where he shared a car with Emilio Giletti and finished sixth overall.
His sole Formula One entry came at the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix, where he was listed as a reserve driver for Maserati. All of the team's regular drivers took their starts on race day, however, so Bertocchi did not race, and he never appeared as a Formula One entrant again.
Bertocchi continued at Maserati until 1971, when Citroën acquired the company and restructured its operations. He then moved to De Tomaso Automobili, where he led the client car testing department — once again applying the same painstaking approach to preparation he had practised since the 1920s.
He died on 13 April 1981. His career stands as a reminder that championship success in the pre-aero era depended as much on the hands of the men in the garage as on the talent of the driver in the cockpit.
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