Mapelli began in single-seater competition, racing in Formula Renault 2.0 Italia in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, he moved to Australian Formula Three with Team BRM, finishing fifth in the championship and recording one race win. He also contested the International Formula Master series in 2007.
His move into GT racing began in earnest from 2010. He won the Italian GT Sprint Championship's GTC class in 2010 and finished as runner-up in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in 2011 with two wins driving for Ebimotors. He then spent two seasons in the International GT Open and four consecutive seasons — 2013 through 2016 — in the Italian GT Championship, where he finished second in the standings in 2015 and 2016, recording multiple race wins across those years.
In 2015, Mapelli was part of the crew that finished second overall and first in class at the Bathurst 12 Hour, sharing an Audi R8 LMS with Laurens Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock for Audi Sport.
Mapelli joined the Lamborghini factory driver roster in 2017. In 2018, he won races in the Blancpain GT Series Asia Pro-Am category and took a victory in the ADAC GT Masters. That year he also set the Nürburgring production car lap record, posting a time of 6:44.97 in a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
The 2019 season established Mapelli's reputation in GT racing. Driving for FFF Racing Team's Orange1 programme alongside Andrea Caldarelli in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3, the pair won both the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The combined points from both tiers of the Blancpain GT Series made them the overall series champions for 2019.
Mapelli continued to compete and win at international GT3 level after 2019. He recorded wins in the GTWC Endurance Cup in 2021, won twice in the ADAC GT Masters in 2023, and finished as runner-up in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup in 2024. In 2025 he competed in the IMSA GTD Pro class with Pfaff Motorsports. For 2026 he moved to the DTM, joining Red Bull Team Abt with ABT Sportsline.
Across 351 race entries in the DriverDB database, Mapelli has recorded 28 wins, 91 podiums, and 18 pole positions. The FIA categorised him as Silver through 2016, promoted him to Gold in 2017, and elevated him to Platinum — the highest tier for professional GT racing — from 2022.
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