[4] Tortelli made his world championship debut at the last 125cc Grand Prix of the 1994 season, just few days after his 16th birthday.
[5] He joined the Jan DeGroot-Kawasaki factory racing team for the 1995 season, winning his first world championship race at the 1995 125cc Indonesian Grand Prix and, finished the season ranked third in the final championship overall results behind Alessandro Puzar and Alessio Chiodi.
[11] The 1998 250cc world championship season was notable for the remarkable battle between Tortelli and the defending three-time 250cc champion Stefan Everts that, wasn't decided until the final round of the series.
[14] Tortelli won the final Grand Prix of the season to win the 250cc motocross world championship.
[15] Tortelli moved to the United States in 1999 and joined the Honda factory racing team to compete in the AMA Motocross Championships.
[16] After becoming involved in a first lap crash, Tortelli recovered to pass the entire field en route to a first moto victory.
[25] He showed surprising speed at the opening round in Belgium when, he traded moto wins with Everts.
[2][26] He later started Champ Factory in Temecula, California, a training school for young motocross racers.