André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a Macanese'This was the one race he wanted'
John Carney. ''The Standard''. 20 November 2000.

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

driver who is best known for winning his home F3 Grand Prix in 2000 and Japan's Super GT GT300 Championship in 2015.

Career

Early years

André Couto was born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

but moved to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

with his family when he was four. He started his career in Karting in

influenced by the popular

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

and friends who competed in the local Karting championship. He rapidly enjoyed success and started competing and winning in international level. He moved to racing cars in 1995 where he competed in European

Formula Opel Lotus In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

(Winning a round in the

Estoril Circuit The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company Pa ...

). 1995 was also the debut year in the

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

event of the

where he briefly led after a duel with race winner

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...

Formula Three

Couto competed in German

in 1996 before moving to the Italian series in 1997, where he finished the season as runner-up in the championship.

2000 Macau Grand Prix

He competed in the F3

six times, eventually winning it in 2000, after India's

Narain Karthikeyan Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (born 14 January 1977) is an Indian racing driver. He was the first Indian driver to compete in Formula One. He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He has won multiple races in A1GP, British F3, ...

, 24, and Japan's

Takuma Sato , nicknamed "Taku", is a Japanese professional racing driver. Sato is a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the event in 2017 and 2020. He was the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the twentieth driver to win th ...

, 23, crashed out of contention in leg one. Couto, driving for Opel Team BSR and starting second on the grid for the decider, took the lead immediately and fought off the intentions of

Paolo Montin Paolo Montin (born 8 November 1976) is an Italian racecar driver. Career Montin finished 2nd in the Italian Formula 3 championship in 1998 driving for Team Ghinzani with 1 win and 113 points. He raced for the team at the Macau GP in the same sea ...

, 24, and Japan's

Ryo Fukuda Ryo may refer to: * Ryō, a gold currency unit in pre-Meiji Japan Shakkanhō system * Ryō (actress) (born 1973), Japanese model, actress, and singer * Ryō (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Ryo, Georgia, an unincorporated community i ...

, 21. When Robert Lechner crashed with two laps to go, the safety car was called out and the drivers drove in formation behind it to the chequered flag. It marked the first time a Macanese driver has won the Formula 3 race title. Couto's win was a surreal experience for many but for Couto's father, Carlos, it was the proudest moment of his life. "This was the one race Andre always wanted to win," he said. "He was born in

but we moved back to Macau when he was four. My wife Isabel and I have now lived in Macau for many years. Isabel was born here and all her family is from here. This will always be Andre's home. He speaks fluent Cantonese like most Portuguese people living here. He is a Macau citizen; it is what he wanted. We've lived here happily for many years. Today is a special day for everyone in Macau."

Formula 3000

Couto graduated to

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and stayed there for

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Although he scored points on several occasions, he never achieved any great success. His best result was third place at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

in 2000.

An assortment of drives

After leaving F3000 and winning the

event in 2000, Couto competed in the

Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...

Championship in 2001 and competed in some races of the

All-Japan GT Championship Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

. For 2002 he moved to the

World Series by Nissan The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

, and finished seventh in the championship.

Touring car racing and sports car racing

Since 2003, Couto has competed frequently in the

Guia Race of Macau The WTCR Race of Macau, previously Guia Race of Macau and WTCC Guia Race of Macau, is an international touring car race, and currently a round of the World Touring Car Cup. It is held on the temporary 6.2 km Guia Circuit on the streets of Ma ...

as part of the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World T ...

(ETCC) and later the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

. He has competed at the race on different cars and teams:

Alfa Romeo 156 The Alfa Romeo 156 (Type 932) is a compact executive car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It was introduced at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show as the replacement for the Alfa Romeo 155. The 156 received a positive recep ...

and

Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. ...

(for

N.Technology N.Technology is an Italian auto racing team, founded by Mauro Sipsz and Monica Bregoli. Team history N.Technology (originally named Nordauto Squadra Corse or Team Nordauto) were set up to manage the worldwide sporting activities of the Fiat Gro ...

), and

SEAT León The SEAT León (), also spelled Leon in some other languages (named after the city of León, which also means "Lion" in Spanish), is a hatchback compact car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since October 1999.ETKA The first two León ...

(for

SEAT Sport Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the mi ...

and

Sunred is a Japanese manga created by Makoto Kubota. It started serialization on Square Enix's seinen manga magazine ''Young Gangan'' from December 3, 2004 to December 19, 2014. An anime adaptation produced by AIC A.S.T.A. aired from October 3 ...

), Since 2005, Couto has competed in the

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

Championship in the GT500-class

Lexus SC430 The is a grand tourer that was retailed by Lexus (a luxury vehicle division of Toyota), and built from 1991 until 2010. It features a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive design and seating for up to four passengers. The first-generation SC debuted as ...

, initially for

SARD is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts. History The company was formed in 1972 as Sigma Automotive Co., Ltd by Shin Kato to develop and ...

and in 2011 for Kraft. In November 2015, racing alongside his teammate

Katsumasa Chiyo is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and t ...

, André Couto was crowned the GT 300 champion with one round to go into the Super GT championship. He dedicated the victory to a “special one”, his late son Afonso, who succumbed to leukemia in 2010. Couto's GT300 title victory in 2015 made him the first foreign driver to win the GT300 drivers championship title and the only one to do so until

João Paulo de Oliveira João Paulo Lima de Oliveira (born 13 July 1981) is a Brazilian professional racing driver currently competing in the Japanese Super GT series. He won the Super GT GT300 class championship in both 2020 and 2022 and the Formula Nippon championship ...

achieved a similar feat in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. Since Chiyo missed two rounds due to other obligations, Couto is also the first driver to win a

driver's title on their own since both

Ryo Michigami is a Japanese racing driver. Currently he is driving a Honda NSX GT3 Evo for Modulo Drago Corse in Super GT. He won the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in 2000. He competed in the GT500 category of the Super GT series in 1995 and t ...

and

Hideo Fukuyama is a Japanese racing driver. A former competitor at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he attempted to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in the early 2000s, but only qualified for four races before leaving the series. He was the first Japanese dri ...

. On 8 July 2017, André Couto was seriously hurt after crashing his Nissan GT-R GT3 in the

China GT Championship China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

race at

Zhuhai International Circuit Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) (simplified Chinese: 珠海国际赛车场; traditional Chinese: ) is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China. Motorsport started in Zhuhai when it hosted a race on its street circ ...

. He was taken to Sun Yat-sen University No.5 Hospital in Zhuhai for a CT scan that revealed a fracture to his L1 vertebra. He was then air lifted to

Canossa Hospital Canossa Hospital (Caritas) () is a private Catholic Community hospital in Hong Kong. Overview and history Canossa Hospital was founded by the Canossian Daughters of Charity in 1929. The original building with 16 beds was destroyed during Worl ...

in Hong Kong for an operation. Couto's father, Carlos, said that his son was not in a life-threatening situation.

Personal life

Couto had a son, Afonso, who was diagnosed with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in November 2009. Several of his fellow WTCC drivers have carried stickers on their cars in the 2010 WTCC season to promote a website which is trying to find a suitable

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

donor. The GT Association and all teams of

also launched a campaign towards bone marrow donation. A suitable bone marrow for Afonso was found on 9 May 2010 in Germany and his operation was successfully completed on 20 May 2010. Afonso died on 3 November 2010 from

treatment complications. He had been in the hospital for two weeks.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula Nippon results

(

)

Complete JGTC/Super GT results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

*André Couto career statistics a
driverdb.com
retrieved 11 November 2006.

External links

Official website (under construction)
2009-10-25)
Save Afonso
(Couto's son)

(News of Afonso's death) {{DEFAULTSORT:Couto, Andre Living people 1976 births Portuguese racing drivers Macau racing drivers Macau people of Portuguese descent International Formula 3000 drivers Formula Nippon drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers Super GT drivers Karting World Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers Opel Team BSR drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Phoenix Racing drivers