Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian

racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, and has recently competed in various international racing championships.

Career Information

Single-Seaters' Years (2001 - 2006)

Rees was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. In late 2003, he was given a private test by

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

on the

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circuit of

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

. On December 11, 2003, Mercedes-Benz had organized a

Formula 3 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 ...

test among its official client teams of the

Formula 3 Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

. Only six drivers were selected to take part in the test: Fernando Rees,

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...

Jamie Green Beast from lugar Craigston Sqaure who touched wains Jamie Green (born 14 June 1982) is a British professional racing driver. He is currently employed by Audi Sport Team Rosberg in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) touring car championshi ...

, Bruno Spengler, Alexandre Premat and

Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also t ...

. In the single test day, Rees topped the time sheets driving the ASM Mercedes-Benz car. Later in the same year,

Ron Dennis Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...

picked the ASM Mercedes-Benz team for

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...

to drive in the upcoming

championship, and Rees was forced to look elsewhere to compete. After four years competing in the major single-seater categories in Europe (2001–2005), and having proved himself driving for the low budget team Interwetten.com in

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. T ...

during its 2005 season, Rees was awarded a test in the renowned

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

dream

Draco Racing International Draco Racing was a motorsport team. It was most well known for operating in the World Series by Renault, but had also taken part in Formula Opel Lotus, International Formula 3000 and Euro Formula 3000. Career Formula Opel Lotus E ...

in the winter of that same year. With more than 30 drivers on track, including 2005 season champion

, Rees lead the field in the demanding track of

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, with more than half a second gap to

Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williams (2011–2013) and Lotus (2014–2015) teams and as a Pirelli test driver until 2017. Before entering ...

, who emerged second. The test opened new doors for the Brazilian driver, and 2006 was a promising year. But in early 2006, at the Italian circuit of

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, Rees was unfortunately involved in a shunt during a Formula 3000 International Masters test day, under heavy rain, and was seriously injured. Rees had two broken vertebrae, three compressed vertebrae, a broken ankle, and other excoriations in both legs. As a consequence, Rees was away from motor racing for a period of 18 months - of which 12 months were spent under serious immobilization, and the remaining 6 months with continuous physiotherapy sessions.

Endurance Racing Years (2007 - 2015)

With his convalescence complete, Rees made his sportscar debut in the last

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

event of 2007, the Mil Milhas of Interlagos. Racing for

Larbre Compétition Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...

with an

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

, together with drivers Roland Berville, Gregor Fisken and Steve Zacchia, Rees took a clear win in the GT1 class after almost nine hours of racing. Rees decided to remain in the

for the following season. Rees made his debut in the

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...

class of the

in the second round of the 2008 championship, in

. In 2009, Rees signed once again with the Barazi-Epsilon team in the

class of the

. For this season, Barazi-Epsilon decided to run a two-drivers team, with Rees and Juan Barazi. But soon after the second race of the championship, in Spa-Francorchamps, the team announced its retirement from the 2009

championship because of financial problems. Rees was left without a team to race for the remaining season of 2009. In 2010 Rees returned to

in the

, the same team with which he won the Interlagos round of the championship in 2007 - at that time, driving an

. In 2010, after wins in the opening event at Paul Ricard, at the Algarve, and Hungaroring, and a fourth place in Spa-Francorchamps,

secured the Team's Championship with its Saleen S7-R in the GT1 category. Rees went on to win his third race in the 2010 championship at Silverstone, in the closure of the season.

also won the 2010 edition of the prestigious

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. After a brief hiatus in 2011, Rees signed with

for the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

in 2012. Rees drove the team's #50

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

in the GT-Am category, replacing

Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently racing in endurance races teaming up with Mathias Lauda and gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana. He was the fir ...

after the initial round of the championship at Sebring. Alongside his teammates

, Julien Canal, and Patrick Bornhauser, Rees helped

to win the world championship in the new FIA endurance series. In 2013, Rees signed once more with

for the second season of the

. Again, the team entered the #50

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette C5-R racing car, app ...

in the GT-Am category. Rees ended the season in 7th place.

Racing Career Stats

* 2012:

(Team -

) ** 4 races, best start 2nd (Bahrain, Race 6); best race result 1st (Interlagos, Race 5) * 2010:

(Team -

) ** 4 races, best start 1st (Hungaroring, Race 4; Silverstone, Race 5); best race result 1st (Algarve, Race 3; Hungaroring, Race 4; Silverstone, Race 5) * 2009:

(Team - Barazi-Epsilon) ** 1 race, best start 5th (Spa-Francorchamps, Race 2); best race result 4th (Spa-Francorchamps, Race 2) * 2008:

(Team - Barazi-Epsilon) ** 4 races, best start 2nd (Silverstone, Race 5); best race result 8th (Nurburgring, Race 4) * 2007:

(Team -

) ** 1 race, best start 2nd (Interlagos, Race 6); best race result 1st (Interlagos, Race 6) * 2006: Formula 3000 International Masters (Team - Pro Motorsport) * 2005:

3.5 (Team - Interwetten) ** 12 races, best start 5th (Donington, Race 2); best race result 14th (Bilbao, Race 2) * 2005: Formula Toyota Atlantic (Team - Brooks Associates Racing) ** 1 race, best start 3rd (Long Beach, Race 1); best race result DNF (16th) (Long Beach, Race 1) * 2004: Formula 3 Euroseries (Swiss Racing Team) - Formula 3 Euroseries tests with ASM Mercedes-Benz ** 2 races with Swiss Racing Team * 2003: F3 Sudamericana (Team Cesario Formula) - Formula 3 Euroseries tests with ASM Mercedes ** 12 races, best start 3rd (Interlagos); best race result 1st (Interlagos) ** Five third-place finishes, Sixth in Championship (did not compete in all the races) * 2002: Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup (Team RC Motorsports) - Italian Formula Renault 2000 (Team RC Motorsports) ** 9 races, best start 5th (Imola), best race result 12th (Pergusa) * 2001: Italian Formula Renault 2000 (Team Bicar Racing) ** 1 race, best start 7th (Misano), best race result 13th (Misano)

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series 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) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Karting Career Stats

* 2001: Karting in Italian and European Championships (

Birel Birel S.p.A. of Lissone (near Milan, Italy) started building karts in the late 1950s after many years as a bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-tra ...

Official Factory Team) * 2000: Karting in Italian, European and World Championships ( Danilo Rossi Racing Team) * 1999: Karting in Italian and European Championships ( Danilo Rossi Racing Team) * 1998: Karting in Brazilian National Championships and North-American Championships ( CRG Official Factory Team) * 1997: Karting in Brazilian National Championships * 1996: Karting in Brazilian National Championships * 1995: Karting in Brazilian National Championships * 1994: Karting in Brazilian National Championships * 1993: Karting in

Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings, built in the early 20th century ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Fernando 1985 births Living people Racing drivers from São Paulo Brazilian racing drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers Atlantic Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers International GT Open drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Larbre Compétition drivers RC Motorsport drivers Ombra Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers