Nicolas Costa (born 14 November 1991) is a Brazilian racing driver who is set to compete in 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 ...

for

United Autosports United Autosports is a sports car racing team, founded by American businessman and entrepreneur Zak Brown and former British racing driver Richard Dean. In 2020, United Autosports became the first ever team to win the prestigious 24 Hours of ...

. He was champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil in 2023.

Career

Early career

Costa began his motorsport career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

in 2002 at the age of ten, racing in various championships in Brazil. He would go on to rack up fifteen championships over the course of seven years, and finish runner-up to

Leonardo Cordeiro Leonardo Santos Cordeiro (born 8 November 1989 in São José dos Campos) is a Brazilian racing driver. Career Karting Cordeiro made his karting debut in 2003, at the age of 13. In 2004 and 2005, Cordeiro became Champion of the Petrobrás Smile ...

in the national Petrobras Karting Championship in 2008. After receiving a scholarship from the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 1976, ...

in the United States, he made his

formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...

debut in 2009, making a one-off appearance in the MSA Formula Ford Championship in the United Kingdom. He would contest his first full season of car racing the following year in

Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...

's new

Formula Future Fiat Formula Future Fiat was an open wheel racing series founded in 2010 by Felipe Massa and his family. It was based in Brazil. The champion received support to compete in Formula Abarth. The category was founded in 2010 by Felipe Massa and his famil ...

series; his subsequent championship victory earned him admission into the

Ferrari Driver Academy Ferrari Driver Academy is an initiative from Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari to promote young talent inside its own organisation, with several drivers being selected and funded by the team, being under long-term contracts. Some notable former ...

, making him the first South American to become an academy member. After gaining the support of Ferrari, Costa moved to the European single-seater ladder for 2011, competing in the European and Italian

Formula Abarth Formula Abarth was an open wheel racing series based in Italy and Europe aimed at karting graduates. The inaugural season was in 2010, effectively replacing the Formula Azzurra. Abarth have taken over the supporting Project Youth initiative, tha ...

series for

Cram Competition Cram Motorsport (formerly known as Cram Competition) is an auto racing team based in Italy. Cram started in 1994 out of the Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. Th ...

. He would go on to finish ninth and fifth respectively in the two championships and was ultimately dropped from Ferrari's roster at the end of the year. However, he would remain in Formula Abarth for the 2012 season, moving to

Vincenzo Sospiri Vincenzo Sospiri (born 7 October 1966) is an Italian former racing driver. Early career In 1981, at the age of 15, Sospiri started racing in the Italian 100cc karting championship. In a karting career described by Michael Schumacher as 'dominati ...

Euronova Racing Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Srl (also known as Fortec Italia Motorsport, Euronova Racing by Fortec, Euronova Racing, VS Racing) is an auto racing team based in Italy. History After retiring from racing, Vincenzo Sospiri decided to collaborate with For ...

team, operated by

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, Jame ...

. His second-year campaign would prove far more successful, as he went on to win both the European and Italian championship titles over

Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto (born 24 February 1995) is an Italian racing driver who most recently raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for DAMS. Career Karting Born in Arzignano, Ghiotto entered karting in 2008, when he took the title in the KF3 class of th ...

. Costa also participated in the

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

' annual post-season test twice, driving for Carlin in 2011 and

Marussia Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...

Manor Racing Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited, trading as Manor Racing MRT or Pertamina Manor Racing MRT, was a British Formula One racing team and constructor based in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. The team originally started racing in 2010 un ...

in 2012, but ultimately did not secure a race seat. Costa moved to the United States'

Road to Indy A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

in 2013, competing on a part-time basis in the

Pro Mazda Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an Open-wheel car, open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on th ...

; after claiming four podiums in a part-time campaign with

Team Pelfrey Team Pelfrey is an American racing team in the F1600 Championship Series and F2000 Championship Series. The team is owned by Dale Pelfrey. Indy Racing League (1998–2000) John Paul Jr. replaced Danny Ongais as driver for the 1998 Indianapolis 5 ...

, he joined

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

-based M1 Racing for the following season on a round-by-round basis. After initial struggles in the first three rounds, a return to Team Pelfrey for the remainder of the season yielded better results, with a pair of pole positions and a race win at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

, plus three other second-place finishes, being enough for Costa to end the season fifth in the standings. Costa made his surprise debut in the

F4 Japanese Championship is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Singleseater Commission launched the FIA Formula 4 in March 2013. The goal of ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, rejoining Vincenzo Sospiri Racing (VSR)'s Zap Speed-operated team alongside

Takuro Shinohara (born November 20, 1994) is a Japanese racing driver from Yokohama. He won the TCR Japan Saturday and Sunday Series in 2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ...

as a junior driver for Lamborghini Squadra Corse. Despite a promising fourth-place finish in the season's opening round at

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

, Costa failed to score points for the remainder of his campaign and was replaced by fellow Brazilian Gustavo Myasava before the fifth round at Sugo. However, he would retain his connections to the team, taking part in a test in a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo alongside Shinohara at

Adria International Raceway Adria International Raceway was a motorsport race track near Adria in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. It was a permanent road course, the venue has hosted the FIA GT Championship, Italian Formula Three, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the F ...

in October 2015.

Sports car racing career

Between 2016 and 2018, Costa raced for Vincenzo Sospiri Racing and Lamborghini in various GT series, partnering fellow VSR protégés Yūki Nemoto and Ling Kang for campaigns in the

Italian GT Championship The Italian GT Championship (''Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo'') is an Italian sports car series founded in 2003 and organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) and the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (CSAI). It replaced a ...

Lamborghini Super Trofeo The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is an international motor racing series. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is the one-make championship organized by Lamborghini Squadra Corse. The series involves exclusively Huracán Super Trofeo Evo model cars in 3 cont ...

series, and the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec car ...

championship. He would claim the GTCup class championship in Italian GT in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and claim a second-place finish in a one-off appearance in the

2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia The 2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia was the inaugural season of SRO Motorsports Group and Team Asia One GT Management's Blancpain GT Series Asia, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars in Asia. The races were contested with GT3-spec and GT4-sp ...

at Suzuka, driving alongside

Sandy Stuvik Sandy Nicholas Stuvik ( th, แซนดี้ นิโคลัส สตูวิค; born 11 April 1995), also referred to as Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik, is a Thai racing driver. Career Karting Born in Phuket to a Norwegian father, Martin Stuvik, ...

. Costa returned to Japan to contest the Super Taikyū endurance racing series in 2019, driving a B-Max-operated Nissan GT-R GT3 for Tairoku Racing, and would finish on the podium at the

Fuji 24 Hours The Fuji Super TEC 24 Hour Race, also known as the NAPAC Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour GT, touring car, and production sports car endurance race held annually at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japa ...

with team owners Tairoku Yamaguchi and

Shinichi Takagi is a Japanese professional racing driver. He won the GT300 class Super GT championship in 2002 and 2019. Career Takagi made his debut in the All-Japan GT Championship (JGTC) in 1998, driving for in the GT500 class. For the 1999 season, he ...

Satoshi Motoyama Satoshi Motoyama (本山哲 - Motoyama Satoshi; born March 4, 1971) is a Japanese professional racing driver and team manager. He is best known for racing in the Super GT Series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGT ...

, and

Harrison Newey Harrison Newey (born 25 July 1998) is a British racing driver and the son of Formula One engineer Adrian Newey. He made his ADAC Formula 4 debut in 2015 with Van Amersfoort Racing. He also competed in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship The GB ...

before the team's withdrawal from the championship. He spent 2020 as a driver coach in Super Taikyū. Costa returned to his native Brazil in 2021, spending the next three seasons competing in

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

-based one-make championships. After competing part-time in the Porsche Endurance Challenge Brasil for two seasons, Costa moved to the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil for 2023. After winning the season's first round at

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 ...

from pole position, becoming the series' first debut race winner since 2018, Costa went on to win another six races and claim the championship title by twenty-eight points over four-time series champion

Miguel Paludo Miguel Paludo (born July 26, 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes full-time in the Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup Series. Paludo formerly competed in NASCAR full-time in the Camping World Truck Series, driving for Red Horse Racin ...

FIA World Endurance Championship

In February 2024, Costa was announced to be returning to the international stage, piloting a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for

in the

alongside

Grégoire Saucy Grégoire Saucy (born 26 December 1999) is a Swiss racing driver and the current champion of the Formula Regional European Championship. He will race with ART Grand Prix in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship. Career V de V Challenge Monopl ...

and James Cottingham.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Costa was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
‡ Team standings. * Season still in progress.

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

^† As Costa was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil 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 FIA World Endurance Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

American open-wheel racing results

Pro Mazda Championship

^† As Costa was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Nicolas 1991 births Living people Brazilian racing drivers Racing drivers from São Paulo FIA World Endurance Championship drivers United Autosports drivers Japanese F4 Championship drivers Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Formula Abarth drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers International GT Open drivers Euronova Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers Team Pelfrey drivers Cram Competition drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers TCR South America Touring Car Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers