Nicolás Baptiste Velasco (born 31 October 2005) is a Colombian

racing 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 organise ...

set to compete in the 2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship for

BN Racing HMD Motorsports (formerly BN Racing) is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and Indy Lights series. The team is owned by Henry Malukas. Road to Indy (2017–present) USF2000 and Pro Mazda The team entered the USF2000 series in 2017 runn ...

. He previously competed in the

2022 Formula Regional European Championship The 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across Europe. The championship features a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in ...

for FA Racing.

Career

Karting

Baptiste debuted in karting at the age of nine and started karting competitively two years later in 2016. His highest ranking in a karting competition would be eighth in the Colombia Rotax Max Challenge. He took part in the European Championship in 2020, ending up 60th in the standings.

Formula 4

2020

Baptiste made his single-seater debut during the penultimate round of the

2020 F4 Spanish Championship The 2020 F4 Spanish Championship was the fifth season of the Spanish F4 Championship. It was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations, taking place in Spain. Th ...

, a week after his 15th birthday. He took part in one weekend, the Jarama round, and finished 14th and two twelfth places in the races. Two weeks later, Baptiste made his debut in the

2020 Italian F4 Championship The 2020 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth was the seventh season of the Italian F4 Championship. Gabriele Minì won the drivers' championship in his rookie season while his team Prema Powerteam won the teams' championship for the fifth ti ...

with

Cram Motorsport 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 ...

for the final two rounds. He took a best finish of 15th and finished 27th in the championship.

2021

Baptiste contested the full

2021 Italian F4 Championship The 2021 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth was the eighth season of the Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was ...

as his main campaign, again with

. He scored his first points in eighth place during the second Misano race, and he was also the second best rookie. His next points finish came at the last race in the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

scoring a fifth place and placing the best of the rookies. Baptiste would not go on to score any more points and he finished 24th in the championship with 14 points, and ninth in the rookies'.

Formula Regional European Championship

2022

Baptiste stepped up to the

. He joined two-time Formula One World Champion

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

's team, FA Racing, alongside

Victor Bernier Victor Bernier (born 26 June 2004) is a French racing driver who currently drives in the Formula Regional European Championship with FA Racing. Career Karting Bernier began karting competitively in 2013, and won a number of national champ ...

and

Esteban Masson Esteban Masson (born 18 September 2004) is a Canadian-French racing driver who is the 2021 French F4 Championship, 2021 French F4 champion and currently drives for Campos Racing in the 2023 Eurocup-3 season. He previously competed in the 2022 Fo ...

. During his debut weekend in

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 ...

, he finished 16th and 29th. Baptiste ended very strongly during the final weekend in

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Flo ...

, he qualified a season high of seventh during the first race, although he would drop to 15th which was his season best result. The Colombian would finish 29th in the standings, the only one in his team not to score points during the season.

2023

Baptiste was expected to remain in

Formula Regional Formula Regional (FR) is an FIA-approved moniker for certified regional one-make Formula Three championships with the concept being approved during the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in December 2017. The first series under new regulations w ...

for 2023, switching over to

Saintéloc Racing Saintéloc Racing is a French motorsport team. It mainly operates in rally and sports car racing series. Current series include the European Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The team ...

. However for unknown reasons, he did not compete in any race.

USF Pro 2000 Championship

After a year on the sidelines, Baptiste returned to racing in 2024 with a full-time drive in the

USF Pro 2000 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 racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

with

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† As Baptiste was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship 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) ^† As Baptiste was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(

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

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

(

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

American open-wheel racing results

USF Pro 2000 Championship

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Nicolás Colombian racing drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers Formula Regional European Championship drivers Living people 2005 births Sportspeople from Bogotá Cram Competition drivers Drivex drivers FA Racing drivers MP Motorsport drivers Karting World Championship drivers 21st-century Colombian people Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers