Ricardo Sperafico (born 23 July 1979) is a Brazilian professional racing driver.

Career

Born in Toledo, he resides in a family of racers, twin brother of

Rodrigo Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' (Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last Vis ...

, and with two cousins,

Alexandre Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name "Alexandre (disambiguation) Alexandre may re ...

and the late

Rafael Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

. He began his career in Europe in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

. In 1998 and 1999 competed in

South American Formula Three Formula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable gr ...

and won the

Italian Formula 3000 Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

series in 2000, before moving to International F3000 competition the following season. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Ricardo, Rodrigo and Alexandre all raced in the series with Ricardo finishing the best, 5th, driving for

Petrobras Junior Team Petrobras Junior Team was a team in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, run by the Petrobras as part of their Brazilian drivers development programme. Named after Williams Formula One team then sponsor, Petrobras, the team was active for the three ...

. He finished runner-up in 2003 before taking 2004 off. In 2005 he competed for the rookie-of-the-year title in

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

, driving for Dale Coyne Racing. He had a difficult time coming to grips with the series, with no less than five different team-mates over the course of the year. His best finish was 8th in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Alexandre also contested occasional Champ Car events from 2003 to 2005. Sperafico returned to Brazil and competed in the

Stock Car Brasil Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the ...

from 2007 to 2013, with modest results. Since 2014 he has entered several editions of the Corrida de Duplas. He also drove part-time in 2018.

Racing record

Complete Italian 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 International Formula 3000 results

Complete Champ Car results

(

)

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperafico, Ricardo 1979 births Living people People from Toledo, Paraná Brazilian racing drivers Formula Ford drivers Brazilian Champ Car drivers Auto GP drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers

Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers Sportspeople from Paraná (state) Haywood Racing drivers Scuderia Coloni drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers