Johnny Amadeus Cecotto, more commonly known as Johnny Cecotto Jr. (born 9 September 1989 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

) is a racing driver. He races with a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n license but holds both German and Venezuelan nationality. He is the son of former racing driver and motorcycle

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the you ...

Career

Early career

He began his racing career in

kart racing 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 fu ...

, then progressing to open wheel single seater racing. He competed in Formula BMW ADAC in 2005. In 2006 he raced in the German Formula Three Championship, taking one victory, and also in the

Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault, Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whol ...

. In 2007, he raced in the

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Euros ...

series, finishing eighth with three podiums. He returned to the German F3 Championship, finishing in third with two victories. In 2009 he raced in the

Formula Three 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 ...

for the HBR Motorsport team, before the team missed races at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. He then signed a deal to compete in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...

, partnering

Michael Herck Michael Herck (born 4 August 1988 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-Belgian retired racing driver. Career Early life Herck was adopted at the age of one and a half years by millionaire André Herck, a Belgian citizen born in Bucharest. Herck ...

David Price Racing David Price Racing (commonly referred to as DPR) is a British motor racing team, founded by David Price. The team competed in various forms of motorsport from their foundation in 1976 until 2008. The team was sold in April 2009, but continued ...

GP2

He joined up with

Trident Racing Trident Racing is a motor racing team that competes in single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 championship, which was Europe's second highest-ranking single-seater formula below Formula One. Trident is ...

for the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season, but was replaced by

Dani Clos Daniel Clos Álvarez (born 23 October 1988) is a Spanish professional racecar driver who was, in 2012, the test driver for the now defunct HRT Formula One team. Career Karting Born in Barcelona, Clos was a fairly successful karter at the IC ...

after the first round. He returned to Trident for the 2010 Main Series and scored his first championship points at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, but was replaced by

Edoardo Piscopo Edoardo Piscopo (born 4 February 1988) is an Italian racing driver. Career Formula BMW After previously competing in karting, Piscopo began his single seater career in Formula BMW USA in 2005, where despite missing the first rounds he fini ...

after sixteen races. Cecotto moved to

Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in International Formula 3000, Formula 3000/GP2 Series, GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. Super Nova first entered racing in 1991. Super Nova was a new incarnation of the pre-existing ...

for the

2011 GP2 Asia Series season The 2011 GP2 Asia Series was the fourth and final season of the GP2 Asia Series, and the second to be held entirely in a single calendar year. Season summary Rather than starting at the end of 2010 and running through the winter as with the pr ...

alongside

Fairuz Fauzy Muhammad Fairuz bin Mohd Fauzy (born 24 October 1982 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a Malaysian professional race car driver. Early career Fairuz started competing in karting events in 1994 before making the move to British Formula Ford at ...

, and finished fifteenth in the drivers' championship. For the main series season, he switched to the

Ocean Racing Technology Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased f ...

team and was partnered with Kevin Mirocha and later

Brendon Hartley Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his t ...

, finishing 24th in the championship. He switched to the

Addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...

team for the 2012 season, alongside

Josef Král Josef Král (born 15 June 1990 in Dvůr Králové nad Labem) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic. Career Karting & early career Král began his motorsport career in karting back in 1998, and during the following seven years h ...

. After a difficult start to the season, he suddenly hit form at

, taking his first pole position and race victory in the category. He also won the feature race at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

after his decision to start with dry tyres on a wet but drying track paid off. Despite also posting seven retirements, the season was comfortably Cecotto's best in the series, finishing ninth in the championship as a result. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

lacked the pace he had shown in the previous year and struggled with no podiums. However he was once again quick in

taking pole for the feature race, but he caused a first corner multi-car pile-up leaving him out of the race and banned from the following day's sprint race for causing the collision. Despite this he had his most consistent GP2 season with 10 points finishes ending with 41 points. He returned to

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

for

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he scored two victories and three further podium finishes but struggled in the latter stages, he would go on to finish a career-best 5th in the championship.

Formula One

Cecotto was confirmed as one of the Force India team drivers to participate in the young driver test held in Yas Marina Circuit, after the

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2011 Formula One season. It was held on 13 November 2011 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, a m ...

. In 2012, Cecotto took part in the young driver test again, this time with

Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Re ...

Formula V8 3.5 Series

In 2016 Cecotto moved to the Formula V8 3.5 Series with

RP Motorsport RP Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Italy in Piacenza. The Italian team won many times the EuroFormula Open Championship, becoming one of the most successful outfit in the series. In February 2022 the team assets were sold to Irish ra ...

. He won his first race of the season at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...

. However, after the round at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

he split with his team and was left without a ride.

Racing record

Career summary

† As Cecotto was a guest driver at

and was thus ineligible for points, but he did not start in both races.
‡ Position when season was cancelled.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

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

Complete GP2 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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

Complete Auto GP results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Position when season was cancelled.

Complete Formula V8 3.5 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cecotto, Johnny Jr. 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Augsburg German people of Venezuelan descent German people of Italian descent Venezuelan people of Italian descent Venezuelan racing drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers International Formula Master drivers Auto GP drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers GP2 Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Ombra Racing drivers Target Racing drivers Scuderia Coloni drivers Koiranen GP drivers David Price Racing drivers Trident Racing drivers Ocean Racing Technology drivers Super Nova Racing drivers Campos Racing drivers Arden International drivers Virtuosi Racing drivers Hilmer Motorsport drivers Carlin racing drivers RP Motorsport drivers Rapax Team drivers Italian Formula Renault 1.6 drivers German racing drivers Double R Racing drivers