Ómar Julián Leal Covelli, commonly known as Julián Leal, (born May 11, 1990 in

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with ...

) is a professional

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 ...

from Colombia. He has also competed with an Italian licence 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 Eccl ...

Career

Formula Renault 2.0

Leal began his racing career in 2006 in the Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP series, scoring two podium finishes in seven races to finish ninth in the standings. He also took part in two races of the series the following year.

Euroseries 3000

The following season, Leal moved to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

to compete in the Euroseries 3000 championship. Driving for the Italian

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated i ...

team, he finished ninth in the Euroseries standings and eleventh in the Italian

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championship ...

championship, which ran as part of the main series. He continued in the championship in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, finishing sixth in the Euroseries after securing four podium places in fifteen races. In September of that year, he won the Italian Formula 3000 championship at Misano, beating both Fabio Onidi and

Nicolas Prost Nicolas "Nico" Jean Prost (born 18 August 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He most recently raced in the FIA Formula E Championship before quitting the series. Also, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championshi ...

to the title by a single point.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

At the end of 2008, Leal took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing at

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, driving for both Draco Racing and

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainl ...

. In December 2008, it was announced that Leal had signed with Prema Powerteam for the 2009 season. He had a testing first season in the category, with a podium 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 ...

being his only points–scoring finish, as he wound up 20th in the standings. In the off–season, Leal tested for both Prema and Mofaz Racing at the

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

and in December 2009, it was announced that he would drive for Draco Racing in the 2010 season, partnering

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

graduate

Nathanaël Berthon Nathanaël Berthon (born 1 July 1989 in Romagnat) is a professional racing driver from France. Career Karting Berthon began his international karting career in 2006, with the highlights being a third-place finish in the Copa Campeones Trophy I ...

. He again finished the season in 20th position after struggling to match his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

team–mate, with his best race result being a fourth place at the first race in Brno.

Auto GP

In March 2010, it was announced that Leal would also compete in the new

Auto GP 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 ...

championship, competing for the Italian team

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 ...

. He finished seventh in the final standings, with the highlight of his season coming at the penultimate round at the brand–new

Circuito de Navarra Circuito de Navarra is a motorsport race track that opened in June 2010 near Los Arcos in the Navarre region of Northern Spain. It is a permanent road course that hosted the Superleague Formula series and the FIA GT1 World Championship. Hi ...

, where he won the first race after starting from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

GP2 Series

In November 2010, Leal tested a

car for the first time, taking part in the post–season test at the

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina ...

in Abu Dhabi, and in January 2011 it was announced that he had signed with the Rapax Team to contest the GP2 Asia Series season, lining–up alongside Fabio Leimer. He had initially signed to contest only the Asia series, but in March 2011 it was confirmed that he would stay with the team for the main 2011 championship, in which he finished 27th. Leal switched to the

team for the non-championship season finale at

Yas Marina Yas Island ( ar, جزيرة ياس) is an island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a total land area of . It is a popular leisure island and one of the top tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. Yas Island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, w ...

, and remained with the outfit for the 2012 season, where he was partnered with

Stéphane Richelmi Stéphane Richelmi (born 17 March 1990 in Monte Carlo) is a professional racing driver from Monaco. He is the son of former World Rally Championship driver Jean-Pierre Richelmi. Career Formula Renault 1.6 & 2.0 Richelmi began his Formula racing ...

. He scored his first series points and finished 21st in the championship. Leal moved to

Racing Engineering Racing Engineering is a Spanish racing team founded in 1999 by Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. The team's headquarters are located in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near Jerez, where all car prepa ...

for the 2013 season, his teammate for the second time was champion of that year Fabio Leimer. He scored a total of 62 points, including two sprint race podiums leaving him 12th in the championship. 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 moved to British squad Carlin alongside

Felipe Nasr Luiz Felipe de Oliveira Nasr (born 21 August 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver. He is the 2018 IMSA Sportscar champion and won the 2019 12 Hours of Sebring. After a year as the official test driver for Williams in 2014, he joined Sauber a ...

. He finished on the podium in both races at the first round but ultimately would finish 10th in the final standings on 68 points. Leal continued with Carlin for

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 April ...

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Euroseries 3000/Auto GP results

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

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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

Complete GP2 Final results

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leal, Julian 1990 births Living people Colombian racing drivers Auto GP drivers Latin America Formula Renault 2000 drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers GP2 Series drivers Durango drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Draco Racing drivers Trident Racing drivers Rapax Team drivers Racing Engineering drivers Carlin racing drivers SMP Racing drivers People from Bucaramanga Sportspeople from Santander Department European Le Mans Series drivers