Christian Fittipaldi

Christian Fittipaldi
Fittipaldi in 2006, as a Stock Car Brasil driver
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Born (1971-01-18) 18 January 1971 (age 52)
São Paulo, Brazil
Related toWilson Fittipaldi (father)
Emerson Fittipaldi (uncle)
Pietro Fittipaldi (first cousin once-removed)
Enzo Fittipaldi (first cousin once-removed)
Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. (cousin)
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2014
Current teamAction Express Racing
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number5
EngineChevrolet 5.5L V8
Co-driverPortugal João Barbosa
France Sébastien Bourdais
Starts47
Championships2
Wins7
Poles6
Best finish1st in 2014, 2015
Finished last season3rd (2017)
Previous series
2008
20032013
2005–06
20022003
2003
2002
19952002
19921994
1991
American Le Mans
Rolex Sports Car Series
A1 Grand Prix
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
ARCA Re/Max Series
NASCAR Busch Series
CART
Formula One
Formula 3000
Championship titles
1991Formula 3000
Awards
1995Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
Formula One World Championship career
TeamsMinardi, Footwork
Entries43 (40 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points12
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1992 South African Grand Prix
Last entry1994 Australian Grand Prix
Champ Car career
135 races run over 8 years
Years active19952002
Team(s)Walker Racing
Newman/Haas Racing
Best finish5th (1996, 2002)
First race1995 Grand Prix of Miami (Bicentennial Park)
Last race2002 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante (Mexico City)
First win1999 Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America (Road America)
Last win2000 Marlboro 500 (Fontana)
Wins Podiums Poles
2 20 1
NASCAR Cup Series career
16 races run over 2 years
Best finish44th (2003)
First race2002 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil (Phoenix)
Last race2003 UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
3 races run over 2 years
Best finish102nd (2002)
First race2002 GNC Live Well 300 (Homestead)
Last race2002 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and participated in 43 Formula One Grands Prix for Minardi and Footwork between 1992 and 1994.

Fittipaldi was fifth in the CART series in both 1996 and 2002, earning two wins and a second place in the 1995 Indianapolis 500. He has also had success racing sports prototypes, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona of 2004, 2014 and 2018, the 12 Hours of Sebring of 2015, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen of 2013, 2016 and 2017, and has captured two IMSA SportsCar Championships with Action Express Racing during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

A member of the Fittipaldi family, he is the son of former Formula One driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi, the nephew of two-time Formula One World Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, and the cousin of racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi Jr..

Early years

Fittipaldi was born in São Paulo. He is named after Christian Heins, a Brazilian racing driver who was killed in a wreck during the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fittipaldi was second in the Brazilian Formula Ford in 1988. After finishing third in the South American Formula 3 in 1989, in 1990 he won the title in the Formula 3 Sudamericana and the fourth place in the British Formula 3.

In 1991, the Brazilian was installed in Europe to compete in the Formula 3000, where he captured two wins and seven podiums in ten races to obtain the championship against Alessandro Zanardi. Later, he was third in the Macau Grand Prix of Formula 3.

Formula One

Fittipaldi driving for Footwork at the 1994 British Grand Prix.

His jump into Formula 1 happened in 1992 with Minardi, one of the most modest teams of the grid at the time; he scored a single point in 1992. Christian is the first Formula One driver to be born in the 1970s. Next year, he managed to score a total of five points in the Drivers' Championship, but the team decided to do away with him with two races to go in the season. The following season, he competed in the Footwork team and earned two fourth places, adding to a total of six points in the championship (as those finishes were his only points-paying results that year). At the end of the 1994 season Fittipaldi decided to try his luck in the racing competitions in the United States.

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Fittipaldi was ranked the 11th best Formula One driver of all time.

CART

Competing mainly in CART, Fittipaldi was a slow starter, noted for his consistency rather than his outright pace, although by the time he won his first CART event at Road America in 1999, he was a championship contender due to his consistent finishing, among which was a second place in the 1995 Indianapolis 500, which earned him Rookie of the Year honors in the race. However, just as Fittipaldi's American career looked to be taking off, he broke his leg for the first time (out of the two total he suffered while racing in CART) at the Surfer's Paradise race in 1997. Although he was able to return both times and win two races, he never won a CART championship.

NASCAR

With his Champ Car career on hold, Fittipaldi shifted his focus to NASCAR. He made three appearances in the Busch Series during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Although he was not impressive in those races, he was signed to Petty Enterprises near late-2002 and made his Winston Cup debut at Phoenix after he caught the eye of Richard Petty. In 2003, he made his first (and only) Daytona 500 start in a one-race deal with Andy Petree and then made a handful of appearances for Petty in ARCA. In the summer of that year, Fittipaldi became the driver of the illustrious #43 car after John Andretti (cousin of Christian's former CART teammate Michael Andretti) was let go. He struggled and was reassigned shortly after the start of autumn, but remained with the team, driving the #44 car.

Sports cars racing

In parallel to his activity in Formula 1, was winner of the 1993 24 Hours of Spa and 1994 Brazilian 1000 Miles.

Fittipaldi debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2003 with the Bell team, resulting sixth with a Doran-Chevrolet of the class Daytona Prototype. It was one of the pilots that won the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona, in this case with a Doran-Pontiac. Then participated in four other rounds from the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with Bell, earning seventh in Virginia.

The Brazilian contested the first two races of the 2006 Grand-Am series with Bell, earning a sixth place at Homestead. Then ran six rounds with Riley-Pontiac of The Racer's Group, earning a victory in Phoenix, a second place in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and third in the 200 Miles at Watkins Glen.

In 2006, Fittipaldi disputed fully the Grand-Am series with the team of Eddie Cheever Jr. Obtained a second place and a sixth, to be located in the 23rd position in the drivers' championship of DP class. That same year, he participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Saleen S7, where he finished in sixth place in the GT1 class, a total of eleven participants.

Continuing with Cheever, Fittipaldi achieved a fourth, seventh and eighth in 2007 and resulting 20th in the overall table of the DP class of the Grand Am series. Also, it came tenth in the GT1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the wheel of an Aston Martin DB9 of team Modena alongside Antonio Garcia and amateur.

Fittipaldi disputed the first four rounds of the 2008 American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green. Piloting an Acura LMP2 with Bryan Herta, earned a fourth place, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh. Then again disputed the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin DB9 of Modena, reaching delayed in the 30th overall position. He then ran in the final five rounds of the Grand-Am series with a Coyote-Pontiac of Cheever's team, earning a second place and a sixth.

The driver was invited to run the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona with a Porsche-Riley of Action Express Racing, resulting third overall with Max Papis and João Barbosa among others. In 2012 he participated again in this race with Action Express, in this case at the wheel of a Chevrolet Corvette DP, with which finished fifth.

The Brazilian became in regular driver of Action Express for the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season. He achieved two wins at Mid-Ohio and the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, two second places, a fourth and a fifth, mostly with Barbosa. Thus, he was seventh in the drivers' championship in the Daytona Prototypes class.

He won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2014 in the Action Express Corvette DP with João Barbosa and Sébastien Bourdais.

Motorsports career results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
1991 Pacific Racing Reynard 91D Mugen Honda VAL
2
PAU
2
JER
1
MUG
3
PER
Ret
HOC
4
BRH
3
SPA
Ret
BUG
2
NOG
1
1st 47

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1992 Minardi Team Minardi M191 Lamborghini 3.5 L V12 RSA
Ret
MEX
Ret
BRA
Ret
ESP
11
18th 1
Minardi M192 Lamborghini 3.5 L V12 SMR
Ret
MON
8
CAN
13
FRA
DNQ
GBR GER HUN BEL
DNQ
ITA
DNQ
POR
12
JPN
6
AUS
9
1993 Minardi Team Minardi M193 Ford HB 3.5 L V8 RSA
4
BRA
Ret
EUR
7
SMR
Ret
ESP
8
MON
5
CAN
9
FRA
8
GBR
12
GER
11
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
8
POR
9
JPN AUS 13th 5
1994 Footwork Ford Footwork FA15 Ford HB 3.5 L V8 BRA
Ret
PAC
4
SMR
13
MON
Ret
ESP
Ret
CAN
DSQ
FRA
8
GBR
9
GER
4
HUN
14
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
POR
8
EUR
17
JPN
8
AUS
8
15th 6

Complete CART results

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref
1995 Walker Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t MIA
5
SRF
25
PHX
10
LBH
14
NZR
20
INDY
2
MIL
7
DET
17
POR
12
ROA
8
TOR
9
CLE
24
MIS
9
MDO
25
NHM
8
VAN
24
LS
24
15th 54
1996 Newman/Haas Racing Lola T96/00 Ford XD V8t MIA
6
RIO
5
SRF
5
LBH
21
NZR
9
500
12
MIL
6
DET
2*
POR
3
CLE
7
TOR
7
MIS
10
MDO
7
ROA
16
VAN
3
LS
10
5th 110
1997 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford XD V8t MIA
26
SRF
28
LBH
Inj
NZR
Inj
RIO
Inj
STL
Inj
MIL
Inj
DET
Inj
POR
4
CLE
6
TOR
11
MIS
16
MDO
21
ROA
4
VAN
9
LS
21
FON
9
15th 42
1998 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 009.c Ford XD V8t MIA
4
MOT
25
LBH
26
NZR
11
RIO
21
STL
11
MIL
DNS
DET
17
POR
26
CLE
11
TOR
16
MIS
25
MDO
13
ROA
3
VAN
14
LS
9
HOU
27
SRF
3
FON
7
14th 56
1999 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 010.c Ford XD V8t MIA
9
MOT
3
LBH
5
NZR
7
RIO
3
STL
9
MIL
6
POR
14
CLE
12
ROA
1
TOR
3
MIS
8
DET
Inj
MDO
Inj
CHI
Inj
VAN
Inj
LS
Inj
HOU
7
SRF
25
FON
3
7th 121
2000 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford XF V8t MIA
7
LBH
18
RIO
5
MOT
11
NZR
11
MIL
9
DET
19
POR
3
CLE
17
TOR
17
MIS
14
CHI
DNS
MDO
3
ROA
15
VAN
4
LS
10
STL
12
HOU
6
SRF
15
FON
1
12th 96
2001 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8F V8t MTY
20
LBH
24
TXS
NH
NZR
5
MOT
4
MIL
18
DET
5
POR
3
CLE
11
TOR
12
MIS
18
CHI
25
MDO
8
ROA
18
VAN
11
LAU
19
ROC
24
HOU
8
LS
9
SRF
8
FON
13
15th 70
2002 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B02/00 Toyota RV8F V8t MTY
3
LBH
13
MOT
12
MIL
4
LS
2
POR
13
CHI
14
TOR
3
CLE
12
VAN
13
MDO
2
ROA
6
MTL
7
DEN
5
ROC
17
MIA
2
SRF
11
FON
7
MXC
15
5th 122

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2005–06 Brazil GBR
SPR
GBR
FEA
GER
SPR
GER
FEA
POR
SPR
POR
FEA
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
UAE
SPR
UAE
FEA
RSA
SPR
RSA
FEA
IDN
SPR

20
IDN
FEA

4
MEX
SPR

14
MEX
FEA

12
USA
SPR

13
USA
FEA

Ret
CHN
SPR

10
CHN
FEA

Ret
6th 71

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

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

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points
2005 Terra-Avallone Mitsubishi Lancer INT
18
CTB
10
RIO
Ret
INT
9
CTB
24
LON
16
BSB
7
SCZ
Ret
TAR
6
ARG
Ret
RIO
Ret
INT
7
23rd 32
2006 Terra-Avallone Mitsubishi Lancer INT CTB
Ret
CGD
26
INT
Ret
LON
15
CTB SCZ 27th 9
RC3 Bassani Chevrolet Astra BSB
21
TAR
23
ARG
18
RIO
8
INT
24
2010 Gramacho Costa Chevrolet Vectra INT
19
CTB
21
VEL
17
RIO
18
RBP
16
SAL
23
INT
Ret
CGD
15
LON
Ret
SCZ
Ret
BSB
Ret
CTB
Ret
34th 1

24 Hours of Daytona results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 United States Bell Motorsports Belgium Didier Theys
United States Forest Barber
United States Terry Borcheller
Doran JE4-Chevrolet DP 67 DNF DNF
2004 United States Bell Motorsports United Kingdom Andy Pilgrim
United States Forest Barber
United States Terry Borcheller
Doran JE4-Pontiac DP 526 1st 1st
2005 United States Kodak-Bell Motorsports Canada Paul Tracy
United States Terry Borcheller
Germany Ralf Kelleners
Doran JE4-Pontiac DP 328 DNF DNF
2006 United States Cheever Racing United States Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Canada Patrick Carpentier
Crawford DP03-Lexus DP 669 DNF DNF
2007 United States Cheever Racing United States Eddie Cheever, Jr.
France Emmanuel Collard
Germany Sascha Maassen
Crawford DP03-Porsche DP 601 24th 14th
2011 United States Action Express Racing United States Terry Borcheller
United States J.C. France
Portugal João Barbosa
Italy Max Papis
Riley Mk. XI-Porsche DP 721 3rd 3rd
2012 United States Action Express Racing United States David Donohue
United States Darren Law
Coyote Corvette DP DP 758 5th 5th
2013 United States Action Express Racing Portugal João Barbosa
United States Burt Frisselle
Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Coyote Corvette DP DP 708 4th 4th
2014 United States Action Express Racing Portugal João Barbosa
France Sébastien Bourdais
Coyote Corvette DP P 695 1st 1st
2015 United States Action Express Racing Portugal João Barbosa
France Sébastien Bourdais
Coyote Corvette DP P 740 2nd 2nd
2016 United States Action Express Racing Portugal João Barbosa
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
United States Scott Pruett
Coyote Corvette DP P 731 4th 4th
2017 United States Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal João Barbosa
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.R P 659 2nd 2nd
2018 United States Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal João Barbosa
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.R P 808 1st 1st
2019 United States Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal João Barbosa
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.R DPi 573 9th 7th

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2006 United States ACEMCO Motorsports United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem
United States Terry Borcheller
Saleen S7-R GT1 337 12th 7th
2007 United Kingdom Team Modena Spain Antonio García
Netherlands Jos Menten
Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 318 17th 10th
2008 United Kingdom Team Modena United States Terry Borcheller
Netherlands Jos Menten
Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 302 30th 8th

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2008 Andretti Green Racing LMP2 Acura ARX-01b Acura 3.4L V8 SEB
6
STP
5
LBH
4
UTA
7
LIM MID AME MOS DET PET MON 24th 38

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2014 Action Express Racing P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
1
SEB
3
LBH
3
LGA
4
DET
6
WGL
3
MOS
4
IMS
1
ELK
1
COA
3
PET
2
1st 349
2015 Action Express Racing P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
2
SEB
1
LBH
5
LGA
4
DET
3
WGL
3
MOS
5
ELK
2
COA
6
PET
1
1st 309
2016 Action Express Racing P Coyote Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
4
SEB
3
LBH
2
LGA
7
DET
2
WGL
1
MOS
2
ELK
2
COA
3
PET
5
2nd 311
2017 Mustang Sampling Racing P Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 6.2 L V8 DAY
2
SEB
2
LBH
7
COA
3
DET
4
WGL
1
MOS
6
ELK
6
LGA
5
PET
5
3rd 284
2018 Mustang Sampling Racing P Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
1
SEB
10
LBH MDO DET WGL
6
MOS
4
ELK LGA PET
4
19th 137
2019 Mustang Sampling Racing DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
7
SEB LBH MDO DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 33rd 24
Source:

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NWCC Pts Ref
2002 Petty Enterprises 44 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO
41
HOM 81st 40
2003 Andy Petree Racing 33 Chevy DAY
35
CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI 44th 857
Petty Enterprises 45 Dodge TEX
38
TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC
43 MCH
35
SON
40
CHI
29
NHA
37
POC
24
IND
DNQ
MCH
33
BRI
41
DAR
43
RCH
43
NHA
31
44 DAY
DNQ
GLN
40
DOV
DNQ
TAL
28
KAN CLT
34
MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2003 Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 34 35

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
2001 SKI Motorsports 30 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM
39
141st 56
2002 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH
DNQ
NHA NZH CLT
DNQ
DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY
35
PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN
43
CLT MEM
QL
ATL CAR PHO HOM 102nd 92
– Qualified but replaced by Chad Chaffin

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ARSC Pts Ref
2003 Petty Enterprises 43 Dodge DAY
10
ATL NSH SLM TOL KEN CLT BLN KAN MCH LER POC POC
31
NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT SBO 101st 255

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