Raphael Matos
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| Raphael Matos | |
 Raphael Matos during a press conference for the 2008 SpeedJam at the Homestead-Miami Speedway |
|
| Nationality |  Brazil |
| Date of Birth | August 28, 1981 |
| Place of Birth | Belo Horizonte |
| 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series | |
| Debut season | 2006 |
| Current team | AGR-AFS Racing |
| Car No. | 27 |
| Former teams | Guthrie Racing |
| Starts | 7 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Best finish | 10th in 2006 |
| Previous series | |
| 2006-2007 2006-2007 2004-2005 2002-2003 |
Champ Car Atlantic Series A1 Grand Prix Star Mazda Series Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series |
| Championship titles | |
| 2007 | Champ Car Atlantic Series |
Raphael Matos (born August 28, 1981) is a Brazilian race car driver from Belo Horizonte who currently resides in Miami. He was the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion and currently competes in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. He is signed to the Andretti Green Racing driver development program.
Contents |
[edit] Career highlights
[edit] Early career
He came to the United States in 2002 after Karting in Brazil and began competing in Formula Dodge and Skip Barber amateur competition. In 2004, he moved up to the Star Mazda Series and in 2005 he won the Star Mazda championship. In 2006 he moved up the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series where he drove for the Sierra Sierra team and captured one victory on his way to 4th place in the points standings. He also competed in 4 Indy Pro Series races for Jim Guthrie Racing and swept the two races held in March at St. Petersburg, Florida. During the fall he was named a driver for A1 Team Brazil in the A1 Grand Prix series and made his debut at the series' race in Beijing in the 2006-2007 season. He raced a Lola B07/40 Mazda in the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2007 Petit Le Mans.
[edit] Atlantics championship and Indy Lights
Matos continued with the Sierra Sierra team in Atlantics in 2007 and clinched the championship with several races remaining in the season, securing for himself the 2 Million US Dollar "scholarship" for a ride in Champ Car for the 2008 season. However, Matos decided to pass on the scholarship and sign with Andretti Green Racing to drive in the Indy Racing League's Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2008.[1]
Prior to the 2008 Indy Lights season, he drove a Mazda RX-8 for the SpeedSource team in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, taking first in the GT class and a 9th place overall finish, sharing the car with Nick Ham, David Haskell and Sylvain Tremblay.
[edit] References
- ^ Andretti Green, AFS To Field Two-Car Indy Pro Team - Matos Added to Driver Lineup, PaddockTalk, January 18, 2008
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Simon Pagenaud |
Champ Car Atlantic Champion 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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