Christian Fittipaldi

Christian Fittipaldi

Fittipaldi in 2006, as a Stock Car Brasil driver
Nationality Brazil Brazilian
Born 18 January 1971
São Paulo, Brazil
Related to Emerson Fittipaldi (uncle)
United SportsCar Championship career
Debut season 2014
Current team Action Express Racing
Car no. 5
Engine Chevrolet 5.5L V8
Codriver Portugal João Barbosa
France Sébastien Bourdais
Starts 12
Championships 1
Wins 3
Poles 2
Best finish 1st in 2014
Finished last season 1st (2014)
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
1991 Formula 3000
Awards
1995 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
Formula One World Championship career
Teams Minardi, Footwork
Races 43 (40 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 12
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1992 South African Grand Prix
Last race 1994 Australian Grand Prix
Champ Car career
135 races run over 8 years
Years active 19952002
Team(s) Walker Racing
Newman/Haas Racing
Best finish 5th (1996, 2002)
First race 1995 Grand Prix of Miami (Bicentennial Park)
Last race 2002 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante (Mexico City)
First win 1999 Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America (Road America)
Last win 2000 Marlboro 500 (Fontana)
Wins Podiums Poles
2 20 1
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
16 races run over 2 years
Best finish 44th (2003)
First race 2002 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil (Phoenix)
Last race 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
3 races run over 2 years
Best finish 102nd (2002)
First race 2002 GNC Live Well 300 (Homestead)
Last race 2002 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Christian Fittipaldi (born January 18, 1971 is a Brazilian professional racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR. Named after the less known Brazilian driver Christian "Bino" Heinz (killed at Le Mans in 1963), he was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and participated in 43 Formula One Grand Prix for Minardi and Footwork between 1992 and 1994.

Fittipaldi was fifth in the CART series in 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 and 2014, the 2013 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, and a seventh place in the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season.

He is the son of former Grand Prix driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi, and the nephew of two-time Formula One Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.

Early years

Born in São Paulo, 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

The jump to Formula 1 gave it with Minardi, one of the most modest of the grid in the 1993 season. That year he managed to score a total of five points in the drivers' championship, but the team decided to do without it when there were two races to dispute. The following season he competed in the Footwork team and earned two fourth places, adding to a total of six points in the championship. At the end of this season Fittipaldi decided to try his luck in the competitions of the United States.

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 incurred the first of the two broken legs he suffered while racing in CART at the Surfer's Paradise race in 1997. Although he was able to return both times and win further races, he never regained a consistent form, and never won a CART championship.

NASCAR

With his Champ Car career on hold, Fittipaldi shifted his focus to NASCAR. He made 3 appearances in the Busch Series during 2001 and 2002. Although he wasn't impressive in those races, he caught the eye of Richard Petty, and he was signed to Petty Enterprises near the end of 2002 and made his Winston Cup debut at Phoenix. In 2003, Christian made his first Daytona 500 start, in a one-race deal with Andy Petree, then made a handful of appearances for Petty in ARCA. In the summer of 2003, Fittipaldi became the driver of the illustrious 43 car after John Andretti, cousin of Christian's former CART teammate Michael Andretti, was let go. Christian 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, Fttipaldi 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 seconds 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 Sebastien Bourdais.

Racing career

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
17th 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

American Open-Wheel

(key)

CART

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points
1995 Walker United States
MIA
5
Australia
SRF
Ret
United States
PHX
10
United States
LBH
Ret
United States
NZR
Ret
United States
INDY
2
United States
MIL
7
United States
DET
17
United States
POR
12
United States
ROA
8
Canada
TOR
9
United States
CLE
Ret
United States
MIS
9
United States
MDO
Ret
United States
NHM
8
Canada
VAN
Ret
United States
LS
Ret
15th 54
1996 Newman/Haas United States
MIA
6
Brazil
RIO
5
Australia
SRF
5
United States
LBH
Ret
United States
NZR
9
United States
500
Ret
United States
MIL
6
United States
DET
2*
United States
POR
3
United States
CLE
7
Canada
TOR
7
United States
MIS
10
United States
MDO
7
United States
ROA
Ret
Canada
VAN
3
United States
LS
10
5th 110
1997 Newman/Haas United States
MIA
Ret
Australia
SRF
Ret
United States
LBH
Inj
United States
NZR
Inj
Brazil
RIO
Inj
United States
STL
Inj
United States
MIL
Inj
United States
DET
Inj
United States
POR
4
United States
CLE
6
Canada
TOR
11
United States
MIS
Ret
United States
MDO
Ret
United States
ROA
4
Canada
VAN
Ret
United States
LS
Ret
United States
FON
9
15th 42
1998 Newman/Haas United States
MIA
4
Japan
MOT
Ret
United States
LBH
Ret
United States
NZR
11
Brazil
RIO
Ret
United States
STL
11
United States
MIL
DNS
United States
DET
17
United States
POR
Ret
United States
CLE
11
Canada
TOR
16
United States
MIS
Ret
United States
MDO
13
United States
ROA
3
Canada
VAN
14
United States
LS
9
United States
HOU
Ret
Australia
SRF
3
United States
FON
7
14th 56
1999 Newman/Haas United States
MIA
9
Japan
MOT
3
United States
LBH
5
United States
NZR
7
Brazil
RIO
3
United States
STL
9
United States
MIL
6
United States
POR
14
United States
CLE
12
United States
ROA
1
Canada
TOR
3
United States
MIS
8
United States
DET
Inj
United States
MDO
Inj
United States
CHI
Inj
Canada
VAN
Inj
United States
LS
Inj
United States
HOU
7
Australia
SRF
Ret
United States
FON
3
7th 121
2000 Newman/Haas United States
MIA
7
United States
LBH
Ret
Brazil
RIO
5
Japan
MOT
11
United States
NZR
11
United States
MIL
9
United States
DET
Ret
United States
POR
3
United States
CLE
Ret
Canada
TOR
Ret
United States
MIS
Ret
United States
CHI
DNS
United States
MDO
3
United States
ROA
Ret
Canada
VAN
4
United States
LS
10
United States
STL
12
United States
HOU
6
Australia
SRF
Ret
United States
FON
1
12th 96
2001 Newman/Haas Mexico
MTY
Ret
United States
LBH
Ret
United States
TXS
NH
United States
NZR
5
Japan
MOT
4
United States
MIL
Ret
United States
DET
5
United States
POR
3
United States
CLE
11
Canada
TOR
Ret
United States
MIS
Ret
United States
CHI
Ret
United States
MDO
8
United States
ROA
Ret
Canada
VAN
11
Germany
LAU
Ret
United Kingdom
ROC
Ret
United States
HOU
8
United States
LS
9
Australia
SRF
8
United States
FON
13
15th 70
2002 Newman/Haas Mexico
MTY
3
United States
LBH
13
Japan
MOT
12
United States
MIL
4
United States
LS
2
United States
POR
13
United States
CHI
14
Canada
TOR
3
United States
CLE
12
Canada
VAN
13
United States
MDO
2
United States
ROA
6
Canada
MTL
7
United States
DEN
5
United Kingdom
ROC
17
United States
MIA
2
Australia
SRF
11
United States
FON
7
Mexico
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 39th
DNF
6th
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 49th
DNF
23rd
DNF
2006 United States Cheever Racing United States Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Canada Patrick Carpentier
Crawford DP03-Lexus DP 669 17th
DNF
11th
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

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 Tyres 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 M SEB
ovr:18
cls:6
STP
ovr:6
cls:5
LNB
ovr:6
cls:4
UTA
ovr:8
cls:7
LIM MID AME MOS DET PET MON 24th 38

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
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

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
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 NHA NZH CLT 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
- Replaced by Chad Chaffin

Helmet

Christian Fittipaldi's helmet was yellow with a circle of green raindrops on the top, similar to Wilson Fittipaldi's helmet, but with inverted colors. In F-Indy he changed the yellow and green with red and grey respectively.

References

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christian Fittipaldi.
    Sporting positions
    Preceded by
    none
    Brazilian Formula Three Champion
    1989
    Succeeded by
    Oswaldo Negri
    Preceded by
    Gabriel Furlán
    Formula Three Sudamericana Champion
    1990
    Succeeded by
    Affonso Giaffone
    Preceded by
    Érik Comas
    International Formula 3000 Champion
    1991
    Succeeded by
    Luca Badoer
    Achievements
    Preceded by
    Jacques Villeneuve
    Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
    1995
    Succeeded by
    Tony Stewart