André Couto

André Couto

Nationality Macanese
Born (1976-12-14) 14 December 1976
Lisbon, Portugal
Super GT career
Debut season 2001
Current team D'station Racing
Car no. 33
Former teams SARD, Team Take One, Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh, Pacific Racing Team, Gainer
Starts 93
Wins 4
Poles 2
Fastest laps 3
Best finish 1st in 2015
Previous series
200512
2004
2003
2002
2001
2001
1998–2000
1996–97
1996
1995
WTCC
JGTC (GT500)
ETCC
World Series by Nissan
JGTC (GT500)
Formula Nippon
International F3000
Italian F3
German F3
Formula Opel Euroseries
Championship titles
2015
2005
2000
1995
Super GT Series - GT300
1000km of Suzuka
Macau F3 Grand Prix
EFDA Nations Cup

André Couto (born 14 December 1976) is a Macanese[1] motor racing driver who is best known for winning his home F3 Grand Prix in 2000 and Japan's Super GT GT300 Championship in 2015.

Career

Early years

André Couto was born in Lisbon but moved to Macau with his family when he was four. He started his career in Karting in Macau influenced by the popular Macau Grand Prix and friends who competed in the local Karting championship. He rapidly enjoyed success and started competing and winning in international level. He moved to racing cars in 1995 where he competed in European Formula Opel Lotus (Winning a round in the Estoril Circuit). 1995 was also the debut year in the Formula Three event of the Macau Grand Prix where he briefly led after a duel with race winner Ralf Schumacher.

Formula Three

Couto competed in German Formula Three in 1996 before moving to the Italian series in 1997, where he finished the season as runner-up in the championship.

2000 Macau Grand Prix

He competed in the F3 Macau Grand Prix six times, eventually winning it in 2000, after India's Narain Karthikeyan, 24, and Japan's Takuma Sato, 23, crashed out of contention in leg one. Couto, driving for Opel Team BSR and starting second on the grid for the decider, took the lead immediately and fought off the intentions of Paolo Montin, 24, and Japan's Ryo Fukuda, 21. When Robert Lechner crashed with two laps to go, the safety car was called out and the drivers drove in formation behind it to the chequered flag. It marked the first time a Macanese driver has won the Formula 3 race title.[2]

Couto's win was a surreal experience for many but for Couto's father, Carlos, it was the proudest moment of his life. "This was the one race Andre always wanted to win," he said. "He was born in Lisbon but we moved back to Macau when he was four. My wife Isabel and I have now lived in Macau for many years. Isabel was born here and all her family is from here. This will always be Andre's home. He speaks fluent Cantonese like most Portuguese people living here. He is a Macau citizen; it is what he wanted. We've lived here happily for many years. Today is a special day for everyone in Macau."[1]

Formula 3000

Couto graduated to Formula 3000 in 1998 and stayed there for 1999 and 2000. Although he scored points on several occasions, he never achieved any great success. His best result was third place at the Nürburgring in 2000.

An assortment of drives

Couto driving the Honda Accord in the WTCC in Macau.

After leaving F3000 and winning the Macau Grand Prix Formula Three event in 2000, Couto competed in the Formula Nippon Championship in 2001 and competed in some races of the All-Japan GT Championship. For 2002 he moved to the World Series by Nissan, and finished seventh in the championship.

Touring car racing and sports car racing

Since 2003, Couto has competed frequently in the Guia Race of Macau as part of the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) and later the World Touring Car Championship. He has competed at the race on different cars and teams: Alfa Romeo 156 and Honda Accord (for N.Technology), and SEAT León (for SEAT Sport and Sunred),

Since 2005, Couto has competed in the Super GT Championship in the GT500-class Lexus SC430, initially for SARD and in 2011 for Kraft. In November 2015, racing alongside his teammate Katsumasa Chiyo, André Couto was crowned the GT 300 champion with one round to go into the Super GT championship. He dedicated the victory to a “special one”, his late son Afonso, who succumbed to leukemia in 2010.[3]

On 8 July 2017, André Couto was seriously hurt after crashing his Nissan GT-R GT3 in the China GT Championship race at Zhuhai International Circuit. He was taken to Sun Yat-sen University No.5 Hospital in Zhuhai for a CT scan that revealed a fracture to his L1 vertebra. He was then air lifted to Canossa Hospital in Hong Kong for an operation. Couto’s father, Carlos, said that his son was not in a life-threatening situation.[4]

Personal life

Couto had a son, Afonso, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009. Several of his fellow WTCC drivers have carried stickers on their cars in the 2010 WTCC season to promote a website which is trying to find a suitable bone marrow donor.[5] The GT Association and all teams of Super GT also launched a campaign towards bone marrow donation. A suitable bone marrow for Afonso was found on 9 May 2010 in Germany and his operation was successfully completed on 20 May 2010.[6] Afonso died on 3 November 2010 from leukaemia treatment complications. He had been in the hospital for two weeks.

Racing record

Complete JGTC/Super GT results

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts
2001 Team Take One McLaren F1 GTR GT500 TAI
8
FUJ
Ret
SUG
12
FUJ
16
MOT
6
SUZ
10
MIN
1
9th 38
2004 Toyota Team SARD Toyota Supra GT500 TAI
3
SUG
Ret
SEP
1
TOK
7
MOT
6
AUT
2
SUZ
8
2nd 61
2005 Toyota Team SARD Toyota Supra GT500 OKA
8
FUJ
Ret
SEP
9
SUG
2
MOT
14
FUJ
12
AUT
11
SUZ
11
16th 21
2006 Toyota Team SARD Toyota Supra GT500 SUZ
11
OKA
13
FUJ
11
SEP
13
SUG
Ret
SUZ
11
MOT
9
AUT
10
FUJ
10
23rd 13
2007 Toyota Team SARD Lexus SC430 GT500 SUZ
Ret
OKA
12
FUJ
8
SEP
13
SUG
6
SUZ
11
MOT
10
AUT
3
FUJ
13
15th 21
2008 Toyota Team SARD Lexus SC430 GT500 SUZ
12
OKA
14
FUJ
13
SEP
12
SUG
6
SUZ
15
MOT
13
AUT
13
FUJ
5
21st 11
2009 Lexus Team SARD Lexus SC430 GT500 OKA
15
SUZ
10
FUJ
10
SEP
13
SUG
2
SUZ
7
FUJ
11
AUT
12
MOT
5
14th 27
2010 Lexus Team SARD Lexus SC430 GT500 SUZ
5
OKA
10
FUJ
Ret
SEP
10
SUG
10
SUZ
8
FUJ
C
MOT 13th 12
2011 Lexus Team Kraft Lexus SC430 GT500 OKA
14
FUJ
11
SEP
10
SUG
Ret
SUZ
7
FUJ
9
AUT
9
MOT
14
15th 7
2012 Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH Lexus SC430 GT500 OKA
12
FUJ
13
SEP
9
SUG
Ret
SUZ
6
FUJ
3
AUT
3
MOT
5
9th 36
2013 Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH Lexus SC430 GT500 OKA
14
FUJ
11
SEP
15
SUG
9
SUZ
6
FUJ
Ret
AUT
13
MOT
10
14th 9
2014 Pacific Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ AUT
19
SUG
17
FUJ
15
SUZ
7
BUR MOT 30th 5
2015 Gainer Nissan GTR GT300 OKA
7
FUJ
1
CHA
2
FUJ
6
SUZ
1
SUG
6
AUT
2
MOT
6
1st 94
2016 Gainer Nissan GT-R GT3 GT300 OKA
8
FUJ
5
SUG
11
FUJ
9
SUZ
3
CHA
4
MOT
5
MOT
15
8th 38
2017 D'station Racing Porsche 911 GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ AUT
7
SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT 20th* 4*

* Season still in progress.

Complete World Touring Car Championship 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 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2005 Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 ITA
1
ITA
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
SMR
1
SMR
2
MEX
1
MEX
2
BEL
1
BEL
2
GER
1
GER
2
TUR
1
TUR
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
MAC
1

Ret
MAC
2

DNS
NC 0
2006 SEAT Sport SEAT León ITA
1
ITA
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
GER
1
GER
2
BRA
1
BRA
2
MEX
1
MEX
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
TUR
1
TUR
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
MAC
1

13
MAC
2

7
23rd 2
2007 Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 BRA
1
BRA
2
NED
1
NED
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
POR
1
POR
2
SWE
1
SWE
2
GER
1
GER
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
MAC
1

DNS
MAC
2

DNS
NC 0
2008 N.Technology Honda Accord Euro R BRA
1
BRA
2
MEX
1
MEX
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
POR
1
POR
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
GER
1
GER
2
EUR
1
EUR
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
MAC
1

13
MAC
2

Ret
NC 0
2009 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI BRA
1
BRA
2
MEX
1
MEX
2
MAR
1
MAR
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
POR
1
POR
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
GER
1
GER
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
MAC
1

25
MAC
2

18
NC 0
2010 SR-Sport SEAT León TDI BRA
1
BRA
2
MAR
1
MAR
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
BEL
1
BEL
2
POR
1
POR
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
GER
1
GER
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
MAC
1

Ret
MAC
2

DNS
NC 0
2011 SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T BRA
1
BRA
2
BEL
1
BEL
2
ITA
1
ITA
2
HUN
1
HUN
2
CZE
1
CZE
2
POR
1
POR
2
GBR
1
GBR
2
GER
1
GER
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
CHN
1
CHN
2
MAC
1

Ret
MAC
2

Ret
NC 0
2012 Tuenti Racing Team SUNRED SR León 1.6T ITA
1
ITA
2
ESP
1
ESP
2
MAR
1
MAR
2
SVK
1
SVK
2
HUN
1
HUN
2
AUT
1
AUT
2
POR
1
POR
2
BRA
1
BRA
2
USA
1
USA
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
CHN
1
CHN
2
MAC
1

15
MAC
2

11
NC 0

References

  1. 1 2 'This was the one race he wanted' Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. John Carney. The Standard. 20 November 2000.
  2. Historic triumph turns Couto into unlikely local hero John Carney. The Standard. 20 November 2000.
  3. "ANDRÉ COUTO CROWNED GT 300 CHAMPION IN JAPAN". Macau Daily Times. 2 November 2015.
  4. "Former Macau Grand Prix champion Andre Couto airlifted to Hong Kong hospital after being seriously injured in Zhuhai crash". South China Morning Post. 10 July 2017.
  5. English, Steven (2010-03-08). "WTCC drivers help Couto's son". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  6. Japanese (2010-05-22). "Couto's son, Afonso's bone marrow transplant successfully completed.". as-web.jp. Austosport web. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to André Couto.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Darren Manning
Macau Grand Prix
Winner

2000
Succeeded by
Takuma Sato
Preceded by
Nobuteru Taniguchi
Tatsuya Kataoka
Super GT
GT300 Champion

2015
Succeeded by
Takeshi Tsuchiya
Takamitsu Matsui
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