Duarte_Félix_da_Costa
Duarte Félix da Costa
Portuguese racing driver
Duarte Maria de Ortigão Ramos Félix da Costa (born May 31, 1985 in Cascais) is a Portuguese auto racing driver and driving coach.[1] He has spent the majority of his motorsport career participating in touring car racing,[1] and would also take part in sports car racing later on in his career.
 |
| Duarte Félix da Costa | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Portuguese |
| Born | (1985-05-31) 31 May 1985 (age 39) Cascais, Portugal |
| Related to | António Félix da Costa (half-brother) |
| Previous series | |
| 2012 2011 2009, 2018 2009 2008-09 2008 2008, 2010 2007-10 2006 2006 2004-05 | American Le Mans Series Blancpain Endurance Series International GT Open European Touring Car Cup Portuguese Touring Car Championship World Touring Car Championship SEAT León Eurocup SEAT León Supercopa Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula BMW UK |
Félix da Costa began his career in karting and moved into racing cars in 2004 when he competed in the Formula BMW UK championship, where he raced for two years for Carlin Motorsport, finishing 13th and 10th in the championship standings.[2] He moved to Formula Renault in 2006, competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (which his brother Antonio won in 2009) and the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.[2]
Having failed to win a race in single-seaters for three years, Félix da Costa moved to touring cars, racing in the SEAT León Supercopa one-make series in 2007, finishing 9th. He would also race in the SEAT León Eurocup in 2008, also finishing the season in 9th.[2] That same year, Félix da Costa earned a one-off guest drive in the World Touring Car Championship with Sunred Engineering after displaying strong performances at Oschersleben in the SEAT León Eurocup.[3] He would return to the SEAT León Eurocup in 2010, finishing the season in 6th.
In 2009, Félix da Costa competed in the Portuguese Touring Car Championship and would post a strong campaign, finishing the year in 2nd with three victories. He would also venture into sports car racing for the first time in his career, racing in the International GT Open with Escudería Roger Racing alongside Miquel Julià in a Ferrari F430 GT3. Félix da Costa also competed in the European Touring Car Cup at Braga for British Touring Car Championship team Bamboo Engineering in a Chevrolet Lacetti alongside Harry Vaulkhard. He and Vaulkhard locked out the second row of the grid during qualifying, and Félix da Costa would finish in 8th and 7th for both races.[4]
Félix da Costa competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series for 2011 with Leipert Motorsport, driving a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 GT3 alongside fellow countrymen Lourenço da Veiga and Ricardo Bravo. The trio completed the season 3rd in the GT3 Pro-Am class. He would also take part in the 2012 American Le Mans Monterey race at Laguna Seca the following year, finishing 31st in LMP2.
Since 2013, Félix da Costa has dedicated his time to coaching young drivers. He co-founded Synergy Driver Performance with Rodrigo Loyo in 2015 to elevate young drivers through their careers as they go through the categories of junior formula and sports car racing.[5]
In 2018, Félix da Costa returned to the International GT Open at the Monza round, racing with Drivex School in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Ricardo Baptista.
Félix da Costa's younger half-brother António is also a racing driver best known for competing in Formula E, also to whom Duarte serves as manager.[6]
Félix da Costa is married to psychologist Carlota Rocha.[6]
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Formula BMW UK Championship | Carlin M/sport - Team Portugal | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 13th |
| 2005 | Formula BMW UK Championship | Carlin Motorsport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 10th |
| Formula BMW UK Winter Series | Motaworld Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 18th | |
| 2006 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | AR Motorsport | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32nd |
| Koiranen Bros Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | AR Motorsport | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 140 | 12th | |
| 2007 | SEAT León Supercopa | Bastos Sport | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 9th |
| 2008 | SEAT León Supercopa | Bastos Sport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25th |
| SEAT León Eurocup | Bastos Sport | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 9th | |
| FIA World Touring Car Championship | SUNRED Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| FIA World Touring Car Championship – Yokohama Independents' Trophy | SUNRED Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24th | |
| 2009 | Portuguese Touring Car Championship | Bastos Sport | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 81 | 2nd |
| International GT Open | Escudería Roger Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 36th | |
| European Touring Car Cup | Bamboo Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9th | |
| 2010 | SEAT León Eurocup | Zengő Motorsport | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28.5 | 6th |
| SEAT León Supercopa | Zengő Motorsport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29th | |
| 2011 | Blancpain Endurance Series – GT3 Pro-Am Cup | Team Rhino's Leipert | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 3rd |
| 2012 | 2012 American Le Mans Series – LMP2 | Project Libra | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2018 | International GT Open | Drivex School | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13th |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
- Wood, Ida (2020-10-20). "The junior racing that kept Portugal entertained between grands prix". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/2892/career/ Career statistics at Driver Database
- Meissner, Johan (2008-09-26). "Duarte Félix da Costa joins WTCC". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- "TouringCarTimes - ETCC: Michelisz takes last second pole". web.archive.org. 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- "Duarte Félix da Costa e Gonçalo Gomes criaram a Synergy Driver Performance". AutoSport (in European Portuguese). 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- "Duarte Félix da Costa, antigo piloto de automóveis, casou-se com Carlota Rocha no Alentejo". www.flash.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-04-15.