Jump to content

Albert Costa (racing driver)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Formula Downforce (talk | contribs) at 11:40, 31 October 2022 (→Career summary). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Albert Costa
Albert Costa, 2016
NationalitySpain Spanish
Born (1990-05-02) 2 May 1990 (age 34)
Barcelona (Spain)
Blancpain GT Series
International GT Open career
Current teamEmil Frey Racing
Car number14
Previous series
2008–09
2008–09
2007		Formula Renault 3.5
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
British F3 National Class
Championship titles
2009
2009
2012		Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC
Eurocup Mégane Trophy

Albert Costa Balboa[1] (born 2 May 1990 in Barcelona) is a Spanish racing driver who currently competes in the Blancpain GT Series.

Career

Karting

Costa started his international karting career in 2004, in the Copa Campeones Trophy for ICA Junior class karts, finishing in seventh position. He continued in the same class in 2005, with the exception of the Copa Campeones Trophy, where he competed in the ICA class. He finished seventh again in that race, adding a seventh in the Spanish ICA Junior Championship, a 27th in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and 29th in the European Championship. However, Costa excelled himself later in the season, winning the Italian Open Masters. He held off the challenges of Charles Pic and Marcus Ericsson to win the title by nine points. He continued in karting in 2006, but moved into the ICA class full-time. He competed in five different championships over the course of the season, but only finished in the top fifteen in the Asian-Pacific Championship.

Formula Three

Costa made the substantial leap from karting to Formula Three, missing out many conventional lower single-seater formulae.[2] He drove for Räikkönen Robertson Racing in the first five rounds of the series, before funds dried up. His best result came during the series' first visit to the Bucharest Ring in Romania, when he finished fourth in class, just over a second behind Hamad Al Fardan who finished third.[3]

Formula Renault

After his Formula Three career was cut short by lack of funds, Costa dropped down to Formula Renault to compete in the Eurocup and West European Cup for Epsilon Euskadi. Costa finished eighth in the pan-European series, despite failing to finish on the podium in any of the fourteen races. His best finish was fourth at the Nürburgring and Le Mans. He also recorded the fastest lap during the first race at Estoril. He placed three spots higher in the WEC, finishing fifth overall and runner-up in the rookie standings behind Jean-Éric Vergne.

Costa continued with Epsilon into 2009, again competing in the Eurocup and West European Cup. He won the Eurocup, holding off the challenges of both Vergne and António Félix da Costa, and two weeks later, sealed the WEC title thanks to a double win at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Costa won thirteen of the 28 races he competed in, winning five in the Eurocup and eight in the WEC.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Albert Costa at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round

After being awarded €500,000 prize money for winning the Eurocup title, Costa graduated to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2010 with Epsilon Euskadi.[4]

Eurocup Megane Trophy

Costa will remain part of the World Series by Renault in 2012 as he switches to Eurocup Megane Trophy with defending champions Oregon. The Spaniard had hoped to remain on the single-seater ladder but a budget shortfall necessitated his switch to tin-tops.[5] Costa won the title at his first attempt, scoring seven race victories along the way.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2007 British Formula 3 International Series - National Räikkönen Robertson Racing 9 0 0 0 0 33 11th
2008 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Epsilon Euskadi 14 0 0 1 0 35 8th
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC 15 0 1 0 4 85 5th
2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Epsilon Euskadi 14 5 6 6 10 138 1st
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC 14 8 8 10 9 172 1st
2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Epsilon Euskadi 17 0 0 0 3 78 5th
2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series EPIC Racing 17 1 1 1 4 151 4th
2012 Eurocup Mégane Trophy Oregon Team 14 7 8 6 10 251 1st
2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Emil Frey Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2017 ADAC GT Masters Callaway Competition 2 0 0 0 0 14 32nd
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Emil Frey Jaguar Racing 4 0 0 0 0 1 28th
Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Emil Frey Lexus Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
International GT Open 14 4 4 5 7 98 3rd
2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Emil Frey Lexus Racing 5 1 0 0 1 35 9th
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup 10 0 0 2 0 15.5 13th
2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Orange 1 FFF Racing Team 1 1 0 0 1 25 10th
International GT Open Emil Frey Racing 14 4 5 1 7 128 1st
2020 ADAC GT Masters GRT Grasser Racing Team 14 0 0 2 1 102 8th
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD 1 0 0 0 0 17 55th
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Emil Frey Racing 4 0 0 0 0 8 19th
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup 10 2 1 1 2 60.5 5th
Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2021 ADAC GT Masters GRT Grasser Racing Team 10 0 1 0 3 103 9th
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD 2 0 0 0 0 133 76th
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Emil Frey Racing 5 0 0 0 0 16 17th
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup 10 1 0 1 3 43.5 6th
Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2022 ADAC GT Masters Emil Frey Racing 14 1 1 2 3 140 4th
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 5 0 0 1 1 32 15th
Intercontinental GT Challenge
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Imperiale Racing 2 0 0 0 0 3 22nd
Stock Car Brasil Blau Motorsport

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos. Pts
2010 Epsilon Euskadi ALC
1
Ret 		ALC
2
4 		SPA
1
4 		SPA
2
19 		MON
1
3 		BRN
1
18 		BRN
2
10 		MAG
1
8 		MAG
2
5 		HUN
1
6 		HUN
2
2 		HOC
1
8 		HOC
2
17 		SIL
1
2 		SIL
2
8 		CAT
1
5 		CAT
2
10 		5th 78
2011 EPIC Racing ALC
1
4 		ALC
2
3 		SPA
1
3 		SPA
2
5 		MNZ
1
18 		MNZ
2
5 		MON
1
9 		NÜR
1
5 		NÜR
2
6 		HUN
1
Ret 		HUN
2
2 		SIL
1
5 		SIL
2
5 		LEC
1
DSQ 		LEC
2
7 		CAT
1
Ret 		CAT
2
1 		4th 151

References

  1. ^ "Albert Costa - Driver". www.instagram.com/acostabalboa. Albert Costa. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Thirty Three Cars for 2007 Series". fota.co.uk. British Formula 3 Championship. 20 March 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  3. ^ "Vodafone Bucharest Challenge 07: 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series". mstworld.com. MST Systems. 19 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Costa champion!". renault-sport.com. Renault Sport. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Weeks, James (22 February 2012). "Costa makes Eurocup Megane Trophy switch for 2012". motorstv.com. Motors TV. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albert Costa (racing driver).
Sporting positions
Preceded by Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Champion
2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Formula Renault 2.0 WEC
Champion
2009 		Succeeded by
None
(Series ended)
Preceded by Eurocup Mégane Trophy
Champion
2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by International GT Open
Champion
2019
With: Giacomo Altoè 		Succeeded by

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albert_Costa_(racing_driver)&oldid=1119233754"