João Paulo de Oliveira

João Paulo de Oliveira
João Paulo de Oliveira
	de Oliveira at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	13 July 1981 (age 43); São Paulo, Brazil
Super GT career
Debut season	2006
Current team	Kondo Racing
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	56
Former teams	Hasemi Motorsport; Team Impul; D'station Racing AMR
Starts	153
Wins	14
Poles	7
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	1st in 2020 and 2022
Previous series
2011; 2009; 2006–08, 2010–12; 2004–05; 2003; 2003; 2001–03; 1999–2001	IndyCar Series; WTCC; Formula Nippon; All-Japan Formula Three; Austria Formula 3 Cup; British Formula 3; German Formula Three; Formula Three Sudamericana
Championship titles
2020, 2022; 2010; 2005; 2003; 1999	Super GT - GT300; Formula Nippon; All-Japan Formula Three; German Formula Three; F3 Sudamericana Class B

João Paulo Lima de Oliveira (born 13 July 1981) is a Brazilian professional racing driver currently competing in the Japanese Super GT series and in the FIA World Endurance Championship driving for the Vanwall Racing Team. He won the Super GT GT300 class championship in both 2020 and 2022^[1] and the Formula Nippon championship in 2010.

He is regarded as one of the most successful racing drivers to race in Japan in the last decade. JP, as he is known, has won in every category he competed in. After becoming the German F3 champion in 2003 by far, winning 13 out of 16 races, he arrived in Japan in 2004 and took the Japanese F3 title in next year with 7 wins. After that, he joined Nissan as their official factory driver for the next 13 years in Super GT and Super Formula. He is known for his speed and his in-depth ability for car development.

Racing career

Born in São Paulo, de Oliveira competed in kart racing only in 1997, then he moved on to Brazilian national Formula Ford and Formula Chevrolet championships in 1998.

Beginning in 1999, he started competing in Formula Three category. He won the 1999 South American Formula Three (Class B), the 2003 German Formula Three, and the 2005 Japanese Formula Three championships.

In 2006, de Oliveira debuted in the Super GT with a Hasemi Nissan Z GT500. The Brazilian continued as a Nissan Super GT driver with Kondo (2007-2010, 2017) and Impul (2011-2016). He won two titles, in 2020 and 2022, was runner-up in 2015, and claimed 9 wins and 19 podiums overall.

Also in 2006, he entered the last round of the Formula Nippon with 5Zigen. He also drove in Formula Nippon for Kondo in 2007 and 2008. After skipping 2009, he returned in 2010 with Impul. He won one title in 2020, was runner-up in 2014, and won 10 races and earned 23 podiums in the category. He retired from formula racing after the 2016 season.

de Oliveira made his World Touring Car Championship debut at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan for SUNRED Engineering. He drove as a wildcard entry in the finale round of the 2019 World Touring Car Cup at Sepang International Circuit in a Honda Civic Type R TCR run by KCMG.^[2] He qualified 13th with a time of 2:14.746. In race one, de Oliveira's experience on the track allowed him to finish the race in 5th overall and set the fastest lap of the track, and even assist championship contender Esteban Guerrieri.^[3] He dropped to 18th in race two, which was followed by a retirement in race 3 on lap 10 from 25th on the grid. His fifth place is the best position a wildcard driver had in 2019.

de Oliveira joined the Vanwall Racing Team in June 2023 to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship, replacing the departing Tom Dillmann; he had previously spoken of a desire to drive for the team^[4] and hoped to "escape his comfort zone". de Oliveira is scheduled to compete in the Monza and Fuji rounds of the championship; he will not compete at Bahrain due to clashing commitments with Super GT.^[5]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1999	Formula 3 Sudamericana	Cesário Fórmula	18	?	?	?	?	26	12th
1999	Formula 3 Sudamericana - Light	Cesário Fórmula	18	9	10	9	14	244	1st
2000	Formula 3 Sudamericana	Cesário F3	18	5	7	7	11	228	2nd
2001	German Formula 3 Championship	Swiss Racing Team	20	1	3	1	4	116	7th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	13th
	Korea Super Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	18th
	FIA European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Formula 3 Sudamericana	Cesário Fórmula	1	0	0	1	0	0†	NC†
2002	German Formula 3 Championship	Team Kolles Racing	12	0	0	2	0	16	12th
	German Formula 3 Championship	JB Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	16	12th
	Masters of Formula 3	JB Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	16th
2003	German Formula 3 Championship	JB Motorsport	16	13	12	15	15	329	1st
	Austria Formula 3 Cup		2	2	1	2	2	23	9th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	12th
	British Formula 3 Championship	Alan Docking Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2004	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Dome Project	19	6	8	10	11	211	2nd
2005	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	TOM'S	20	7	8	8	16	300	1st
2005	Macau Grand Prix	TOM'S	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2006	Super GT	Hasemi Motorsport	9	0	0	0	0	32	15th
2006	Formula Nippon	5Zigen	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2007	Super GT	Kondō Racing	9	1	0	0	1	34	10th
2007	Formula Nippon	Kondō Racing	9	0	0	0	1	18	8th
2008	Super GT	Kondō Racing	9	1	0	0	1	34	14th
2008	Formula Nippon	Kondō Racing	11	1	1	0	3	33	6th
2009	Super GT	Kondō Racing	9	1	0	0	2	48	8th
2009	World Touring Car Championship	SUNRED	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2010	Super GT	Kondō Racing	7	1	0	0	1	32	10th
2010	Formula Nippon	Team Impul	8	2	2	2	5	47.5	1st
2011	Super GT	Team Impul	8	1	0	0	3	49	5th
	Formula Nippon	Team Impul	7	1	2	2	2	28	3rd
	IndyCar Series	Conquest Racing	1	0	0	0	0	10	44th
2012	Super GT	Team Impul	8	1	1	1	1	45	4th
2012	Formula Nippon	Team Impul	8	1	2	3	3	34.5	5th
2013	Super GT	Team Impul	8	1	1	0	1	46	9th
2013	Super Formula	Team Impul	8	0	0	0	1	19	5th
2014	Super GT	Team Impul	8	1	1	1	4	60	6th
2014	Super Formula	Team Impul	9	3	2	6	5	39.5	2nd
2015	Super GT	Team Impul	8	0	1	0	4	74	2nd
2015	Super Formula	Team Impul	8	1	0	2	3	34	4th
2016	Super GT	Team Impul	8	1	2	0	1	43	8th
2016	Super Formula	Team Impul	9	1	0	0	1	15.5	7th
2017	Super GT	Kondō Racing	8	0	1	1	0	12	16th
2018	Super GT	Kondō Racing	8	0	0	0	0	23	14th
	Super Formula	Vantelin Team TOM'S	1	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
	Stock Car Brasil	Eurofarma RC	1	1	1	1	1	0	NC†
2019	Super GT - GT300	D'station Racing AMR	8	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Touring Car Cup	KCMG	3	0	0	1	0	0	NC†
	Intercontinental GT Challenge		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2020	Super GT - GT300	Kondō Racing	7	2	0	0	3	71	1st
2020	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	SS/YZ Studie	1	0	1	1	1	84‡	4th‡
2021	Super GT - GT300	Kondō Racing	8	1	0	0	3	55	2nd
2021	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	SS/YZ Racing with Studie	1	0	0	1	1	74‡	4th‡
2022	Super GT - GT300	Kondō Racing	8	1	0	0	2	52	1st
2023	Super GT - GT300	Kondō Racing	8	1	1	0	1	50	3rd
2023	FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar	Floyd Vanwall Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	0	22nd
2024	Super GT - GT300	Kondo Racing	6	0	0	0	2	29	6th*
2024	GT World Challenge Asia	Craft-Bamboo Racing	2	0	0	?	0	0	NC

^† As de Oliveira was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. As de Oliveira was a wildcard entry in the WTCR, he was not eligible for points. ‡ Team standings. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula 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	DC	Points
2006	Team 5Zigen	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	SUG	MOT	SUZ 8			NC	0
2007	Kondō Racing	FUJ Ret	SUZ 14	MOT 8	OKA 4	SUZ 7	FUJ 6	SUG Ret	MOT 8	SUZ 3			8th	18
2008	Kondō Racing	FUJ Ret	SUZ Ret	MOT 9	OKA 11	SUZ 4	SUZ 5	MOT 3	MOT 3	FUJ 1	FUJ 8	SUG 6	6th	33
2010	Team Impul	SUZ 2	MOT 1	FUJ 3	MOT 6	SUG 11	AUT 2	SUZ 4	SUZ 1				1st	47.5
2011		SUZ 6	AUT 4	FUJ 4	MOT 1	SUZ C	SUG DSQ	MOT 9	MOT 3				3rd	28
2012		SUZ 3	MOT 2	AUT Ret	FUJ 6	MOT 1	SUG 6	SUZ 4	SUZ Ret				5th	34.5
2013	Lenovo Team Impul	SUZ 6	AUT 4	FUJ 6	MOT 4	SUG Ret	SUZ 3	SUZ 17					5th	19
2014		SUZ 7	FUJ 1	FUJ 2	FUJ 14	MOT 1	AUT 3	SUG Ret	SUZ 1	SUZ 4			2nd	39.5
2015		SUZ 4	OKA 5	FUJ 1	MOT 3	AUT 5	SUG 7	SUZ Ret	SUZ 3				4th	34
2016	ITOCHU ENEX Team Impul	SUZ 10	OKA 19	FUJ 1	MOT Ret	OKA 8	OKA 5	SUG Ret	SUZ 8	SUZ 4			7th	15.5
2018	Vantelin Team TOM'S	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT 18	OKA	SUZ					23rd	0

Complete 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	Points
2006	Hasemi Motorsport	Nissan Z	GT500	SUZ 9	OKA 4	FUJ 12	SEP 7	SUG 13	SUZ 8	MOT 11	AUT 8	FUJ 8	15th	32
2007	Kondō Racing	Nissan Z		SUZ Ret	OKA 15	FUJ Ret	SEP 1	SUG 10	SUZ 10	MOT 5	AUT Ret	FUJ 5	10th	34
2008		Nissan GT-R		SUZ 5	OKA 8	FUJ 11	SEP 1	SUG 8	SUZ 7	MOT 14	AUT 16	FUJ 15	14th	34
2009				OKA 1	SUZ 8	FUJ 4	SEP 5	SUG 13	SUZ 11	FUJ 13	AUT 3	MOT 11	8th	48
2010				SUZ 1	OKA 12	FUJ 8	SEP 9	SUG 5	SUZ Ret	FUJ C	MOT 10		10th	32
2011	Team Impul			OKA 1	FUJ 14	SEP 15	SUG 13	SUZ 3	FUJ 2	AUT 10	MOT 9		5th	49
2012				OKA 10	FUJ 5	SEP 5	SUG Ret	SUZ 4	FUJ 1	AUT 10	MOT 10		4th	45
2013				OKA 6	FUJ 5	SEP 1	SUG Ret	SUZ 4	FUJ 6	AUT Ret	MOT 13		9th	46
2014				OKA 3	FUJ 1	AUT 3	SUG 9	FUJ 8	SUZ 10	BUR 3	MOT 13		6th	60
2015				OKA 7	FUJ 2	CHA 4	FUJ 3	SUZ 3	SUG 11	AUT 2	MOT 4		2nd	74
2016				OKA 5	FUJ 11	SUG Ret	FUJ 1	SUZ Ret	CHA 4	MOT 7	MOT 8		8th	43
2017	Kondō Racing			OKA 10	FUJ 12	AUT 9	SUG Ret	FUJ 13	SUZ 5	CHA Ret	MOT 12		16th	12
2018	Kondō Racing			OKA 6	FUJ 13	SUZ 9	CHA Ret	FUJ 6	SUG 6	AUT 7	MOT 10		14th	23
2019	D'station Racing AMR	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	GT300	OKA Ret	FUJ 27	SUZ Ret	CHA 19	FUJ 11	AUT 18	SUG 24	MOT 17		NC	0
2020	Kondō Racing	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3		FUJ 4	FUJ 5	SUZ 9	MOT 20	FUJ 1	SUZ 16	MOT 1	FUJ 2		1st	71
2021				OKA 1	FUJ 7	SUZ 26	MOT 8	SUG 3	AUT 11	MOT 3	FUJ 5		2nd	55
2022				OKA 1	FUJ 7‡	SUZ 3	FUJ 6	SUZ 13	SUG 4	AUT 5	MOT 19		1st	52
2023				OKA 10	FUJ 1	SUZ 4	FUJ 4	SUZ Ret	SUG 10	AUT 5	MOT 6		3rd	50
2024				OKA 15	FUJ 2	SUZ 16	FUJ 3	SUG 11	AUT 12	MOT	SUZ		6th*	29*

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. ^* 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
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 23	JPN 2 19	MAC 1	MAC 2	NC	0

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points	Ref
2011	Conquest Racing	Dallara	34	Honda	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	TXS	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	NHM	SNM	BAL	MOT 26	KTY	LVS	44th	10	^[6]

Complete World Touring Car Cup 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	25	26	27	28	29	30	DC	Points
2019	KCMG	Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8)	MAR 1	MAR 2	MAR 3	HUN 1	HUN 2	HUN 3	SVK 1	SVK 2	SVK 3	NED 1	NED 2	NED 3	GER 1	GER 2	GER 3	POR 1	POR 2	POR 3	CHN 1	CHN 2	CHN 3	JPN 1	JPN 2	JPN 3	MAC 1	MAC 2	MAC 3	MAL 1 5	MAL 2 18	MAL 3 Ret	NC‡	0‡

^‡ As de Oliveira was a Wildcard entry, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Rank	Points
2023	Floyd Vanwall Racing Team	Hypercar	Vanwall Vandervell 680	Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8	SEB	ALG	SPA	LMS	MNZ 12	FUJ 11	BHR	22nd	0

References

^ "News | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
^ "João Paulo de Oliveira joins Sepang finale with KCMG". TouringCarTimes. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
^ "Norbert Michelisz wins in mixed conditions to close in on title". TouringCarTimes. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
^ Klein, Jamie (16 June 2023). "Dillmann parts ways with Vanwall after latest Le Mans DNF". motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
^ Klein, Jamie (11 August 2023). "De Oliveira eyeing WEC GT3 opportunity after Monza debut". motorsport.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
^ "João Paulo de Oliveira – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

João Paulo de Oliveira career summary at DriverDB.com
João Paulo de Oliveira on Twitter

Sporting positions
Preceded by Gary Paffett	German Formula 3 Championship Champion 2003	Succeeded by Bastian Kolmsee
Preceded by Ronnie Quintarelli	Japanese Formula 3 Championship Champion 2005	Succeeded by Adrian Sutil
Preceded by Loïc Duval	Formula Nippon Champion 2010	Succeeded by André Lotterer
Preceded by Nirei Fukuzumi Shinichi Takagi	Super GT GT300 Champion 2020 With: Kiyoto Fujinami	Succeeded by Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi
Preceded by Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi	Super GT GT300 Champion 2022 With: Kiyoto Fujinami	Succeeded by Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai

[1] "News | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2022-11-07.

[2] "João Paulo de Oliveira joins Sepang finale with KCMG". TouringCarTimes. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.

[3] "Norbert Michelisz wins in mixed conditions to close in on title". TouringCarTimes. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.

[4] Klein, Jamie (16 June 2023). "Dillmann parts ways with Vanwall after latest Le Mans DNF". motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.

[cz-5] Klein, Jamie (11 August 2023). "De Oliveira eyeing WEC GT3 opportunity after Monza debut". motorsport.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.

[6] "João Paulo de Oliveira – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

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v t e German Formula Three champions
Three-time	Komossa
Two-time	Deutsch Jelinski Schäfer
One-time	Albers van Dam Deutz Dillmann Elkmann Eriksson Fontana Heidfeld Kaneishi Kirchhöfer Kolmsee Konrad Korten Kreuzer Kristensen Lamy Lang Leinders Maring Mohr Müller Nielsen Nissen Oliveira Paffett Pantano Pommer Scharmann Schneider Schumacher Sommer Stanaway Thiim Trulli Tung Vanthoor Verstappen Vervisch Weidler Wendlinger Winkelhock