Raphael Matos

Raphael Matos ( born August 28, 1981 in Belo Horizonte ) is a Brazilian racing driver. In 2007 he won the Atlantic Championship and in 2008 he won the championship title of the Indy Lights. From 2009 to 2011, he was active in the IndyCar Series.

Career

Matos began his motorsport career in 1996 in karting, where he was active until 2000. In 2001 he moved to Formula racing and participated in the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet. He was vice-champion of the Skip Barber Mid Western Regional Series 2002. He also made ​​his debut in the national Formula Dodge, their league title a year later won against Salvador Durán. In 2004 he moved to the Star Mazda Series and ended his first season with two podium finishes in seventh place overall. In 2005, he remained in this championship and secured the league title with four wins.

In 2006, the Brazilian in the Formula Atlantic to Sierra Sierra Enterprises. He drove a victory and finished at the end of the season fourth overall. He also recorded for Guthrie Racing part in four races in the IRL Pro Series and two of them decided for themselves. At the end of the season took the racers who had participated in only one third of the season in tenth place in the overall standings. In addition, he was in a race his debut in the American Le Mans Series ( ALMS).

In winter 2006/2007 Matos was active in the A1 Grand Prix series as one of four drivers for the Brazilian team. With a sixth place he scored the best finish of his team. His main focus in 2007 was again on the Atlantic Championship, where he stayed with Sierra Sierra Enterprises. Matos won half of the races and finished all the races in the top six drivers. With 341 to 310 points, he won the championship before Franck Perera. In 2008, Matos decided against a change in the Champ Car Series and moved to the Indy Lights, the former IRL Pro Series. He received a contract with AFS Racing / Andretti Green Racing and secured with three wins another title.

Thanks to these 2009 he received a cockpit in the IndyCar Series in Luczo Dragon Racing, which for the first time played a full season under Part inserts 2007 and 2008. For his second race, he finished in eighth place, he was able to qualify in third place. At the Indianapolis 500, he was in a collision with Vitor Meira, who was injured and had to sit the rest of the season involved. With a sixth place as best result, he finished the season 13th overall. He also received the award of best newcomer. 2010 remained Matos at his team, which had changed its name to de Ferran Dragon Racing. With two fourth places at the end of the season, he finished 14th place overall.

After de Ferran Dragon Racing had set on racing the 2011 season, Matos received with AFS Racing, for which he had already raced in the Indy Lights, an IndyCar cockpit for the first five races .. In the Indianapolis 500, he failed at the qualification. At the end of the season he was on the 30th place overall.

Career stations

  • 2005: Star Mazda Series ( Master )
  • 2006: Atlantic Championship ( 4th place)
  • 2006: IRL Pro Series (No. 10)
  • 2007: A1 Grand Prix
  • 2007: Atlantic Championship ( Champion)
  • 2008: Indy Lights (Master)
  • 2009: IndyCar Series (No. 13)
  • 2010: IndyCar Series (No. 14)
  • 2011: IndyCar Series (No. 30)

Individual results in the IndyCar Series

( Legend)

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