Albert Costa (racing driver)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Albert Costa
File:Albert Costa.JPG
Albert Costa at the 2011 Nürburgring World Series by Renault round
Nationality Spain Spanish
Born (1990-05-02) 2 May 1990 (age 34)
Barcelona (Spain)
Eurocup Megane Trophy career
Debut season 2012
Current team Oregon Team
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.

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

File:Albert Costa Nürburgring 2011 (2).JPG
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 F3 National Class 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

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 Points
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

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Champion
2009		 Succeeded by
Kevin Korjus
Preceded by Formula Renault 2.0 WEC
Champion
2009		 Succeeded by
none
Preceded by Eurocup Mégane Trophy
Champion
2012		 Succeeded by
Mirko Bortolotti
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Albert_Costa_(racing_driver)&oldid=1718672"