Aaro Vainio

Aaro Vainio (born 2 October 1993) is a Finnish former racing driver who last competed in the 2019 GT World Challenge Europe. He previously competed in GP3 Series between 2011 and 2013. He currently acts as a mentor towards Formula 3 driver Tuukka Taponen.

Career

Karting Vainio enjoyed a successful karting career. He won the Finnish championship in 2007, and in 2008, he won the European KF3 Championship and the Junior Monaco Kart Cup. In 2009, he was runner-up in the CIK-FIA Karting World Championship and was the European KF1 Champion.

Formula Renault In 2010, Vainio stepped up to single-seater racing, driving for Tech 1 Racing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He had been expected to be part of the SG Formula team, but the team shut down. His manager was Nicolas Todt, Vainio was also a candidate for the Ferrari Young Driver Academy, but was unsuccessful. In the same year, he also competed in one round of the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, where he finished ninth in race two.

In 2012, Vainio returned to Formula Renault machinery to contest three rounds of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, replacing the underperforming Anton Nebylitskiy. Despite a slow start where he qualified in last place and retired from race one in his first round, he took a podium in the final race of the season.

GP3 Series For the 2011 racing season, Vainio moved into the GP3 series with Tech 1 Racing. He achieved a podium finish in his third race but only scored points twice during the remainder of the season, ultimately finishing 15th in the standings. where he took his maiden series win in the first ever GP3 race in Monaco. He finished the season fourth in the standings, behind António Félix da Costa, teammate Daniel Abt and champion Mitch Evans.

In 2013, Vainio once again competed in GP3, this time for new team Koiranen GP. This season was not as successful; despite winning two races, he left the series one round before the end and finished ninth in the standings.

GT racing After a hiatus from racing, Vainio entered the 2017 Italian GT Championship in the Super GT Cup, competing for Vincenzo Sospiri Racing alongside compatriot Tuomas Tujula. The pair won their class.

Vainio switched to ADAC GT Masters for 2018, racing for Team Rosberg with Michele Beretta. They scored points only twice during the campaign, finishing 37th overall and 17th in the Junior Cup.

Vainio last competed in the 2019 GT World Challenge Europe season, driving for R-Motorsport alongside Hugo de Sadeleer. They finished 15th overall, but were runners-up in the Silver Cup, with two class wins and an additional five class podiums. The pair also entered the 2019 24 Hours of Spa with Ricky Collard and Ferdinand Habsburg, but they did not finish the race.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles Podiums Points Position 2010 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Tech 1 Racing 16 0 2 2 5 101 4th Formula Renault UK 2 0 0 0 0 12 18th 2011 GP3 Series Tech 1 Racing 16 0 0 0 1 12 15th 2012 GP3 Series Lotus GP 16 1 2 0 4 123 4th Formula Renault 3.5 Series Team RFR 6 0 0 0 1 27 18th 2013 GP3 Series Koiranen GP 14 2 1 1 3 75 9th 2017 Italian GT Championship - Super GT Cup Vincenzo Sospiri Racing 14 2 3 6 7 161 1st 2018 ADAC GT Masters Team Rosberg 13 0 0 0 0 6 37th 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe R-Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 11.5 15th Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe - Silver Cup 10 2 0 0 7 99 2nd Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Silver Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP3 Series 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 12 13 14 15 16 Points 2011 Tech 1 RacingISTFEAISTSPRCATFEACATSPRVALFEAVALSPRSILFEASILSPRNÜRFEANÜRSPRHUNFEAHUNSPRSPAFEASPASPRMNZFEA22†MNZSPR 15th 12 2012 Lotus GP CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 4th 123 2013 Koiranen GP CATFEA CATSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR22† MNZFEA MNZSPRYMCFEAYMCSPR 9th 75

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 2012 Team RFR ALC1 ALC2 MON1 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MSC1 MSC2 SIL1 SIL2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 CAT1 CAT2 18th 27

Complete ADAC GT Masters 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 DC Points 2018 Team Rosberg Lamborghini Huracán GT3 OSC1 OSC2 MST1 MST2 RBR1 RBR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 37th 6

Complete Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe 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 10 Pos. Points 2019 R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Silver BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 2nd 99