André Couto

André Bragança Macedo e Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a Macanese motor racing driver who is best known for winning his home F3 Grand Prix in 2000 and the 2015 Super GT Series in the GT300 class.

Career

Early years Couto was born in Lisbon but moved to Macau with his family when he was four. He started his career in Karting in Macau influenced by the popular Macau Grand Prix and friends who competed in the local Karting championship. He rapidly enjoyed success and started competing and winning in international level. He moved to racing cars in 1995, where he competed in European Formula Opel Lotus (Winning a round in the Estoril Circuit). 1995 was also the debut year in the Formula Three event of the Macau Grand Prix, where he briefly led after a duel with race winner Ralf Schumacher.

Formula Three Couto competed in German Formula Three in 1996 before moving to the Italian series in 1997, where he finished the season as runner-up in the championship.

2000 Macau Grand Prix Couto competed in the F3 Macau Grand Prix six times, eventually winning it in 2000, after India's Narain Karthikeyan, 24, and Japan's Takuma Sato, 23, crashed out of contention in leg one. Couto, driving for Opel Team BSR and starting second on the grid for the decider, took the lead immediately and fought off the intentions of Paolo Montin, 24, and Japan's Ryo Fukuda, 21. When Robert Lechner crashed with two laps to go, the safety car was called out and the drivers drove in formation behind it to the chequered flag. It marked the first time a Macanese driver has won the Formula 3 race title.

Couto's win was a surreal experience for many but for Couto's father, Carlos, it was the proudest moment of his life. "This was the one race André always wanted to win," he said. "He was born in Lisbon but we moved back to Macau when he was four. My wife Isabel and I have now lived in Macau for many years. Isabel was born here and all her family is from here. This will always be André’s home. He speaks fluent Cantonese like most Portuguese people living here. He is a Macau citizen; it is what he wanted. We've lived here happily for many years. Today is a special day for everyone in Macau." Couto's GT300 title victory in 2015 made him the first foreign driver to win the GT300 drivers championship title and the only one to do so until João Paulo de Oliveira achieved a similar feat in 2020. Since Chiyo missed two rounds due to other obligations, Couto is also the first driver to win a Super GT driver's title on their own since both Ryo Michigami and Hideo Fukuyama in 2000.

On 8 July 2017, Couto was seriously hurt after crashing his Nissan GT-R GT3 in the China GT Championship race at Zhuhai International Circuit. He was taken to Sun Yat-sen University No.5 Hospital in Zhuhai for a CT scan that revealed a fracture to his L1 vertebra. He was then air lifted to Canossa Hospital in Hong Kong for an operation. Couto's father, Carlos, said that his son was not in a life-threatening situation.

Personal life Couto had a son, Afonso, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009. Several of his fellow WTCC drivers have carried stickers on their cars in the 2010 WTCC season to promote a website which is trying to find a suitable bone marrow donor. The GT Association and all teams of Super GT also launched a campaign towards bone marrow donation. A suitable bone marrow for Afonso was found on 9 May 2010 in Germany and his operation was successfully completed on 20 May 2010. Afonso died on 3 November 2010 from leukaemia treatment complications. He had been in the hospital for two weeks.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula Nippon results (key)

Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete European 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 DC Pts 2003 PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R VAL1 VAL2 MAG1 MAG2 PER1 PER2 BRN1 BRN2 DON1 DON2 SPA1 SPA2 AND1 AND2 OSC1 OSC2 EST1 EST2 MNZ1 MNZ2 18th 3

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 2018 MacPro Racing Team Honda Civic Type R TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 GER1 GER2 GER3 NED1 NED2 NED3 POR1 POR2 POR3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 WUH1 WUH2 WUH3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 43rd 0

Complete Sepang 12 Hour results Year Car# Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2024 710 Madness Racing Team Han Shijie Chen Fangping He Xinyang Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO2 GT Cup 302 8th 1st

Complete GT World Challenge Asia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)