Rodrigo Sperafico

Rodrigo Sperafico (born 23 July 1979) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently drives in the Stock Car Brasil series. He belongs to the Sperafico family of racing drivers, which includes twin brother Ricardo (with whom his career has been closely linked), along with cousins Alexandre and the late Rafael.

Career

Formula Ford Sperafico raced in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1997. Driving a Mygale chassis, he finished ninth in the final championship standings, behind Ricardo who finished second and then took third place in the annual Formula Ford Festival.

Formula Three The brothers took the unusual step of returning to South America for 1998 by competing in the Formula Three Sudamericana series. On this occasion, Rodrigo fared the better, finishing seventh to Ricardo's ninth. The following year, the pair both raced Dallara chassis for the Amir Nasr Racing team and proved closely matched: Rodrigo and Ricardo improved to third and fourth overall, behind champion Hoover Orsi and runner-up Jaime Melo.

Formula 3000 The Speraficos returned to Europe in 2000 to race in the Italian Formula 3000 series. Rodrigo signed for the Draco Junior Team alongside compatriot Leonardo Nienkötter, and finished fourth in the championship with one pole position and three podium finishes to his name. He finished behind Gabriele Lancieri, Warren Hughes and Ricardo, who was the drivers' champion.

For the following year, the brothers switched to the more prestigious International Formula 3000 championship; Rodrigo signed for Coloni alongside the experienced Fabrizio Gollin, whilst Ricardo partnered Antônio Pizzonia at the Super Nova Racing-run Petrobras Junior Team. Whilst Ricardo finished an impressive fifth in the championship, including a win at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Rodrigo's season was less successful: although he finished every race he started, he did not score any points, although he lost a potential podium finish at his home race after being penalised for overtaking under yellow flags. He was replaced by Marc Goossens after nine of the calendar's twelve races after his sponsorship deal ran out.

Sperafico tested for several teams in the off-season period, including Arden and Astromega. However, he eventually signed for the Durango team for the 2002 season, along with Alex Müller (who was later replaced by Derek Hill). He again competed alongside Ricardo, who kept his seat in the Petrobras team, and also on the occasion his cousin Alexandre, who moved up to International F3000 for a part-season with the Coloni-run Minardi junior team. Rodrigo began the championship strongly, winning the first race of the season at his home track of Interlagos, but was fortunate to take the victory as hitherto dominant leader Tomáš Enge suffered a mechanical problem. He then finished a close second to eventual title winner Sébastien Bourdais at the next race in Imola to take the championship lead. Thereafter his campaign faltered through inconsistency, and he took only one further podium finish. He eventually finished sixth in the championship, two points and one position behind Ricardo.

World Series by Nissan Sperafico also competed in eight races of the 2002 World Series by Nissan season for the Meycom team, finishing 18th in the championship with twelve points. He failed to retain a drive in F3000 for 2003 and took the year out, before returning to the World Series with the Vergani Racing team for four races of the 2004 season, in which he did not score any points.

Stock Car Brasil

During 2004, Sperafico moved back to Brazil to drive in the Stock Car Brasil championship, his single-seater career having effectively ended. Driving a part-season, he finished 25th in the championship. The following year, he drove a Chevrolet Astra for the WB Motorsport team, improving to 13th in the standings and taking a podium finish on the way. For 2006, he drove an Astra for JF Racing, and climbed to ninth place overall with three podiums.

For 2007, Sperafico again switched teams to Action Power, who also provided him with a different car, the Volkswagen Bora. He was joined in the series for the first time by Ricardo, who had also moved back to Brazil by this point in his own career. In his strongest season to date, which included three pole positions and two victories, Rodrigo finished runner-up to champion Cacá Bueno. The championship was marred, however, by the death of his cousin Rafael in a Stock Car Light race which supported the final Stock Car Brasil event of the season.

Sperafico moved to a Mitsubishi Lancer run by the Avallone Motorsport in 2008 called Terra Racing team for 2008, but faded to 14th in the championship. He drove a Peugeot 307 for part of the 2009 season, and also competed in the Copa Vicar. He reverted to a Bassani-run Chevrolet Astra for the 2010 season, but could only manage 24th position in the championship after leaving the team after two races, and then missing the next three races before returning to action with the Mico's Racing team.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing 1997 British Formula Ford ? ? ? ? 52 9th 1998 Formula Three Sudamericana ? ? ? 0 79 7th 1999 Formula Three Sudamericana Amir Nasr Racing 18 4 2 172 3rd 2000 Italian Formula 3000 Draco Junior Team 8 1 0 22 4th 2001 International Formula 3000 Coloni F3000 9 0 0 0 NC 2002 International Formula 3000 Durango Formula 12 0 1 20 6th World Series by Nissan Repsol Meycom 8 0 0 12 18th 2004 Stock Car Brasil Katalogo Racing 7 0 0 15 25th World Series by Nissan Vergani Racing 4 0 0 0 NC 2005 Stock Car Brasil WB Motorsport 12 0 0 57 13th 2006 Stock Car Brasil Neosoro JF Racing 12 0 0 223 9th 2007 Stock Car Brasil Biosintética Action Power 12 3 2 265 2nd 2008 Stock Car Brasil Terra Racing 11 0 0 45 14th 2009 Stock Car Brasil RZ Racing 3 0 0 8 26th Copa Vicar Carlos Alves Competições 2 1 1 41 12th 2010 Stock Car BrasilRC3 Bassani Racing 2 0 0 24 24th Mico's Racing 6 0 0

Complete Italian Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2000 Draco Junior Team VLL MUG IMO MNZ VLL DON PER MIS 4th 22

Complete International Formula 3000 results

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points 2004 Katálogo Racing Chevrolet Astra CTB INT TAR LON RIO INT CTB LON RIO BSB CGD INT 25th 15 2005 WB Motorsport Chevrolet Astra INT CTB RIO INT CTB LON BSB SCZ TAR ARG RIO INT 13th 57 2006 JF Racing Chevrolet Astra INT CTB CGD INT LON CTB SCZ BSB TAR ARG RIO INT 9th 223 2007 Biosintetica Racing Volkswagen Bora INT CTB CGD INT LON SCZ CTB BSB ARG TAR RIO INT 2nd 265 2008 Terra-Avallone Mitsubishi Lancer INT BSB CTB SCZ CGD INT RIO LON CTB BSB TAR INT 14th 45 2009 RZ Motorsport Peugeot 307 INT CTB BSB SCZ INT SAL RIO CDG CTB BSB TAR INT 26th 8 2010 RC3 Bassani Peugeot 307 INT CTB VE RIO RBP 24th 24 Mico's Racing SAL INT CGD LON SCZ BSB CTB 2011 JF Racing Peugeot 408 CTB INT RBP VEL CGD RIO INT SAL SCZ LON BSB VEL 21st 19 2012 Prati-Mico's Racing Peugeot 408 INT CTB VEL RBP LON RIO SAL CAS TAR CTB BSB INT 17th 65 2013 Prati-Mico's Racing Peugeot 408 INT CUR TAR SAL BRA CAS RBP CAS VEL CUR BRA INT 23rd 57 2014 Vogel Motorsport Chevrolet Sonic INT1 SCZ1 SCZ2 BRA1 BRA2 GOI1 GOI2 INT1 CAS1 CAS2 CUR1 CUR2 VEL1 VEL2 SAL1 SAL2 CUR1 CUR2 TAR1 TAR2 BRA1 NC† 0† † Ineligible for championship points.