Luca_Ghiotto

Luca Ghiotto

Luca Ghiotto

Italian racing driver (born 1995)


Luca Ghiotto (born 24 February 1995) is an Italian racing driver who is currently set to compete in the 2024 European Le Mans Series for Inter Europol Competition, having most recently competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for DAMS. He is currently the simulator driver for the Nissan Formula E Team.

Quick Facts Nationality, Born ...

Career

Karting

Born in Arzignano, Ghiotto entered karting in 2008, when he took the title in the KF3 class of the Champions Cup,[1] before he finished fourth the following year.[2] Ghiotto remained in the KF3 category until the end of 2010.

Formula Abarth

In 2011, Ghiotto made his début in single-seaters, taking part in the Formula Abarth series for Prema Powerteam.[3] He finished ninth in the Italian Series standings with a single podium at Misano, while in the European Series he finished sixth with four podiums.[4] He contested a sophomore campaign with the same team in 2012, improving to runner-up spots in both championships.[5]

Formula Renault

Ghiotto remained with Prema, as they moved to the 2-litre Formula Renault machinery to compete in the final rounds of Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC at the end of 2012. For 2013, Ghiotto had full-time campaigns in both Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, staying with Prema.[6] He took a podium finish at Le Castellet, as well as a victory at Spa,[7] and finished ninth in the final championship standings. In the Alps series, he scored five wins and finished as runner-up to teammate Antonio Fuoco. Also he won the main race of the Formula Renault 2.0 Pau Trophy.[8]

Ghiotto graduated to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2014, competing for International Draco Racing.[9]

GP3 Series

2014

Ghiotto made his debut in 2014, with Trident, at Spa, taking pole position on his debut.

2015

He remained with Trident for 2015, taking five victories in the season, but losing the title to Esteban Ocon by eight points.

GP2 Series

In February 2016, it was announced that Ghiotto would be graduating to the series, whilst continuing his collaboration with Trident. After a shaky start to the season, he claimed his first victory at the sprint race in Sepang and finished eighth in the overall standings.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2017

In 2017, Ghiotto switched to Russian Time. He took one victory that season and finished fourth in the championship. Originally, he won both races in Monza, but was denied the feature race win due to leaving the track after having avoiding contact with Nyck de Vries and Charles Leclerc. After Ghiotto was stripped of his win, the victory was given to his country-mate Antonio Fuoco.

2018

Ghiotto at the 2018 Spielberg Formula 2 round with Campos Racing

In 2018, he drove for Campos Racing alongside Israeli Roy Nissany. He took four podiums and finished 8th in the championship.

2019

Ghiotto at the 2019 Spielberg Formula 2 round with UNI-Virtuosi Racing

Ghiotto moved to Virtuosi Racing to partner Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou in 2019. Ghiotto started the season very well with pole position, second place at race 1, and victory at race 2 in Bahrain. However, he scored only 2 points at Azerbaijan. The Italian once again took pole position at Spain, but was hit by Campos driver Dorian Boccolacci, who was later penalized with a drive-through penalty. He charged through the field to finish 4th and achieved another podium in Race 2, finishing in 2nd. At Monaco, originally, he finished second at the feature race, but was disqualified, and in the second race he hit the Arden car of Tatiana Calderon and the MP Motorsport car of Mahaveer Raghunathan. Ghiotto had to retire the car, and was given a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision with the two drivers. At Le Castellet, he also had a nightmare weekend. In Race 1, he was hit by Juan Manuel Correa, causing him to retire with suspension damage. In Race 2, he only finished 13th, scoring no points. In Spielberg, he took two podium finishes with two second places. In Great Britain, he qualified 2nd behind his teammate Guanyu Zhou, who also made history with achieving the first pole position of a Chinese driver in GP2 or F2. He passed Guanyu before the first corner, and took the victory in the feature race. At Hungaroring, he finished 4th and 8th respectively. In Spa-Francorchamps, the two races were cancelled after a tragic accident in the feature race, after Giuliano Alesi lost control of his car due to a puncture, which provoked an accident, that resulted in serious injures for Juan Manuel Correa, and the death of French driver Anthoine Hubert. In Monza Ghiotto took the fastest lap along with second place in the feature race, but after making contact with Sérgio Sette Câmara and Nyck de Vries he only finished in 15th position in the sprint race. At Sochi he finished fourth in the first race with taking fastest lap once again, however he lost the podium to Louis Delétraz on the final lap. In the second race, he came from fifth on the grid to 1st place and took his third win of the year. In the final round at Abu Dhabi the Italian scored 8 points in the first race by finishing sixth. In the sprint race, he started third, but overtook Nicholas Latifi for second place. A few laps later he passed Trident driver Giuliano Alesi for the race lead. Due to the retirements of Artem Markelov, Sean Gelael and contact between Nikita Mazepin and Matevos Isaakyan, there were three virtual safety cars. By that, Ghiotto extended his race lead and comfortably won his fourth race of the year. The Italian driver finished third in the championship, just behind champion Nyck de Vries and runner-up Nicholas Latifi.

2020

In 2020 Ghiotto drove for the new Hitech Grand Prix team alongside Nikita Mazepin. He won the sprint race in Budapest and ended up tenth in the standings, five positions behind his Russian teammate. Ghiotto left Formula 2 at the end of the season.

2022

Ghiotto returned to the 2022 Formula 2 Championship on a one-off return at Monza, replacing Roy Nissany as the Israeli driver was serving a race ban.[10]

Formula One

In August 2017, Ghiotto participated in the post-Hungarian Grand Prix test for Williams Martini Racing.[11]

Formula E

In April 2023, Ghiotto was announced to drive for the Nissan Formula E Team during the Berlin rookie test, whilst also being confirmed as the team's simulator driver.[12][13] Ghiotto once again drove Formula E machinery during the rookie practice session at the Rome ePrix.[14] He then took part in the rookie pre-season test with the team for the 2023–24 season.[15]

IndyCar Series

Dale Coyne Racing (2024–)

In April 2024, Ghiotto signed a two-race contract to drive for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing for the races at Barber Motorsports Park and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.[16]

Karting record

Karting career summary

More information Season, Series ...

Racing record

Racing career summary

More information Season, Series ...

* Season still in progress.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. * Season still in progress.

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

* Season still in progress.

American open-wheel racing results

IndyCar Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

References

  1. "Champions Cup — KF3 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  2. "Championnat de France — Minime 2007". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  3. "Formula Abarth — Ghiotto joins Prema". premapowerteam.com. Prema Powerteam. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  4. Allen, Peter (30 March 2012). "PaddockScout Preview: Italian championships begin...in Spain!". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  5. Khorounzhiy, Valentin. "Roundup: Bianchi steals FR3.5 points lead with home win". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  6. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (8 February 2013). "Prema Powerteam promote Luca Ghiotto to the Eurocup". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  7. Musker, Ant (2 June 2013). "Ghiotto claims maiden Eurocup victory in Spa". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  8. "Race" (PDF). peterautoracing. Peter Auto. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  9. Allen, Peter (5 February 2014). "Ghiotto to make Formula Renault 3.5 step with Draco". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  10. Wood, Ida (7 September 2022). "Luca Ghiotto makes surprise F2 return with DAMS to replace Nissany". Formula Scout. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  11. "WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING CONFIRMS LUCA GHIOTTO FOR HUNGARY YOUNG DRIVER TEST". 25 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. "Nissan Formula E Team continues Season 10 preparation with Valencia test". nismo.com. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  13. Glendenning, Mark (25 April 2024). "Ghiotto to make IndyCar debut with Coyne at Barber". RACER. Retrieved 25 April 2024.


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