Duarte Félix da Costa

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In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is de Ortigão Ramos and the second or paternal family name is Félix da Costa.
Duarte Félix da Costa
NationalityPortugal Portuguese
Born (1985-05-31) 31 May 1985 (age 38)
Cascais, Portugal
Related toAntónio Félix da Costa (half-brother)
Previous series
2012
2011
2009, 2018
2009
2008-09
2008
2008, 2010
2007-10
2006
2006
2004-05		American Le Mans Series
Blancpain Endurance Series
International GT Open
European Touring Car Cup
Portuguese Touring Car Championship
World Touring Car Championship
SEAT León Eurocup
SEAT León Supercopa
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula BMW UK

Duarte Maria de Ortigão Ramos Félix da Costa (born May 31, 1985 in Cascais) is a Portuguese auto racing driver and driving coach.[1] He is the older half-brother of racing driver António Félix da Costa, whom Duarte also helps manage his racing career.[2] Félix da Costa has spent the majority of his motorsport career participating in touring car racing,[1] and would also take part in sports car racing later on in his career.

Career history[edit]

Félix da Costa began his career in karting and moved into racing cars in 2004 when he competed in the Formula BMW UK championship, where he raced for two years for Carlin Motorsport, finishing 13th and 10th in the championship standings.[3] He moved to Formula Renault in 2006, competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (which his brother Antonio won in 2009) and the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.[3]

Félix da Costa formerly raced in the SEAT León Supercopa from 2007 to 2010.

Having failed to win a race in single-seaters for three years, Félix da Costa moved to touring cars, racing in the SEAT León Supercopa one-make series in 2007, finishing 9th. He would also race in the SEAT León Eurocup in 2008, also finishing the season in 9th.[3] That same year, Félix da Costa earned a one-off guest drive in the World Touring Car Championship with Sunred Engineering after displaying strong performances at Oschersleben in the SEAT León Eurocup.[4] He would return to the SEAT León Eurocup in 2010, finishing the season in 6th.

In 2009, Félix da Costa competed in the Portuguese Touring Car Championship and would post a strong campaign, finishing the year in 2nd with three victories. He would also venture into sports car racing for the first time in his career, racing in the International GT Open with Escudería Roger Racing alongside Miquel Julià in a Ferrari F430 GT3. Félix da Costa also competed in the European Touring Car Cup at Braga for British Touring Car Championship team Bamboo Engineering in a Chevrolet Lacetti alongside Harry Vaulkhard. He and Vaulkhard locked out the second row of the grid during qualifying, and Félix da Costa would finish in 8th and 7th for both races.[5]

Félix da Costa competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series for 2011 with Leipert Motorsport, driving a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 GT3 alongside fellow countrymen Lourenço da Veiga and Ricardo Bravo. The trio completed the season 3rd in the GT3 Pro-Am class. He would also take part in the 2012 American Le Mans Monterey race at Laguna Seca the following year, finishing 31st in LMP2.

Since 2013, Félix da Costa has dedicated his time to coaching young drivers. He co-founded Synergy Driver Performance with fellow Portuguese racing driver Gonçalo Gomes in 2020 to elevate young drivers through their careers as they go through the categories of junior formula and sports car racing.[6]

In 2018, Félix da Costa returned to the International GT Open at the Monza round, racing with Drivex School in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Ricardo Baptista.

Personal life[edit]

Félix da Costa is married to Carlota Rocha, a psychologist.[2]

Racing record[edit]

Career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2004 Formula BMW UK Championship Carlin M/sport - Team Portugal 18 0 0 0 0 31 13th
2005 Formula BMW UK Championship Carlin Motorsport 20 0 0 0 1 64 10th
Formula BMW UK Winter Series Motaworld Racing 2 0 0 0 0 15 18th
2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 AR Motorsport 8 0 0 0 0 0 32nd
Koiranen Bros Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC AR Motorsport 15 0 1 1 0 140 12th
2007 SEAT León Supercopa Bastos Sport 15 0 1 0 1 45 9th
2008 SEAT León Supercopa Bastos Sport 3 0 0 0 0 5 25th
SEAT León Eurocup Bastos Sport 10 0 0 0 2 31 9th
FIA World Touring Car Championship SUNRED Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
FIA World Touring Car Championship – Yokohama Independents' Trophy SUNRED Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 2 24th
2009 Portuguese Touring Car Championship Bastos Sport 16 3 1 1 8 81 2nd
International GT Open Escudería Roger Racing 4 0 0 0 0 10 36th
European Touring Car Cup Bamboo Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 3 9th
2010 SEAT León Eurocup Zengő Motorsport 12 0 0 0 3 28.5 6th
SEAT León Supercopa Zengő Motorsport 3 0 0 0 0 1 29th
2011 Blancpain Endurance Series – GT3 Pro-Am Cup Team Rhino's Leipert 5 0 0 0 2 55 3rd
2012 2012 American Le Mans Series – LMP2 Project Libra 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2018 International GT Open Drivex School 2 0 0 0 0 7 13th

Complete World Touring Car Championship results[edit]

(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 DC Points
2008 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TFSI BRA
1 		BRA
2 		MEX
1 		MEX
2 		ESP
1 		ESP
2 		FRA
1 		FRA
2 		CZE
1 		CZE
2 		POR
1 		POR
2 		GBR
1 		GBR
2 		GER
1 		GER
2 		EUR
1 		EUR
2 		ITA
1
Ret 		ITA
2
20 		JPN
1 		JPN
2 		MAC
1 		MAC
2 		NC 0

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wood, Ida (2020-10-20). "The junior racing that kept Portugal entertained between grands prix". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  2. ^ a b "Duarte Félix da Costa, antigo piloto de automóveis, casou-se com Carlota Rocha no Alentejo". www.flash.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  3. ^ a b c http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/2892/career/ Career statistics at Driver Database
  4. ^ Meissner, Johan (2008-09-26). "Duarte Félix da Costa joins WTCC". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  5. ^ "TouringCarTimes - ETCC: Michelisz takes last second pole". web.archive.org. 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  6. ^ "Duarte Félix da Costa e Gonçalo Gomes criaram a Synergy Driver Performance". AutoSport (in European Portuguese). 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2024-04-16.

External links[edit]

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