New Car & Driver

Topics:  Felipe Guimarães

Andrew Herta
Bryan Herta Autosport
July 2, 2009

Bryan Herta Autosport is pleased to announce the addition of a new car and driver for the Corning 100 as they add Felipe Guimarães, the 18 year-old Brazilian who is perhaps most well known for his role as an A1 Team Brazil race driver, competing in the A1 Grand Prix series. Guimarães became youngest driver to score a podium finish when he finished second at Kyalami in South Africa. For the Corning 100 only, Guimarães will drive BHA’s new No. 29 entry with Ian Brown serving as his BHA race engineer.

FELIPE GUIMARAES: “I am really looking forward to my first race in the USA, especially at such a legendary circuit as Watkins Glen, which is very special as it is where fellow Brazilian and manager Emerson Fittipaldi won his first Formula 1 race. I expect some tough competition from the rest of the Firestone Indy Lights field, but I also feel I’ll be working with a great team here. There’s a lot of depth with Bryan (Herta), Steve (Newey), Ian (Brown) and the rest of the guys. I hope to be able to do more races in Firestone Indy Lights this summer, and I am sure I’ll be well prepared when the next A1GP season gets under way at Surfers’ Paradise, in Australia, in a few months.”

BRYAN HERTA: “We are looking forward to running Felipe in the #29 BHA entry at Watkins Glen. He is a talent with great potential and will be a welcome addition to our established drivers Daniel Herrington and James Davison of Vision Racing. We are all approaching the race at the Glen with a great deal of optimism.”

Having just turned 18 years of age, Felipe Guimarães is being touted as one of Brazil’s brightest future motor racing stars, with a natural speed and talent that belies his age and experience. The young driver began his single-seater career just two years ago in 2007, bursting onto the scene in a partial season of competition in the South American Formula 3 Championship. He forged his way to fourth place in the championship after scoring two race wins and six additional podiums, all the while racing against much more experienced drivers.

Guimarães joined A1 Team Brazil in March 2008 as a rookie driver at the Mexico City event. He piloted for the team again at the Shanghai race a month later, then travelled with the team to the season finale in the UK.

In the summer of 2008, Guimarães competed in three Euroseries 3000 events to gain further single-seater experience. Once again he drew attention by scoring a pole position in his first outing, then finishing on the podium with a second place finish in the race. In August, he won the coveted Brazilian National Karting Championship – the biggest competition of its kind – for the third time.

The 2008-2009 season with A1 Team Brazil saw him become the youngest driver to podium in the series, with a 2nd place finish in Kyalami, South Africa. He has been consistently quick in many of his races and qualifying attempts, posting lap times amongst the leaders. He now looks to build on his experience with Firestone Indy Lights, beginning with the road course at Watkins Glen International. Guimarães also sees this as an opportunity to stay sharp during his (A1 Team Brazil) off-season, and to be prepared for the start of the A1GP 2009/2010 season, in Australia in October.