Gustavo Menezes | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Los Angeles, California, United States [1] | 19 September 1994
FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
Debut season | 2016 |
Current team | Peugeot TotalEnergies |
Racing licence | FIA Platinum |
Car number | 94 |
Former teams | Signatech Alpine Rebellion Racing Glickenhaus Racing |
Starts | 44 |
Championships | 1 (LMP2) |
Wins | 8 |
Poles | 9 |
Fastest laps | 2 |
Best finish | 1st in 2018 |
Previous series | |
2016-17 2014–15 2013 2013 2011–12 2011–12 2011 2010 | Asian Le Mans Series United SportsCar Championship American Le Mans Series German Formula Three Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Star Mazda Championship Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Pacific F2000 |
Championship titles | |
2016 | FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers |
Gustavo Soiblemann Menezes [2] (born 19 September 1994) is an American-Brazilian racing driver, currently racing for Peugeot Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship. [3]
Menezes began karting in 2002, but took his first championship in 2005 in the IKF Region 7 Sprint - HPV 1 Cadet. In 2008 he began karting outside the United States. In Asia he competed in the CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship becoming 5th in the championship in 2008. [4] That same year Carlos Sainz, Jr. won the championship. In Europe he competed in championship in among others Monaco, Sweden and Belgium. He competes in karting championship from time to time, but he started his single-seater career in 2010.
In 2013 Menezes competed in the German Formula Three. He drove the full season with Van Amersfoort Racing and won two races. [5] [6] He became 4th in the championship with 241 points.
Menezes began his endurance racing career in 2013, driving for RSR Racing in the American Le Mans Series in the Prototype Challenge class. He only entered the Petit Le Mans with co-drivers Bruno Junqueira and Duncan Ende and finished 29th overall and 6th in class.
Both in 2014 and 2015 he competed again with RSR Racing and again in the Prototype Challenge class. In those two seasons he entered three races. In 2014 he only entered the 24 Hours of Daytona, but he and his co-drivers were unable to finish and were classified in a disappointing 63rd position. In 2015 he entered the first two races of the season: the 24 Hours of Daytona, where he finished 34th overall and 4th in class, [7] and the 12 Hours of Sebring, where he finished 31st overall and 6th in class. [8]
After he had finished 4th in the championship in the German Formula Three, Menezes graduated to the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2014 and drove again with Van Amersfoort Racing. He finished 11th in the championship and managed to take two third-place finishes at Spa-Francorchamps. In 2015 he joined Jagonya Ayam with Carlin. [9]
Following a test at Bahrain near the end of 2015, Menezes signed for Signatech-Alpine to compete in the LMP2 category of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, partnering Nicolas Lapierre and Stéphane Richelmi. [10] [11] The team experienced a dominant campaign, winning four races, including three wins in a row and a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and ended up winning the title. [12] [13] As a result of his impressive debut season, Menezes was selected to drive a Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car at the post-season rookie test. [14] The American's hot streak continued into 2017, as he took two race wins in the Asian Le Mans Series held during the winter. However, the trio of Menezes, Tung Ho-Pin, and Thomas Laurent missed out on the overall title due to accident damage sustained at the start of the season finale. [15]
For the main 2017 campaign, ahead of which he was upgraded to gold-ranking by the FIA, Menezes returned to Signatech-Alpine for another season of the WEC, this time driving alongside a litany of other drivers throughout the year. [16] [17] Despite scoring three pole positions and five podiums, chief among which being a second successive triumph at the Circuit of the Americas, the team ended up third in the standings. [18]
In 2018, Menezes would not just contest the European Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing alongside Harrison Newey and Ryan Cullen (where the trio finished all six races on their way to ninth in the teams' standings), but also stepped up to the LMP1 class with Rebellion Racing for the 'Super Season' in the WEC. [19] [20] In a truncated LMP1 field, Rebellion stood out as the best of the privateer entries, as Menezes, Thomas Laurent, and Mathias Beche helped the No. 3 squad towards third in the championship. Highlights included an overall podium at the 2018 Le Mans race as well as a win at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, where a disqualification for both Toyota entries handed the win to Menezes and his teammates. [21] [22]
Menezes remained at Rebellion for the 2019–20 WEC season, this time partnering Bruno Senna and LMP1 rookie Norman Nato in the team's sole full-time entry. [23] This campaign saw more success, as the trio managed to win at both Shanghai and Austin, with a runner-up finish at the postponed 24 Hours of Le Mans to boot. [24] [25] [26]
Entering the new Le Mans Hypercar era, Menezes drove for Glickenhaus Racing at the 6 Hours of Monza in 2021, one of just four events the American participated in during the year – the others being appearances in the European Le Mans Series with DragonSpeed USA and G-Drive Racing. [27] [28] [29] Before the 2022 WEC campaign, it was announced that Menezes would join Peugeot Sport for their Hypercar class debut. [30] [31] He made appearances in all three of Peugeot's 2022 races as the team battled technical gremlins.
Menezes and Peugeot entered the WEC season full-time in 2023, as the American joined Nico Müller and Loïc Duval in the No. 94 lineup. [32] Having struggled throughout the year, the team came to the fore at Le Mans, with Müller taking the lead during the night. [33] Unfortunately, shortly after entering the car, Menezes spun from the lead, leaving the team to struggle towards a 12th-place finish. [34] At the end of the year, which Menezes ended 11th in the drivers' standings, the American ended his tenure at the French manufacturer. [35] [36]
† As Menezes was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Interwetten.com Racing Junior Team | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | IMO 1 13 | IMO 2 8 | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | HUN 1 10 | HUN 2 14 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | SPA 1 5 | SPA 2 6 | 18th | 68 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | 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 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Van Amersfoort Racing | OSC1 1 3 | OSC1 2 6 | OSC1 2 6 | SPA 1 3 | SPA 2 4 | SPA 3 7 | NÜR1 1 7 | NÜR1 2 C | NÜR1 3 7 | SAC 1 15† | SAC 2 7 | SAC 3 3 | LAU1 1 5 | LAU1 2 1 | LAU1 3 4 | NÜR2 1 4 | NÜR2 2 8 | NÜR2 3 3 | LAU2 1 4 | LAU2 2 4 | LAU2 3 4 | OSC2 1 3 | OSC2 2 7 | OSC2 3 2 | HOC 1 5 | HOC 2 1 | HOC 3 4 | 4th | 241 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Engine | 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 | 31 | 32 | 33 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Van Amersfoort Racing | Volkswagen | SIL 1 16 | SIL 2 13 | SIL 3 18 | HOC 1 Ret | HOC 2 21 | HOC 3 9 | PAU 1 15 | PAU 2 13 | PAU 3 Ret | HUN 1 17 | HUN 2 7 | HUN 3 8 | SPA 1 6 | SPA 2 3 | SPA 3 3 | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 10 | NOR 3 5 | MSC 1 10 | MSC 2 15 | MSC 3 12 | RBR 1 7 | RBR 2 5 | RBR 3 8 | NÜR 1 14 | NÜR 2 13 | NÜR 3 13 | IMO 1 Ret | IMO 2 10 | IMO 3 10 | HOC 1 8 | HOC 2 9 | HOC 3 16 | 11th | 91 |
2015 | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Volkswagen | SIL 1 7 | SIL 2 18 | SIL 3 4 | HOC 1 9 | HOC 2 7 | HOC 3 11 | PAU 1 15 | PAU 2 14 | PAU 3 Ret | MNZ 1 13 | MNZ 2 5 | MNZ 3 6 | SPA 1 22 | SPA 2 Ret | SPA 3 DNS | NOR 1 7 | NOR 2 7 | NOR 3 Ret | ZAN 1 16 | ZAN 2 10 | ZAN 3 Ret | RBR 1 8 | RBR 2 10 | RBR 3 12 | ALG 1 15 | ALG 2 4 | ALG 3 Ret | NÜR 1 14 | NÜR 2 Ret | NÜR 3 14 | HOC 1 20 | HOC 2 12 | HOC 3 13 | 12th | 65 |
(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)
Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | RSR Racing | PC | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8. | DAY 9 | SEB | LGA | KAN | WGL | IMS | ELK | VIR | COA | PET | 59th | 1 | ||
2015 | RSR Racing | PC | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8. | DAY 4 | SEB 6 | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | COA | PET 6 | 23rd | 53 | ||
2017 | 3GT Racing | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | Lexus 5.0 L V8 | DAY 27 | SEB | LBH | COA | DET | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | LGA | 85th | 4 | |
Rebellion Racing | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | PET 8 | 35th | 23 | ||||||||||||
2018 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 7 | SEB | LBH | MDO | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 54th | 24 | ||
2020 | DragonSpeed USA | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY | SEB 5 | ELK | ATL | PET | LGA | SEB | 23rd | 26 |
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Olsbergs MSE | Lites Ford Fiesta | FTA | DAY | DAY | MCAS | DET | DET | DC | LA | LA | BAR | BAR | LV 9 | 20th | 11 |
Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Signatech-Alpine | LMP2 | Alpine A460 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 4 | SPA 1 | LMS 1 | NÜR 1 | MEX 2 | COA 1 | FUJ 3 | SHA 4 | BHR 3 | 1st | 199 |
2017 | Signatech Alpine Matmut | LMP2 | Alpine A470 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SIL 4 | SPA 5 | LMS 5 | NÜR 3 | MEX 2 | COA 1 | FUJ 2 | SHA 2 | BHR 4 | 4th | 151 |
2018–19 | Rebellion Racing | LMP1 | Rebellion R13 | Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 | SPA 3 | LMS 3 | SIL 1 | FUJ Ret | SHA 5 | SEB 7 | SPA 2 | LMS 5 | 3rd | 114 | |
2019–20 | Rebellion Racing | LMP1 | Rebellion R13 | Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 | SIL 9 | FUJ 3 | SHA 1 | BHR 3 | COA 1 | SPA 3 | LMS 2 | BHR | 3rd | 145 | |
2021 | Glickenhaus Racing | Hypercar | Glickenhaus SCG 007 LMH | Glickenhaus 3.5 L Turbo V8 | SPA | ALG | MNZ Ret | LMS | BHR | BHR | 8th | 0 | |||
2022 | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Hypercar | Peugeot 9X8 | Peugeot 2.6 L Turbo V6 | SEB | SPA | LMS | MNZ 4 | FUJ 5 | BHR 4 | 6th | 40 | |||
2023 | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Hypercar | Peugeot 9X8 | Peugeot 2.6 L Turbo V6 | SEB NC | ALG 5 | SPA 9 | LMS 9 | MNZ 11 | FUJ 7 | BHR 8 | 11th | 28 |
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Signatech Alpine | Nicolas Lapierre Stéphane Richelmi | Alpine A460 | LMP2 | 357 | 5th | 1st |
2017 | Signatech Alpine Matmut | Romain Dumas Matt Rao | Alpine A470-Gibson | LMP2 | 351 | 10th | 8th |
2018 | Rebellion Racing | Mathias Beche Thomas Laurent | Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 376 | 3rd | 3rd |
2019 | Rebellion Racing | Nathanaël Berthon Thomas Laurent | Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 370 | 5th | 5th |
2020 | Rebellion Racing | Norman Nato Bruno Senna | Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 382 | 2nd | 2nd |
2023 | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Loïc Duval Nico Müller | Peugeot 9X8 | Hypercar | 312 | 27th | 12th |
Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | APR - Rebellion Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 15 | MNZ 8 | RBR 6 | SIL 5 | SPA 15‡ | ALG 12 | 12th | 23.25 |
2021 | DragonSpeed USA | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | CAT | RBR 12 | LEC WD | MNZ | 23rd | 10.5 | ||
G-Drive Racing | Aurus 01 | SPA 7 | ALG 8 |
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
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