Duarte Maria de Ortigão Ramos Félix da Costa (born May 31, 1985 in Cascais) is a Portuguese auto racing driver and driving coach. He has spent the majority of his motorsport career participating in touring car racing, and would also take part in sports car racing later on in his career.
Career history 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 tenth in the championship standings.http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/2892/career/ Career statistics at Driver Database 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. 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 ninth. He would also race in the SEAT León Eurocup in 2008, also finishing the season in ninth. 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. He would return to the SEAT León Eurocup in 2010, finishing the season in sixth.
In 2009, Félix da Costa competed in the Portuguese Touring Car Championship and would post a strong campaign, finishing the year in second 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 eighth and seventh for both races.
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 third 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 Rodrigo Loyo in 2015 to elevate young drivers through their careers as they go through the categories of junior formula and sports car racing.
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 Félix da Costa's younger half-brother António is also a racing driver best known for competing in Formula E, also to whom Duarte serves as manager.
Félix da Costa is married to psychologist Carlota Rocha.
Racing record
Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2004Formula BMW UK ChampionshipCarlin M/sport - Team Portugal1800003113th2005Formula BMW UK ChampionshipCarlin Motorsport2000016410thFormula BMW UK Winter SeriesMotaworld Racing200001518th2006Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0AR Motorsport80000032ndKoiranen Bros Motorsport200000Formula Renault 2.0 NECAR Motorsport15011014012th2007SEAT León SupercopaBastos Sport150101459th2008SEAT León SupercopaBastos Sport30000525thSEAT León EurocupBastos Sport100002319thFIA World Touring Car ChampionshipSUNRED Engineering200000NCFIA World Touring Car Championship – Yokohama Independents' TrophySUNRED Engineering20000224th2009Portuguese Touring Car ChampionshipBastos Sport16311881 2ndInternational GT OpenEscudería Roger Racing400001036thEuropean Touring Car CupBamboo Engineering2000039th2010SEAT León EurocupZengő Motorsport12000328.56thSEAT León SupercopaZengő Motorsport30000129th2011Blancpain Endurance Series – GT3 Pro-Am CupTeam Rhino's Leipert5000255 3rd20122012 American Le Mans Series – LMP2Project Libra100000NC2018International GT OpenDrivex School20000713th
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (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 DC Points2006 AR MotorsportZOL1ZOL2IST1IST2MIS1MIS2NÜR1NÜR2DON1DON2LMS1LMS232nd0Koiranen Bros. MotorsportCAT1CAT2
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results (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 DC Points 2006 AR MotorsportOSC1OSC2SPA1SPA2NÜR1NÜR2ZAN1ZAN2OSC1OSC2ASS1ASS2AND1AND2SAL1SAL2 12th 140
Complete World Touring Car Championship results (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 BRA1 BRA2 MEX1 MEX2 ESP1 ESP2 FRA1 FRA2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 EUR1 EUR2 ITA1 ITA2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0
References
External links