André Bragança Macedo e Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a Macanese'This was the one race he wanted' John Carney. The Standard. 20 November 2000. motor racing driver who is best known for winning his home F3 Grand Prix in 2000 and the 2015 Super GT Series in the GT300 class.
Career
Early years Couto was born in Lisbon but moved to Macau with his family when he was four. He started his career in Karting in Macau influenced by the popular Macau Grand Prix and friends who competed in the local Karting championship. He rapidly enjoyed success and started competing and winning in international level. He moved to racing cars in 1995, where he competed in European Formula Opel Lotus (Winning a round in the Estoril Circuit). 1995 was also the debut year in the Formula Three event of the Macau Grand Prix, where he briefly led after a duel with race winner Ralf Schumacher.
Formula Three Couto competed in German Formula Three in 1996 before moving to the Italian series in 1997, where he finished the season as runner-up in the championship.
2000 Macau Grand Prix Couto competed in the F3 Macau Grand Prix six times, eventually winning it in 2000, after India's Narain Karthikeyan, 24, and Japan's Takuma Sato, 23, crashed out of contention in leg one. Couto, driving for Opel Team BSR and starting second on the grid for the decider, took the lead immediately and fought off the intentions of Paolo Montin, 24, and Japan's Ryo Fukuda, 21. When Robert Lechner crashed with two laps to go, the safety car was called out and the drivers drove in formation behind it to the chequered flag. It marked the first time a Macanese driver has won the Formula 3 race title. John Carney. The Standard. 20 November 2000.
Couto's win was a surreal experience for many but for Couto's father, Carlos, it was the proudest moment of his life. "This was the one race André always wanted to win," he said. "He was born in Lisbon but we moved back to Macau when he was four. My wife Isabel and I have now lived in Macau for many years. Isabel was born here and all her family is from here. This will always be André’s home. He speaks fluent Cantonese like most Portuguese people living here. He is a Macau citizen; it is what he wanted. We've lived here happily for many years. Today is a special day for everyone in Macau."
Formula 3000 Couto graduated to Formula 3000 in 1998 and stayed there for 1999 and 2000. Although he scored points on several occasions, he never achieved any great success. His best result was third place at the Nürburgring in 2000.
An assortment of drives
After leaving F3000 and winning the Macau Grand Prix Formula Three event in 2000, Couto competed in the Formula Nippon Championship in 2001 and competed in some races of the All-Japan GT Championship. For 2002 he moved to the World Series by Nissan, and finished seventh in the championship.
Touring car racing and sports car racing Since 2003, Couto has competed frequently in the Guia Race of Macau as part of the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) and later the World Touring Car Championship. He has competed at the race on different cars and teams: Alfa Romeo 156 and Honda Accord (for N.Technology), and SEAT León (for SEAT Sport and Sunred),
Since 2005, Couto has competed in the Super GT Championship in the GT500-class Lexus SC430, initially for SARD and in 2011 for Kraft. In November 2015, racing alongside his teammate Katsumasa Chiyo, André Couto was crowned the GT 300 champion with one round to go into the Super GT championship. He dedicated the victory to a “special one”, his late son Afonso, who succumbed to leukemia in 2010. Couto's GT300 title victory in 2015 made him the first foreign driver to win the GT300 drivers championship title and the only one to do so until João Paulo de Oliveira achieved a similar feat in 2020. Since Chiyo missed two rounds due to other obligations, Couto is also the first driver to win a Super GT driver's title on their own since both Ryo Michigami and Hideo Fukuyama in 2000.
On 8 July 2017, Couto was seriously hurt after crashing his Nissan GT-R GT3 in the China GT Championship race at Zhuhai International Circuit. He was taken to Sun Yat-sen University No.5 Hospital in Zhuhai for a CT scan that revealed a fracture to his L1 vertebra. He was then air lifted to Canossa Hospital in Hong Kong for an operation. Couto's father, Carlos, said that his son was not in a life-threatening situation.
Personal life Couto had a son, Afonso, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009. Several of his fellow WTCC drivers have carried stickers on their cars in the 2010 WTCC season to promote a website which is trying to find a suitable bone marrow donor. The GT Association and all teams of Super GT also launched a campaign towards bone marrow donation. A suitable bone marrow for Afonso was found on 9 May 2010 in Germany and his operation was successfully completed on 20 May 2010. Afonso died on 3 November 2010 from leukaemia treatment complications. He had been in the hospital for two weeks.
Racing record
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts 1998 Prema Powerteam Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd OSC IMO CAT SIL MON PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR 11th 7 1999 Gauloises Junior Lola T99/50 Zytek IMO MON CAT MAG SIL A1R HOC HUN SPA NÜR 13th 4 2000 Gauloises Formula Lola T99/50 Zytek IMO SIL CAT NÜR MON MAG A1R HOC HUN SPA 18th 4
Complete Formula Nippon results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts 2001 Team Morinaga NOVA G-Force GF03C Mugen SUZ MOT MIN FUJ 11th 5 Reynard 99L SUZ SUG FUJ MIN MOT SUZ
Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 2001Team Take OneMcLaren F1 GTRGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN9th38 2004Toyota Team SARDToyota SupraGT500TAISUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ2nd61 2005Toyota Team SARDToyota SupraGT500OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ16th21 2006Toyota Team SARDToyota SupraGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ23rd13 2007Toyota Team SARDLexus SC430GT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ15th21 2008Toyota Team SARDLexus SC430GT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ21st11 2009Lexus Team SARDLexus SC430GT500OKASUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT14th27 2010Lexus Team SARDLexus SC430GT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJMOT13th12 2011Lexus Team KraftLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT15th7 2012Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOHLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT9th36 2013Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOHLexus SC430GT500OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT14th9 2014Pacific Racing TeamPorsche 911 GT3GT300OKAFUJAUTSUGFUJSUZBURMOT30th5 2015 Gainer Nissan GTR GT300OKAFUJCHAFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT1st 94 2016 Gainer Nissan GT-R GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT MOT 8th 38 2017 D'station Racing Porsche 911 GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT 22nd 4 2019 JLOC Lamborghini Huracán GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ CHA FUJ AUT SUG MOT 8th 29
Complete European 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 DC Pts 2003 PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R VAL1 VAL2 MAG1 MAG2 PER1 PER2 BRN1 BRN2 DON1 DON2 SPA1 SPA2 AND1 AND2 OSC1 OSC2 EST1 EST2 MNZ1 MNZ2 18th 3
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 2005 Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 ITA1 ITA2 FRA1 FRA2 GBR1 GBR2 SMR1 SMR2 MEX1 MEX2 BEL1 BEL2 GER1 GER2 TUR1 TUR2 ESP1 ESP2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2006 SEAT Sport SEAT León ITA1 ITA2 FRA1 FRA2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 BRA1 BRA2 MEX1 MEX2 CZE1 CZE2 TUR1 TUR2 ESP1 ESP2 MAC1 MAC2 23rd 2 2007 Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 BRA1 BRA2 NED1 NED2 ESP1 ESP2 FRA1 FRA2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 SWE1 SWE2 GER1 GER2 GBR1 GBR2 ITA1 ITA2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2008 N.Technology Honda Accord Euro R 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 2009 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI BRA1 BRA2 MEX1 MEX2 MAR1 MAR2 FRA1 FRA2 ESP1 ESP2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ITA1 ITA2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2010 SR-Sport SEAT León TDI BRA1 BRA2 MAR1 MAR2 ITA1 ITA2 BEL1 BEL2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 CZE1 CZE2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2011 SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6T BRA1 BRA2 BEL1 BEL2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2012 Tuenti Racing Team SUNRED SR León 1.6T ITA1 ITA2 ESP1 ESP2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 POR1 POR2 BRA1 BRA2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0
Complete World Touring Car Cup 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 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2018 MacPro Racing Team Honda Civic Type R TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 GER1 GER2 GER3 NED1 NED2 NED3 POR1 POR2 POR3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 WUH1 WUH2 WUH3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 43rd 0
Complete Sepang 12 Hour results Year Car# Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2024 710 Madness Racing Team Han Shijie Chen Fangping He Xinyang Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO2 GT Cup 302 8th 1st
Complete GT World Challenge Asia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeamCar123456789101112DCPoints 2024 Elegant Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 EvoSEP1SEP2BUR1BUR2FUJ1FUJ2SUZ1SUZ2OKA1OKA2SHA1SHA2NC 0
References André Couto career statistics at driverdb.com, retrieved 11 November 2006.
External links
Official website (under construction) Fan Site (Japanese) (Archived 2009-10-25) Save Afonso (Couto's son) (News of Afonso's death)