Cao Hongwei (, born 17 February 1993), commonly known as Martin Cao, is a Chinese racing driver. He is a two-time champion of the TCR China Touring Car Championship, having won the title back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, and previously won the 2014 British Formula Three Championship.
Career
Asian championships Born in Changsha, Hunan Province, Cao began karting in 1999 at the age of six, and would compete in the China National Karting Championship for the first time in 2003. In 2009, at the age of sixteen, Cao, alongside Zhu Daiwei, would become the first Chinese driver in history to compete in the FIA World Karting Championship.
Cao stepped up to single-seater racing in 2008, competing in the Chinese Formula Ford Campus Championship. He won five races and clinched the championship with an advantage of seven points. Also in 2008, Cao finished third with seven podiums in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and also contested two races of the Formula BMW Pacific Championship, with Pacific Racing.
In 2009, Cao remained in Formula BMW Pacific but switched to Ao's Racing. He had six point-scoring finishes in nine races, finishing twelfth in the championship.
In 2010, Cao returned to the Asian Formula Renault Challenge with the FRD Racing Team. He won five out of the six races he contested – one more than champion Sandy Stuvik – and finished fourth in the championship.
Protyre Formula Renault In 2012, Cao moved to Europe and joined Fortec Motorsports to compete in Formula Renault BARC. He finished nine races in the points to take fourteenth position in the championship, with 100 points. He also finished fifth in the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.
Cao remained with Fortec into 2013, staying in the newly renamed Protyre Formula Renault Championship. He won a race at Rockingham and finished fourth in the final championship standings. He finished runner-up to Ben Barnicoat in the Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup at Rockingham, winning one of the event's three races.
British Formula 3 Championship Cao continued his collaboration with Fortec into the British Formula 3 Championship in 2014. He finished fifteen races on the podium, including four wins. He battled with his teammate Matt Rao for the title, and clinched the championship by just two points, ahead of Rao.
Racing record
Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2008 Ford Formula Campus Championship - China Category Baleno Team 8 5 2 4 6 58 1st Asian Formula Renault Challenge Pekka Saarinen Racing 13 0 0 0 7 231 3rd Formula BMW Pacific Pacific Racing 2 0 0 0 0 N/A NC† 2009 Formula BMW Pacific Ao's Racing Team 9 0 0 0 0 19 12th China Touring Car Championship Changan Ford 1 1 0 0 1 10 10th 2010 Asian Formula Renault Challenge FRD Racing Team 6 5 1 3 6 155 4th 2011 Asian Formula Renault Challenge FRD Racing Team 2 0 1 0 1 24 20th 2012 Formula Renault BARC Fortec Motorsports 13 0 0 0 0 100 14th Formula Renault BARC Winter Series 4 0 0 0 1 79 5th 2013 Protyre Formula Renault Championship Fortec Motorsports 16 1 1 0 5 296 4th Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup 3 1 0 0 2 79 2nd 2014 British Formula 3 Championship Fortec Motorsports 21 4 9 4 11 285 1st FIA Formula 3 European Championship300000NC† Zandvoort Masters 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th Macau Grand Prix20000N/ADNF 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Fortec Motorsports 15 0 0 0 0 0 30th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 17th 2016 China Touring Car Championship - Super Production 2.0 Changan Ford Racing Team 16 1 0 0 4 116 4th TCR International Series FRD Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2017 China Touring Car Championship Changan Ford Racing Team 16 1 0 1 3 121.5 3rdFRD LMP3 Series Eurasia Motorsport81004776th 2018 China Touring Car Championship Changan Ford Racing Team 16 1 0 0 6 121.5 2nd 2019 China Touring Car Championship Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team 16 2?? 3 151 2nd2020 China Touring Car Championship Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team162???1744th2021 China Touring Car Championship Team MG XPower12????1564th TCR Asia SeriesTCR China Touring Car Championship1130161462nd2022 China Touring Car Championship Team MG XPower12????1274th TCR Asia Series100002607th 2023 TCR China Touring Car Championship Hyundai N Team1240161781st2024 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-FWD Hyundai Driving Experience Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - TCR Hyundai Motorsport N 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR1 TCR World Tour Hyundai N Team 4 0 0 0 0 25 14th As Cao was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. * Season still in progress.
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results (key) 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 2015 Fortec Motorsports Mercedes SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 30th 0
Complete TCR International Series 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 DC Points 2016 FRD Motorsports Ford Focus TCR BHR1 BHR2 EST1 EST2 SPA1 SPA2 IMO1 IMO2 SAL1 SAL2 OSC1 OSC2 SOC1 SOC2 CHA1 CHA2 MRN1 MRN2 SEP1 SEP2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0
Complete TCR World Tour 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 DC Points 2024 Hyundai N Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR VAL1 VAL2 MRK1 MRK2 MOH1 MOH2 SAP1 SAP2 ELP1 ELP2 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 MAC1 MAC2 14th 25
References
External links