Antonio García (racing driver)
Quick Facts
Biography
Antonio García Navarro (born June 5, 1980) is a Spanish professional racing driver. He has three class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning GT1 with Aston Martin Racing in 2008 and with Corvette Racing in 2009 (GT1) and 2011 (GTE-Pro).
Single-seater career
After a childhood in karting, Madrid-born García began racing cars in Formula Renault Campus in 1997. In 1998 he moved to the new Open Fortuna by Nissan series. The series changed its name to World Series by Nissan in 1999 and in 2000, García was the series champion with Campos Motorsport. This success saw García have a part-time opportunity to race in International Formula 3000 in 2001 and make his sports car debut in the FIA GT Championship. In 2002 he returned full-time to World Series by Nissan, was a test driver for Minardi, and finished 12th in FIA GT. In 2003 he moved full-time to the European Touring Car Championship driving a Ravaglia Motorsport BMW to 8th place in points. He improved to 7th place with the same team in 2004. The series became the World Touring Car Championship in 2005 and he finished 9th in points.
In December 2014 it was announced that García would drive for China Racing in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix in Uruguay, the third round of the 2014–15 Formula E season. He replaced Ho-Pin Tung who participated in the Abu Dhabi Gulf 12-hour race.
Sportscar career
García made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in 2006 but did not participate in any racing full-time. He returned to full-time action in 2007 competing in the Le Mans Series in the Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9, finishing 6th in points. García signed on with the Cheever Racing team in the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2008, but the team struggled with their new Coyote/Fabcar and García only finished 21st in points. He also participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the factory Aston Martin Racing DBR9 which won the GT1 class. He drove for Brumos Racing in the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona, winning with teammates David Donohue, Darren Law, and Buddy Rice. He signed on with Corvette Racing to compete in the full season of the American Le Mans Series starting in 2009.
Beginning in 2012, García competed in some Rolex Sports Car Series events with Spirit of Daytona Racing.
García is a good friend of Formula One champion Fernando Alonso from their days together in karting. Alonso attended the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans as a guest of García.
Results
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Red Bull Junior Team F3000 | INT Ret | IMO 16 | CAT 10 | A1R Ret | MON | NUR | MAG | SIL | HOC | 26th | 0 | |||
Durango Formula | HUN 10 | SPA 16 | MNZ 11 |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | BMW Team-Italy Spain | BMW 320i | ITA 1 5 | ITA 2 3 | FRA 1 5 | FRA 2 4 | GBR 1 15 | GBR 2 Ret | SMR 1 2 | SMR 2 9 | MEX 1 5 | MEX 2 2 | BEL 1 6 | BEL 2 8 | GER 1 14 | GER 2 9 | TUR 1 4 | TUR 2 Ret | ESP 1 14 | ESP 2 6 | MAC 1 9 | MAC 2 DNS | 9th | 51 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Russian Age Racing Team Modena | David Brabham Nelson Piquet Jr. | Aston Martin DBR9 | GT1 | 343 | 9th | 4th |
2007 | Team Modena | Jos Menten Christian Fittipaldi | Aston Martin DBR9 | GT1 | 318 | 17th | 10th |
2008 | Aston Martin Racing | David Brabham Darren Turner | Aston Martin DBR9 | GT1 | 344 | 13th | 1st |
2009 | Corvette Racing | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GT1 | 342 | 15th | 1st |
2010 | Corvette Racing | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GT2 | 225 | DNF | DNF |
2011 | Corvette Racing | Olivier Beretta Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Pro | 314 | 11th | 1st |
2012 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Jordan Taylor | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Pro | 326 | 23rd | 5th |
2013 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Jordan Taylor | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Pro | 312 | 19th | 4th |
2014 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Jordan Taylor | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTE Pro | 338 | 14th | 2nd |
2015 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Ryan Briscoe | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTE Pro | 0 | DNS | DNS |
2016 | Corvette Racing – GM | Jan Magnussen Ricky Taylor | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTE Pro | 336 | 25th | 7th |
24 Hours of Daytona results
Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Cheever Racing | Matteo Bobbi Stéphane Ortelli Fabio Babini | Coyote CC/08-Pontiac | DP | 170 | 58th DNF | 22nd DNF |
2009 | Brumos Racing | Darren Law David Donohue Buddy Rice | Riley Mk. XI-Porsche | DP | 735 | 1st | 1st |
2010 | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Darren Manning Paul Menard Buddy Rice | Coyote CC/09-Porsche | DP | 346 | 32nd DNF | 13th DNF |
2011 | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Paul Edwards Sascha Maassen | Coyote CC/09-Chevrolet | DP | 649 | 24th DNF | 14th DNF |
2012 | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Oliver Gavin Jan Magnussen Richard Westbrook | Coyote Corvette DP | DP | 746 | 8th | 8th |
2013 | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Oliver Gavin Ricky Taylor Richard Westbrook | Coyote Corvette DP | DP | 697 | 5th | 5th |
2014 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Ryan Briscoe | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTLM | 329 | 60th DNF | 10th DNF |
2015 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Ryan Briscoe | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTLM | 725 | 4th | 1st |
2016 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | GTLM | 722 | 8th | 2nd |
Complete Formula E 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 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014–15 | China Racing | Spark-Renault SRT 01E | BEI | PUT | PDE 11 | BNA | MIA | LBH | MON | BER | MOS 19 | LON | LON | 28th | 0 |