Nico Pino

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NationalityChile Chilean
BornNicolás Ignacio Pino Muñoz
(2004-09-21) 21 September 2004 (age 21)
Santiago, Chile
Debut season2024
Current teamProton Competition
Nico Pino
NationalityChile Chilean
BornNicolás Ignacio Pino Muñoz
(2004-09-21) 21 September 2004 (age 21)
Santiago, Chile
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2024
Current teamProton Competition
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number99
Former teamsUnited Autosports
Starts14 (14 entries)
Wins0
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish18th in 2024 (LMGT3)
Previous series
2021-24
2022-23
2021-22
2021
2020
2019
European Le Mans Series
Asian Le Mans Series
EF Open Championship
Supercars Endurance GT4 South
F4 British Championship
F4 SEA Championship

Nicolás Ignacio Pino Muñoz (born 21 September 2004) is a Chilean racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for JDC–Miller MotorSports.[1]

Karting

Pino at the FIA Karting World Championship in 2022.

Pino began his racing career in karting at the age of eight in Santiago de Chile until the age of thirteen, when he moved to compete on the European and World karting scene.[citation needed]

Lower formulae

After karting, Pino progressed into Formula 4, making appearances in the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship in 2019.[citation needed] In 2020, he switched to the British F4 Championship, joining Argenti Motorsport.[2] However, following just four rounds, Pino left the series.[citation needed]

At the end of 2021, Pino returned to single-seaters, racing in the Euroformula Open Championship round at Monza Circuit.[3] Pino returned to the series at the start of the following year, where he would partake in three rounds with Drivex.[4]

Prototype and Endurance racing

2021–22: LMP3 successes

At the back end of 2021, Pino joined Inter Europol Competition for the final two races of the European Le Mans Series, driving in the LMP3 class.[5]

Beginning 2022, Pino would drive for IEC in the Asian Le Mans Series, where he and fellow full-time teammate Guilherme Oliveira ended up seventh in the nine-car championship.[6] Pino then embarked on a complete campaign in the ELMS, returning to IEC to partner Oliveira and Charles Crews.[7][8] Despite being disqualified from the opening round due to a technical infringement, the No. 13 crew went on a title charge, winning three successive races in Monza, Barcelona, and Spa.[9][10][11][12] However, following a collision between Pino and the LMP2 of Mathias Beche, the team would be forced to retire after Oliveira experienced a late crash with a GT entry, leaving the team second in the standings.[13]

During the same year, Pino competed in two rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, scoring a podium at the Petit Le Mans event with Sean Creech Motorsport.[14]

2023: LMP2 step-up

The AsLMS at the start of 2023 heralded Pino's debut in the LMP2 category, as he partnered László Tóth and team owner Miro Konôpka at ARC Bratislava.[15] Their entry struggled throughout the four-race campaign, taking a best finish of seventh and classifying ninth and last in the teams' standings.[citation needed]

Pino on the podium of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans where he finished third in the LMP2 class

Pino split his attention between Europe and America during the summer, racing alongside René Binder and former WEC and Le Mans champion Neel Jani for Duqueine Team in the ELMS, whilst also partaking in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with Sean Creech Motorsport's LMP3 outfit.[16][17] With two Pro class podiums in the former, Pino and his teammates secured fourth place in the standings; the latter series brought second-placed finishes at Daytona and Road America.[18] Pino, Jani, and Binder also drove at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team scored a class podium with third place.[19][20]

2024: WEC debut, ELMS & IMSA

In 2024, Pino made his debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship, competing in the newly-formed LMGT3 category for United Autosports. Additionally, he signed to race with Nielsen Racing in the European Le Mans Series and took the place of the re-ranked Alex Quinn in United's MEC lineup in IMSA.[21][22][23] At the end of April, it was also announced that Pino had joined Stellantis Motorsport.[24]

Racing record

References

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