Rodrigo Baptista
Brazilian racing driver (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rodrigo Annicchino Dellape "Digo" Baptista (born 13 September 1996) is a Brazilian racing driver who last competed in TCR South America for Squadra Martino.
.jpg)
Brazilian
FIA Silver (until 2019)
FIA Gold (2020–)| Rodrigo Baptista | |
|---|---|
Baptista in 2019 | |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Born | 13 September 1996 São Paulo, Brazil |
| Relatives | Bruno Baptista (cousin) |
| Racing licence | FIA Silver (until 2019) FIA Gold (2020–) |
| Championship titles | |
| 2017 | Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil |
Personal life
Baptista is part of a racing family. He is the nephew of Ricardo Baptista and the son of Adalberto Baptista, who both are racing drivers,[1][2] as well as being the cousin of Cadi and Bruno Baptista, also racing drivers.[3][4]
Career
Baptista made his single-seater debut in 2014, making a one-off appearance in the Formula 4 Sudamericana.[5] Remaining in single-seaters for 2015, Baptista joined Prop Car Racing for his only season in Formula 3 Brasil, in which he scored a lone win at Velopark and five other podiums to end the year fourth in points.[6] In parallel, Baptista also raced in Brasileiro de Marcas for Toyota Bassani,[7] taking his only win of the season at Goiânia en route to an 11th-place points finish.[8]
The following year, Baptista joined ETEC Motorsport to competed in the Toyota Racing Series at the beginning of the year.[9] In the five-round winter series, Baptista scored a best result of ninth in race one at Teretonga Park, helping him end the season 16th in points.[10] For the rest of the year, Baptista made his debut in GT3 competition, racing in both the Blancpain GT Series Sprint and Endurance Cups for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.[11] Taking a best result of 11th in the former, Baptista found more success in the latter, finishing third at Le Castellet to end the year 15th in points.[12] During 2016, Baptista also made a one-off appearance in the Renault Sport Trophy for Oregon Team.[13]
In 2017, Baptista joined Flying Lizard Motorsports to race in the GTS class of the Pirelli World Challenge.[14] In his first season in the series, Baptista won both races at Lime Rock,[15] before taking further wins in Utah and Circuit of the Americas en route to a fourth-place points finish.[16][17] In parallel, Baptista raced in Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil,[18] taking seven wins and three further podiums to secure the title at the end of the year.[19] Stepping up to the GT class for 2018, Baptista joined Bentley-affiliated K-PAX Racing to race in both the Pirelli World Challenge and the SprintX GT Championship Series.[20] In the former, Baptista took his first win at VIR, before winning both races at Watkins Glen to end the year fourth in points.[21] In the latter, Baptista took his only win of the season at VIR to also finish fourth in the season standings.[22] During 2018, Baptista also raced for the same team at the California 8 Hours.[23]
Remaining with K-PAX Racing for 2019, Baptista raced with them in the newly rebranded Blancpain GT World Challenge America alongside Maxime Soulet.[24] In his third season in the series, Baptista took wins at Circuit of the Americas and VIR, as well as seven more podiums to secure third in the overall standings.[25][26] During 2019, Baptista also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for JMW Motorsport in the LMGTE Am class,[27] originally crossing the line in third,[28] but was promoted to second post-race after the race-winning Keating Motorsports Ford was disqualified.[29] Also during the year, Baptista raced for Team M-Sport Team Bentley at the 24 Hours of Spa and the Kyalami 9 Hours.[30][31]
Continuing in GT World Challenge America for 2020, Baptista joined Ferrari-fielding Squadra Corse to compete in the Pro-Am class.[32] In his only season in the class, Baptista scored overall wins at Sonoma and the second Circuit of the Americas round,[33] as well as two more class wins as he ended the year third in the Pro-Am standings.[34] During 2020, Baptista also raced for Bentley K-PAX Racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.[35]
Switching to TCR competition for 2021, Baptista joined Cobra Racing Team to race in TCR South America,[36] as well as competing in the Pure ETCR Championship for Romeo Ferraris - M1RA.[37] In the former, Baptista won the Curitiba endurance and both races at El Pinar, as well as standing on the podium three more times to secure runner-up honors in the standings.[38][39] In the latter, Baptista scored a best result of third at MotorLand Aragón and finished no lower than ninth in the other four races to end the year fifth in points.[40]
Baptista then raced in Stock Car Pro Series for the following two seasons, competing for Crown Racing in 2022 and KTF Sports in 2023,[41][42] taking a best result of fifth in race one at Velopark in the latter year as he ended the year 27th in points.[43] During 2023, Baptista also raced in select rounds of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for AKKodis ASP Team,[44] as well as a one-off appearance in TCR South America for Cobra Racing Team.[45]
Returning to TCR competition for 2024, Baptista joined Squadra Martino to race in both TCR South America and TCR Brazil.[46] Baptista raced in all but two rounds of both series, scoring a lone win at Cascavel and finishing ninth in South American standings and eighth in the latter's standings.[47] During 2024, Baptista returned to Flying Lizard Motorsports to race part-time in the Pro-Am class of the GT4 America Series.[48]
Baptista was set to return to the GT4 America Series with Flying Lizard Motorsports alongside Damir Hot,[49] before the team pulled out of the series in March.[50]
Racing record
Racing career summary
Complete Formula 3 Brasil results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Toyota Racing Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi R8 LMS | Pro | MNZ 16 |
SIL 20 |
LEC 3 |
SPA 6H 30 |
SPA 12H 19 |
SPA 24H 12 |
NÜR 46 |
15th | 19 |
| 2019 | M-Sport Team Bentley | Bentley Continental GT3 | Pro | MNZ | SIL | LEC | SPA 6H 72 |
SPA 12H 72 |
SPA 24H Ret |
CAT | NC | 0 |
| 2020 | Bentley K-PAX Racing | Bentley Continental GT3 | Pro | IMO 30 |
NÜR Ret |
SPA 6H 30 |
SPA 12H 16 |
SPA 24H 12 |
LEC Ret |
NC | 0 | |
| 2023 | AKKodis ASP Team | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Bronze | MNZ | LEC 40† |
SPA 6H 58 |
SPA 12H 45 |
SPA 24H Ret |
NÜR | CAT 43 |
NC | 0 |
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 |  JMW Motorsport |
 Jeff Segal Wei Lu |
Ferrari 488 GTE | GTE Am |
334 | 32nd | 2nd |
Complete Stock Car Pro Series results
| 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 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Crown Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | INT 1 18 |
GOI 1 27 |
GOI 2 20 |
RIO 1 19 |
RIO 2 17 |
VCA 1 Ret |
VCA 2 18 |
VEL 1 18 |
VEL 2 21 |
VEL 1 22 |
VEL 2 18 |
INT 1 DSQ |
INT 2 DSQ |
VCA 1 24 |
VCA 2 21 |
SCZ 1 25 |
SCZ 2 11 |
GOI 1 13 |
GOI 2 Ret |
GOI 1 14 |
GOI 2 23 |
INT 1 24 |
INT 2 Ret |
29th | 44 | |
| 2023 | KTF Sports | Chevrolet Cruze | GOI 1 18 |
GOI 2 Ret |
INT 1 20 |
INT 2 Ret |
TAR 1 18 |
TAR 2 17 |
CAS 1 Ret |
CAS 2 23 |
INT 1 18 |
INT 2 24 |
VCA 1 Ret |
VCA 2 DNS |
GOI 1 Ret |
GOI 2 15 |
VEL 1 5 |
VEL 2 10 |
BUE 1 16 |
BUE 2 18 |
VCA 1 15 |
VCA 2 Ret |
CAS 1 Ret |
CAS 2 Ret |
INT 1 20 |
INT 2 16 |
27th | 68 |
† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete TCR World Tour results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)