Cao Hongwei

Cao Hongwei , also known as Martin Cao , ( Chinese  曹宏伟 , Pinyin Cáo Hòngwěi ; born February 17, 1993 in Hunan ) is a Chinese automobile racing driver . He won the British Formula 3 Championship in 2014 .

Career

Cao began his motorsport career in formula racing in 2008 . He became champion of the China category at the Formula Ford Campus. He also came third in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge. He also made two guest starts in the Pacific Formula BMW . In 2009 Cao competed in the Pacific Formula BMW. With a fifth place as the best result, he finished the season in twelfth place overall. 2010 Cao moved to the FRD Racing Teamand returned to the Asian Formula Renault Challenge. He stayed in this championship for two years, but never played a full season. In 2010 he won five races in six competitions and was third once. In 2011 he took part in two races and finished second once.

In 2012 Cao moved to Europe and competed for Fortec Motorsports in the BARC Formula Renault. While his team-mate Seb Morris was third in the championship, Cao reached 14th place in the drivers' standings with fourth place as the best result. In the subsequent winter series, Morris won the title, while Cao achieved fifth place overall with a second place as the best result. In 2013 Cao contested his second season in the BARC Formula Renault for Fortec Motorsports. He won a race and stood on the podium four more times. He finished the season in fourth place in the drivers' standings, while his team-mate Weiron Tan finished second overall. In the autumn cup that followed, Cao finished second behind his teammate Ben Barnicoat .

In 2014 Cao stayed with Fortec Motorsports and switched to the British Formula 3 Championship . In the first seven races he achieved seven second places in a row. In the 13th race he won for the first time. Overall, he won the international class six times. With 285 to 283 he prevailed at the end of the season against his teammate Matt Rao and won the championship. In addition, Cao contested a racing weekend in the European Formula 3 championship for Fortec Motorsports in 2014 . In 2015 Cao competed for Fortec Motorsports in the European Formula 3 championship. After the fifth race weekend, he left the championship prematurely. A 15th place was his best result.

Cao has competed in sports car races since 2016.

statistics

Career stations

2008: Formula Ford Campus, China (champion) 2008: Asian Formula Renault Challenge (3rd place) 2009: Pacific Formula BMW (12th place) 2010: Asian Formula Renault Challenge (4th place)

2011: Asian Formula Renault Challenge (21st place) 2012: BARC Formula Renault (14th place) 2012: BARC Formula Renault, winter series (5th place) 2013: BARC Formula Renault (4th place)

2013: BARC Formula Renault, Autumn Cup (2nd place) 2014 : British Formula 3 (champions) 2014 : European Formula 3 2015 : European Formula 3

Individual results in the European Formula 3 championship

year	team	engine	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24	25th	26th	27	28	29	30th	31	32	33	Points	rank
2014	Fortec Motorsports	Mercedes	SIL			HO1			PAU			HUN			SPA			NOR			MOS			SPI			ONLY			IMO			HO2			0	-
																														DNF	24	20th
2015	Fortec Motorsports	Mercedes	SIL			HO1			PAU			MNZ			SPA			NOR			ZAN			SPI			POR			ONLY			HO2			0	-
			23	17th	23	18th	18th	21st	21st	16	24	14th	17th	15th	20th	20th	17th

Web links

• Career Stats Martin Cao (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Marcus Simmons: "Fortec signs Chinese racer Cao for British Formula 3". autosport.com, December 5, 2014, accessed December 29, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Stephen Lickorish: “Donington Park British F3: Martin Cao secures crown, Matt Rao wins”. autosport.com, September 14, 2014, accessed December 30, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Gruz David: FIA entry list firms up 35-car European F3 field for 2015. paddockscout.com, March 6, 2015, accessed on March 7, 2015 (English). 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Cao is the family name here, Hongwei is the first name.