Igor Fraga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Igor Fraga
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Born (1998-09-26) September 26, 1998 (age 25)
Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season2023
Current teamArnage Racing
Car number50
Starts7
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish23rd in 2023
Toyota Racing Series

Formula 3 Brasil Academy Class

Igor Omura Fraga (born September 26, 1998) is a Japanese-born Brazilian racing driver, esports player, and former member of the Red Bull Junior Team.[1] He currently competes in the 2024 Super GT Series for Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage in the GT300 class, and is a reserve driver for Nakajima Racing in the Super Formula Championship.[2] He was the 2020 Toyota Racing Series champion, winning the title by six points ahead of Liam Lawson.[3] Fraga also currently serves as the esports ambassador for the Super Formula Championship.[4]

He has achieved success in esports as well, winning the inaugural

2017 Formula One eSports Series
but with limited success.

Racing career

Early career

Fraga began his career through karting in 2004 at the Biwako SL Series. He won the Kids Karting class championship during consecutive years in 2004 and 2005, and continued to win the Mini ROK class championships in 2006 and 2007. Fraga would later win the 2008 Asian Karting Open Championship in the Mini ROK class the following year.[6]

2015-18: Junior formula in the Americas

Fraga raced in

U.S. F2000 National Championship
. He ended the season in fourth overall, with three podiums and 213 points.

2019-20: Debut in European and Oceanian formula

In 2019, Fraga made his European debut in the inaugural

Prema drivers, behind Frederik Vesti and Enzo Fittipaldi.[7]

The following year in 2020 saw him participate in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, racing with Charouz Racing System alongside Roman Staněk and David Schumacher.[8] Having only scored one point throughout the season, Fraga was set to switch to Hitech Grand Prix at the final round in Mugello, replacing Max Fewtrell, but Charouz would not authorize the move, which would place Fraga on the sidelines for the finale.[9] He would finish the season in 24th.

In March of that year, Fraga was named as a new signing to the

Toyota Racing Series championship in 2020, beating out fellow Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson.[1]
He was released from the programme following the 2020 season.

2023-24: Super GT and Super Formula Lights

At the end of 2022, Fraga partook in a

B-Max Racing,[12] later earning his first win in the series at Sportsland Sugo
.

Fraga also participated in the 2023 Super GT Series that same year in the GT300 class, competing with Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage in the Lexus RC F GT3 alongside Yuga Furutani and Miki Koyama, the latter joining the lineup in five of the eight rounds.[13] Fraga and Furutani would score twice across the season, with two consecutive points finishes at Suzuka Circuit and Sugo, finishing 10th and 7th respectively. Koyama, who entered with the team for the Suzuka round, did not run a stint during the race and thus remained scoreless. Igor Fraga is set to return for a second season with Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage for 2024. On February 2024, Fraga was announced as a reserve driver for Nakajima Racing in the Super Formula Championship.[2]

Esports career

Fraga in esports
Career highlights and awards

In 2017, Fraga qualified for the first Formula One Esports Series final, having finished 4th and 2nd in his Heat group. His results in the final however weren't as good, finishing the three races 14th, 18th and scored six points in the last race where he finished 15th. He ended the final 18th out of 20 drivers.

Fraga has participated in the

2019 for both Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series championships. A first corner spin in Red Bull Ring at the first semi-final of the World Final sent Fraga to last place and he would later be eliminated in the Nations Cup as a result, finishing 10th.[15] He later won that year's Manufacturer Series championship for Toyota with teammates Rayan Derrouiche and Tomoaki Yamanaka. Fraga returned for the rebooted 2020 season in both competitive series. He did not qualify for the World Finals for the Nations Cup, but did finish 4th overall in the World Finals for the Manufacturer Series alongside Shohei Sugimori and Valerio Gallo.[16]

Fraga competed in the inaugural McLaren Shadow Project in 2018 and won the series, beating runners-up Nuno Pinto and Miguel Ballester in the grand final.[17][18]

In 2021, Fraga would compete in the inaugural

Olympic Virtual Series, participating in the 'Motor Sport' event in the Gran Turismo Sport game.[19][20] Fraga scored a 2nd-place finish in the first race, but would not be able to complete the following two races due to a network problem, which he later clarified on his Twitter.[21] In 2022, Fraga won the Toyota GR GT Cup championship in the Gran Turismo World Series.[3] Fraga was also appointed as the esports ambassador for the Super Formula Championship later that year.[4]

Personal life

Fraga was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan to Brazilian parents.[22] He previously resided in Ipatinga, Brazil, but later moved back to Japan in 2022, which he had announced on his Twitter account.[17][23] Fraga is a multilinguist, capable of speaking Portuguese, English, Japanese, and Spanish.[24]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season Series Team Position
2004 Biwako SL Series — Kids Karting Peter Pan 1st
2005 Nishi Nihon Challenge — Kids Karting Peter Pan 1st
Biwako SL Series — Kids Karting 1st
2006 Biwako SL Series — Mini ROK CRG Japan 1st
2007 Biwako SL Series — Mini ROK CRG Japan 1st
Asian Karting Open Championship — Mini ROK NC
2008 Asian Karting Open Championship — Mini ROK CRG Japan 1st
Biwako SL Series — Mini ROK NC

Career summary

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 Fórmula 3 Brasil – Class B Prop Car Racing 16 4 2 4 9 117 3rd
2016 Fórmula 3 Brasil Prop Car Racing 4 0 0 0 1 19 11th
2017 Fórmula 3 Brasil – Academy Class Prop Car Racing 16 10 7 7 13 190 1st
2017–18 NACAM Formula 4 Championship Prop Car Racing 18 6 5 7 12 280 2nd
2018 U.S. F2000 National Championship Exclusive Autosport 14 0 0 0 3 213 4th
2019 Formula Regional European Championship DR Formula RP Motorsport 24 4 4 3 11 300 3rd
2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship Charouz Racing System 16 0 0 0 0 1 24th
Toyota Racing Series M2 Competition 15 4 3 3 9 362 1st
2023 Super Formula Lights
B-Max Racing Team
 18 1 1 1 7 62 4th
Super GT – GT300 Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage 8 0 0 0 0 5 23rd
2024 Super GT - GT300 Arnage Racing
Super Formula PONOS Nakajima Racing Reserve driver

Complete U.S. F2000 National Championship results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2018 Exclusive Autosport STP
8 		STP
2 		IMS
8 		IMS
17
LOR

7 		ROA
8 		ROA
5
TOR

7
TOR

2 		MDO
17 		MDO
3 		MDO
5 		POR
15 		POR
4 		4th 213

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 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 DC Points
2019 DR Formula RP Motorsport LEC
1
3 		LEC
2
3 		LEC
3
7
VLL
1

7
VLL
2

8
VLL
3

C 		HUN
1
5 		HUN
2
DNS 		HUN
3
4 		RBR
1
2 		RBR
2
9 		RBR
3
1 		IMO
1
1 		IMO
2
3 		IMO
3
2 		IMO
4
3 		CAT
1
10 		CAT
2
4 		CAT
3
7 		MUG
1
5 		MUG
2
5 		MUG
3
5
MNZ
1

1
MNZ
2

1
MNZ
3

3 		3rd 300

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points
2020 M2 Competition HIG
1
2 		HIG
2
7 		HIG
3
3 		TER
1
3 		TER
2
6 		TER
3
2 		HMP
1
1 		HMP
2
4 		HMP
3
1 		PUK
1
2 		PUK
2
5 		PUK
3
8 		MAN
1
1 		MAN
2
4 		MAN
3
1 		1st 362

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
2020 Charouz Racing System RBR
FEA
16 		RBR
SPR
25 		RBR
FEA
26 		RBR
SPR
14 		HUN
FEA
15 		HUN
SPR
Ret 		SIL
FEA
15 		SIL
SPR
Ret 		SIL
FEA
18 		SIL
SPR
10 		CAT
FEA
24 		CAT
SPR
18 		SPA
FEA
19 		SPA
SPR
27
MNZ
FEA

24
MNZ
SPR

17 		MUG
FEA
 MUG
SPR
 24th 1

Complete Super Formula Lights results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2023
B-Max Racing Team
 AUT
1
Ret 		AUT
2
4 		AUT
3
7 		SUG
1
2 		SUG
2
6 		SUG
3
1 		SUZ
1
Ret 		SUZ
2
9 		SUZ
3
7 		FUJ
1
8 		FUJ
2
4 		FUJ
3
8 		OKA
1
2 		OKA
2
2 		OKA
3
2 		MOT
1
3 		MOT
2
2 		MOT
3
4 		4th 62

Complete Super GT Results

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Pts
2023 Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage Lexus RC F GT3 GT300 OKA
12 		FUJ
14 		SUZ
17 		FUJ
19 		SUZ
10 		SUG
7 		AUT
11 		MOT
17 		23rd 5
2024 Arnage Racing OKA
 FUJ
 SUZ
 FUJ
 SUZ
 SUG
 AUT
 MOT

Notes

  1. ^ Known as SK Telecom T1 from 2014 to 2019.

References

  1. ^ a b Hensby, Paul (2020-03-23). "Igor Fraga Joins Red Bull Junior Team Programme For 2020". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Andrew (2024-02-14). "Igor Fraga Secures Super Formula Reserve Seat at Ponos Nakajima Racing". GTPlanet. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ a b "Igor Fraga Wins 2020 Toyota Racing Series Title in Final Race Decider". GTPlanet. 2020-02-16. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  4. ^ a b "Real and virtual – a two-sword athlete in motorsports! Japanese-Brazilian Driver – Igor Fraga Appointed as "SUPER FORMULA e-Motorsports Ambassador" | SUPER FORMULA Official Website". superformula.net. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  5. ^ "The First Nations Cup Champion is Crowned! - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  6. ^ "The inside scout – Igor Fraga". FIAFormula3® – The Official F3® Website. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  7. ^ "Can an Esports star end Brazil's F1 drought?". The Race. 2020-02-23. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  8. ^ "F1 Esports finalist Igor Fraga becomes first sim racer to join FIA F3 grid | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  9. ^ "Red Bull junior misses F3 finale amid contract saga". Motorsport Week. 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  10. ^ Klein, James (18 November 2022). "B-Max to hold SF Lights test for international drivers". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Super Formula reveals Suzuka rookie test entry list". www.motorsport.com. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  12. ^ "Igor Fraga completes B-Max Super Formula Lights line-up". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  13. ^ "Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage Introduces All-Rookie Crew For Their Lexus RC F GT3". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  14. ^ Lumb, Tim (18 November 2018). "Brazil's Igor Fraga wins GT Sport Nations Cup World Final in Monaco". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  15. ^ "Reigning champ Fraga in shock exit from Gran Turismo Finals". www.motorsport.com. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  16. ^ "Competitors - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  17. ^ a b "McLaren Racing – Igor Fraga wins McLaren Shadow Project 2018". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  18. ^ "Igor Fraga earns spot on McLaren Shadow F1 Esports team". F1Esports News. 2019-01-18. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  19. ^ Lyon, Peter. "Olympic Season Kicks Off With Virtual Racing World Final". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  20. ^ "Inaugural Olympic Virtual Series concludes successfully – Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  21. ^ "About what happened today in the OVS final..." Twitter. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  22. ^ "McLaren Racing – Getting to know: Igor Fraga". www.mclaren.com. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  23. ^ https://twitter.com/1gorfraga/status/1555532938850504704
  24. ^ "Igor Fraga - USF2000.com". USF2000. Retrieved 2019-06-22. [permanent dead link]

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Toyota Racing Series
Champion
2020
 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by New Zealand Grand Prix
Winner
2020 		Succeeded by
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