Carneiro finishes on the podium in China debut

Bruno Carneiro

Bruno Carneiro had very little time to adapt and learn how to drive the very fast Mygale F4 powered by Geely thru the 14 turn, 2.6 mile Zhuhai International Circuit.

After a 22 hour trip, Bruno along with his dad and his racing engineer Ian Lacy, went straight from the Guangzhou Airport to the Zhuhai International Circuit some 2 hour drive away to meet with the UMC crew and make the seat moldings in time for the first free practice sessions on Friday.

Bruno hit the track for the first time on Friday morning for the two 30 minute sessions scheduled for the F4 cars. By the end of the day, the 8th fastest time and tons of data, Bruno, Ian Lacy and the UMC crew formed by Mr. Wen and Mr. Tong, knew how and where to improve for the official practices the next day.

Saturday morning proved them right. Bruno Carneiro topped the time sheets on Practice 1 and was 3rd fastest on Practice 2. When qualifying began, track temperature was around 89F and 90% humidity and very sunny.

Bruno got stuck on traffic on the best lap of his tires and had to settle for a 4th place grid start for the Pre Final Race the following day.

Sunday weather was a very different story. Overcast, 60F and 80% humidity. And Bruno would face another challenge: Standing starts! After some undesired wheel spin out of the gate, Bruno found himself in 8th place trying to recover lost ground as soon as possible.

But he might have pushed the limit a little too far.

On lap 4, he clipped the grass on the exit of turn 14 leading to the main straight and lost the car that spun out of control, hit the tire barriers at 70 miles/hour severely damaging the left rear suspension.

After 2 hours of intense work, the UMC team led by Ian Lacy managed to rebuild the car and take it to the grid, much to the delight of the 12,000 spectators that filled the grandstands for the Main Race event.

Based on times combined from qualifying, Bruno started the Main race in 8th Place. Having a much better start than the Pre Final race, Bruno imposed a strong rhythm from the beginning making passing maneuvers that would make the crowd cheers resonate throughout the entire main straight.

Bruno Carneiro crossed the finish line in 3rd place, only 0.215 behind 2nd place Wu Ruopeng. The race was won by the very talented Colombian driver Julio Sebastian Acosta who also won the Championship.

"What an amazing weekend! " said Carneiro. "The crowd was wonderful, the city of Zhuhai is gorgeous and the Chinese fans and people treated me with so much love and respect! I want to thank Utah Motorsports Campus, MiTime, Geely Automobiles, all my sponsors and supporters for all the kind words and motivation."

Bruno Carneiro Motorsports