Ómar Julián Leal Covelli, commonly known as Julián Leal, (born May 11, 1990 in Bucaramanga) is a professional racing driver from Colombia. He has also competed with an Italian licence in the GP2 Series.
| Julián Leal Covelli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality |  Colombian |
| Born | 11 May 1990 Bucaramanga, Colombia |
| GP2 Series career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Carlin |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 4 |
| Former teams | Racing Engineering Trident Racing Rapax |
| Starts | 102 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Best finish | 10th in 2014 |
| Previous series | |
| 2011 2009–2010 2007–08 2007–08 2006–07 | GP2 Asia Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Italian Formula 3000 Euroseries 3000 FR2.0 PanamGP |
| Championship titles | |
| 2008 | Italian Formula 3000 |
Career edit
Formula Renault 2.0 edit
Leal began his racing career in 2006 in the Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP series, scoring two podium finishes in seven races to finish ninth in the standings. He also took part in two races of the series the following year.
Euroseries 3000 edit
The following season, Leal moved to Europe to compete in the Euroseries 3000 championship. Driving for the Italian Durango team, he finished ninth in the Euroseries standings and eleventh in the Italian Formula 3000 championship, which ran as part of the main series.
He continued in the championship in 2008, finishing sixth in the Euroseries after securing four podium places in fifteen races.[1] In September of that year, he won the Italian Formula 3000 championship at Misano, beating both Fabio Onidi and Nicolas Prost to the title by a single point.[2]
Formula Renault 3.5 Series edit
At the end of 2008, Leal took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing at Paul Ricard and Valencia, driving for both Draco Racing and Prema Powerteam. In December 2008, it was announced that Leal had signed with Prema Powerteam for the 2009 season.[3] He had a testing first season in the category, with a podium at the Hungaroring being his only points–scoring finish, as he wound up 20th in the standings.
In the off–season, Leal tested for both Prema and Mofaz Racing at the Circuit de Catalunya and in December 2009, it was announced that he would drive for Draco Racing in the 2010 season, partnering Formula Renault graduate Nathanaël Berthon.[4] He again finished the season in 20th position after struggling to match his rookie team–mate, with his best race result being a fourth place at the first race in Brno.[5]
Auto GP edit
In March 2010, it was announced that Leal would also compete in the new Auto GP championship, competing for the Italian team Trident Racing.[6] He finished seventh in the final standings, with the highlight of his season coming at the penultimate round at the brand–new Circuito de Navarra, where he won the first race after starting from pole position.[7]
GP2 Series edit
In November 2010, Leal tested a GP2 Series car for the first time, taking part in the post–season test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and in January 2011 it was announced that he had signed with the Rapax Team to contest the GP2 Asia Series season, lining–up alongside Fabio Leimer.[8] He had initially signed to contest only the Asia series, but in March 2011 it was confirmed that he would stay with the team for the main 2011 championship, in which he finished 27th.[9]
Leal switched to the Trident Racing team for the non-championship season finale at Yas Marina, and remained with the outfit for the 2012 season, where he was partnered with Stéphane Richelmi. He scored his first series points and finished 21st in the championship.
Leal moved to Racing Engineering for the 2013 season, his teammate for the second time was champion of that year Fabio Leimer. He scored a total of 62 points, including two sprint race podiums leaving him 12th in the championship. For 2014, he moved to British squad Carlin alongside Felipe Nasr. He finished on the podium in both races at the first round but ultimately would finish 10th in the final standings on 68 points.
Leal continued with Carlin for 2015.
Racing record edit
Career summary edit
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP | Penix Unico | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 72 | 9th |
| 2007 | Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP | ? | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 17th |
| Euroseries 3000 | Durango | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 9th | |
| Italian Formula 3000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11th | ||
| 2008 | Euroseries 3000 | Durango | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 6th |
| Italian Formula 3000 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 35 | 1st | ||
| 2009 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Prema Powerteam | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 20th |
| 2010 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | International DracoRacing | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 20th |
| Auto GP | Trident Racing | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 9th | |
| 2011 | GP2 Series | Rapax | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27th |
| GP2 Asia Series | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th | ||
| GP2 Final | Trident Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd | |
| 2012 | GP2 Series | Trident Racing | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 21st |
| 2013 | GP2 Series | Racing Engineering | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 12th |
| 2014 | GP2 Series | Carlin | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 68 | 10th |
| Formula One | Caterham F1 Team | Test driver | |||||||
| 2015 | GP2 Series | Carlin | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 14th |
| 2016 | European Le Mans Series - LMP2 | SMP Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 6th |
Complete Euroseries 3000/Auto GP results edit
(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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Durango | VAL FEA 10 |
VAL SPR 10 |
HUN FEA 10 |
HUN SPR 9 |
MAG FEA 8 |
MAG SPR 10 |
MUG FEA 11 |
MUG SPR 6 |
NÜR FEA Ret |
NÜR SPR 7 |
SPA FEA 7 |
SPA SPR Ret |
MNZ FEA 5 |
MNZ SPR 4 |
CAT FEA 7 |
CAT SPR 6 |
10th | 14 |
| 2008 | Durango | VAL FEA 5 |
VAL SPR 6 |
SPA FEA 9 |
SPA SPR C |
VAL FEA 5 |
VAL SPR 2 |
MUG FEA 4 |
MUG SPR 3 |
MIS FEA 3 |
MIS SPR 2 |
JER FEA Ret |
JER SPR 7 |
CAT FEA Ret |
CAT SPR 4 |
MAG FEA Ret |
MAG SPR 9 |
6th | 38 |
| 2010 | Trident Racing | BRN 1 10 |
BRN 2 4 |
IMO 1 Ret |
IMO 2 8 |
SPA 1 7 |
SPA 2 Ret |
MAG 1 9 |
MAG 2 7 |
NAV 1 1 |
NAV 2 Ret |
MNZ 1 8 |
MNZ 2 4 |
9th | 21 |
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results edit
(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 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Prema Powerteam | CAT 1 15 |
CAT 2 19† |
SPA 1 19 |
SPA 2 18 |
MON 1 14 |
HUN 1 22 |
HUN 2 3 |
SIL 1 17 |
SIL 2 16 |
BUG 1 Ret |
BUG 2 20 |
ALG 1 18 |
ALG 2 17 |
NÜR 1 17 |
NÜR 2 14 |
ALC 1 21 |
ALC 2 22† |
20th | 11 |
| 2010 | International Draco Racing | ALC 1 Ret |
ALC 2 Ret |
SPA 1 11 |
SPA 2 12 |
MON 1 16 |
BRN 1 4 |
BRN 2 13 |
MAG 1 Ret |
MAG 2 19 |
HUN 1 Ret |
HUN 2 16 |
HOC 1 13 |
HOC 2 9 |
SIL 1 Ret |
SIL 2 10 |
CAT 1 Ret |
CAT 2 Ret |
20th | 11 |
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete GP2 Series results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Asia Series results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rapax | YMC FEA Ret |
YMC SPR 17 |
IMO FEA 17 |
IMO SPR 18 |
26th | 0 |
Complete GP2 Final results edit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Trident Racing | YMC FEA 16 |
YMC SPR 21 |
22nd | 0 |
Complete European Le Mans Series results edit
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | SMP Racing | LMP2 | BR Engineering BR01 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 2 |
IMO 4 |
RBR 4 |
LEC 2 |
SPA | EST | 6th | 60 |
References edit
- ^ "Euroseries 3000 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
- ^ "Formula 3000 Italy 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ Mills, Peter (5 December 2008). "Prema sign Colombian Leal for 2009". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Leal completes Draco line-up". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
- ^ "World Series by Renault 2010". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "Julian Leal and Trident together in Auto GP". autogp.org. Auto GP. 18 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ "Navarra, Race 1: first Auto GP win for Leal". autogp.org. Auto GP. 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "Julian Leal completes Rapax GP2 Asia line–up". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ Beer, Matt (11 March 2011). "Leal to complete season with Rapax". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
External links edit
- Official website (in Spanish)
- Julián Leal on Twitter
- Julián Leal on Facebook
- Julián Leal on Instagram
