André Couto

Career

André Couto was born in Lisbon, but his family relocated to Macau when he was four years old. There, he took up karting, inspired by the Macau Grand Prix and friends who raced in the local karting championship. He quickly found success and began winning at the international level. In 1995, he switched to racing cars, competing in the European Formula Opel Lotus series and winning a round at Estoril Circuit.

That same year, he made his debut in the Formula Three event at the Macau Grand Prix, where he briefly led after a battle with race winner Ralf Schumacher. Couto raced in German Formula Three in 1996, then moved to the Italian series in 1997, finishing as runner-up in the championship. He entered the Macau Grand Prix F3 race six times, finally winning in 2000 after Narain Karthikeyan and Takuma Sato crashed out in the first leg. Starting second on the grid for the deciding race, driving for Opel Team BSR, he immediately took the lead and fended off challenges from Paolo Montin and Ryo Fukuda.

When Robert Lechner crashed with two laps to go, the safety car came out, and the field drove in formation to the finish. This was the first time a Macanese driver had won the Formula 3 race. His father, Carlos, called it the proudest moment of his life, saying André always wanted to win that race. Couto also competed in Formula 3000 from 1998 to 2000, scoring points several times but without major success; his best result was third at the Nürburgring in 2000.

After leaving F3000 and winning the Macau Grand Prix, he raced in the Formula Nippon Championship in 2001 and took part in some All-Japan GT Championship events. In 2002, he moved to the World Series by Nissan, finishing seventh in the championship.

Personal life

Couto's son, Afonso, was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009. Fellow WTCC drivers carried stickers in the 2010 season to promote a website seeking a bone marrow donor, and the GT Association and all Super GT teams launched a campaign for bone marrow donation. A suitable donor was found in Germany on 9 May 2010, and Afonso's operation was completed on 20 May 2010. He died on 3 November 2010 from treatment complications, having been in hospital for two weeks.

Did You Know?

• Couto's son Afonso was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009; a bone marrow donor was found in Germany on 9 May 2010.
• In 2017, Couto fractured his L1 vertebra in a crash at the China GT Championship race in Zhuhai.
• Couto speaks fluent Cantonese, like most Portuguese people living in Macau.