João Barbosa

Career

Barbosa’s path to professional racing began in karts, where he claimed the Portuguese national championship in both 1988 and 1989. Stepping into single-seaters, he took the Portuguese Formula Ford title in 1994, then swept the Italian Formula Alfa Boxster and Italian Formula Europa Boxer championships in 1995. A runner-up finish in Italian Formula 3 followed in 1996, and after moving to the United States in 1997, he placed seventh in Formula Atlantic that same year.

Mosler (1999–2003)

His first major sports car outings came in 1999 with a Mosler Intruder: he won at Lime Rock Park in the United States Road Racing Championship and also raced at Homestead in the FIA GT Championship. The next season, he drove a Colucci-prepared Porsche 911 in the opening two rounds of the American Le Mans Series. Returning to Mosler in 2001 for three Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series events, he grabbed a third-place GT class finish at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen.

Staying with Mosler for the full 2002 Grand-Am campaign, Barbosa scored one win and three second places across ten races, ending fourth in the GT drivers’ championship. In 2003, he split eight rounds in a GTS-class Mosler with two outings in a Ford Mustang, earning three wins and seven podiums to become championship runner-up. That year, he also drove a Mosler at the 1000 km of Spa and the 24 Hours of Spa, taking a class victory in the former. For 2004, Barbosa contested eight of twelve Rolex Sports Car Series rounds with a Maserati in GT, scoring two third places and finishing 16th in the standings.

Rollcentre and Brumos (2004–2009)

He also piloted a Dallara SP1 for Rollcentre Racing in LMP1: fifth at the 12 Hours of Sebring, a retirement at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a fifth and sixth in the four-race Le Mans Series. Additionally, he raced a Saleen S7 at the Hockenheim FIA GT round and Petit Le Mans.

Did You Know?

• Barbosa finished fourth overall at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans as a third driver for Rollcentre Racing.
• He won the 24 Hours of Daytona in both 2010 and 2014 with Action Express Racing.