E. J. Viso

Ernesto Viso

Ernesto Viso at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2009.
Nationality Venezuelan
Born (1985-03-19) March 19, 1985
Caracas, Venezuela
Speed Energy Formula Off-Road career
Debut season 2014
Car no. 5
Starts 13
Wins 6
Poles 1
Fastest laps 1
Best finish 5th in 2014
Previous series
2001
2002
2002
200304
200507
2008-13
IndyCar Series
Skip Barber Formula Dodge
British Formula Renault
FR 2000 Eurocup
British F3 Championship
GP2 Series
Championship titles
2003 National Class British F3 Champion

Ernesto José "E. J." Viso Lossada (born March 19, 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver. He has raced in the 2005 and 2006 GP2 Series seasons, and has also driven the third car for Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007 he competed in the GP2 Series for Racing Engineering. In 2014 he made his season debut for the Stadium Super Trucks in the Long Beach Grand Prix. He most recently drove for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series.

Career

Early racing

Born in Caracas, Viso spent time in his early career in both Europe and America. He attended Rolling Hills Prep high school in California. Viso's career started in karting back in 1993, where he stayed until 2001 when he moved to US Barber Formula Dodge East, becoming champion with confidence. He also raced in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series at the end of that year, moving to British Formula Renault for 2002. In 2002 he also drove in one race of Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup, and at the end of the year in the British Formula 3 Winter Series.

2003 saw a move to British Formula 3, where he raced in the B-Class and became champion after a controversial collision with his main rival during the final race of the season. He then moved to the main class in 2004, racing part of the season for the P1 team, his performances attracting the attention of F3000 team Durango who lured him to the series for the remainder of the season.

GP2

In 2005, he raced in the inaugural season of the GP2 Series for the BCN Competicion team, alongside Hiroki Yoshimoto. In 2006, he again raced in the GP2 Series for the iSport team. He won the San Marino Sunday race and the Spain Sunday race. He also drove the third Spyker MF1 Team car in the Friday practice sessions of the Brazilian Grand Prix.[1]

Before the 2007 French Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Ernesto Viso would replace the underperforming Sérgio Jimenez at Racing Engineering.[2] His race ended on the first lap in a spectacular collision with Michael Ammermüller and Kazuki Nakajima in which his car somersaulted over the barriers at tremendous speed, smashing through an advertising hoarding and narrowly missing a bridge (as luck would have it, hitting the board saved him from clouting the bridge and probably more severe injuries), leaving him only a severe concussion and painful arm. This crash was very similar to the one of Marco Campos that happened on the same track in 1995, leading to Campos's death. Campos died of severe head trauma after hitting his head on the concrete barrier. Viso was only inches away from the same fate. For the British round, he was replaced by Filipe Albuquerque.[3] Viso took part in the following race meeting, but was then replaced by Marcos Martinez.

IndyCar Series

Viso competed in the newly united IndyCar Series in 2008 for HVM Racing. He made his first series start in the first oval race of his career on March 29. His next start, at St. Petersburg, was a superb performance ending with a fourth-place finish. At Milwaukee he ended with an eighth place. Shortly after the Watkins Glen race (in which he finished 10th but forced Vitor Meira off the track, causing Meira to run back onto the track to confront Viso on the next lap) he was diagnosed with the Mumps and was forced to withdraw from the next race.[4] Viso finished 18th overall in the 2008 series and has signed a contract to drive for HVM in 2009. On February 21, 2010 KV Racing confirmed that Viso would drive the No. 8 car for the team for the entire 2010 season.

For the 2011 IndyCar campaign, Viso remained with KV Racing. He showed flashes of speed, particularly in Brazil where he was in contention for a win. He remained one of the more accident-prone drivers in the series, which led to questions about his seat for 2012 . Viso finished 18th in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship on the strength of four top-10 finishes with a season best seventh place showing in Texas Race No. 2.[5]

For 2013 Viso remained in the IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport,[6] in the No. 5 with sponsorship from oil company PDVSA, recording a best finish of 4th at Milwaukee and finishing 15th in the final points standings. Ahead of the series finale at Fontana, Viso was replaced at the last minute by Carlos Munoz, citing illness and claiming to be unable to travel. His sudden absence was curious however, as the same week reports[7] surfaced in Venezuela alleging that several Venezuelan drivers participating in various series had committed fraud and engaged in illegal currency trading. Viso later posted a letter on his Twitter account, in which he confirmed his support of the Venezuelan government and welcomed any investigation.

As of March 2014, Viso no longer has a full-time Indycar Series drive.

Stadium Super Trucks

In 2014, Viso made his Stadium Super Trucks series debut in Long Beach, California where he finished 2nd after a last lap battle with series founder Robby Gordon. On May 30, Viso got his first ever win in an SST on only his second ever series appearance at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, where he finished 1st ahead of Robby Gordon in an eventful last lap finish. Viso also captured his second win a day later beating 16-year-old Scotty Steele. Viso swept all three Detroit events on June 1,[8] and won race 1 at Coronado. The Venezuelan finished fifth in the season standings.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 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 DC Points
2004 Durango Corse IMO CAT MON NUR MAG
8
SIL
11
HOC
7
HUN
6
SPA
10
MNZ
8
12th 7

Complete GP2 Series 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 DC Points
2005 BCN Competicion SMR
FEA

10
SMR
SPR

DNS
ESP
FEA

Ret
ESP
SPR

Ret
MON
FEA

DSQ
EUR
FEA

Ret
EUR
SPR

11
FRA
FEA

11
FRA
SPR

8
GBR
FEA

15
GBR
SPR

13
GER
FEA

DSQ
GER
SPR

12
HUN
FEA

6
HUN
SPR

Ret
TUR
FEA

14
TUR
SPR

12
ITA
FEA

Ret
ITA
SPR

Ret
BEL
FEA

2
BEL
SPR

3
BHR
FEA

8
BHR
SPR

2
11th 21
2006 iSport International VAL
FEA

8
VAL
SPR

2
SMR
FEA

6
SMR
SPR

1
EUR
FEA

6
EUR
SPR

11
ESP
FEA

8
ESP
SPR

1
MON
FEA

Ret
GBR
FEA

Ret
GBR
SPR

8
FRA
FEA

10
FRA
SPR

Ret
GER
FEA

5
GER
SPR

4
HUN
FEA

4
HUN
SPR

4
TUR
FEA

Ret
TUR
SPR

13
ITA
FEA

Ret
ITA
SPR

10
6th 42
2007 Racing Engineering BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
ESP
FEA
ESP
SPR
MON
FEA
FRA
FEA

Ret
FRA
SPR

DNS
GBR
FEA
GBR
SPR
EUR
FEA

14
EUR
SPR

8
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
TUR
FEA
TUR
SPR
ITA
FEA
ITA
SPR
BEL
FEA
BEL
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
29th 0

Complete Formula One participations

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2006 Spyker MF1 Team Midland M16 Toyota V8 BHR MAL AUS SMR EUR ESP MON GBR CAN USA FRA GER HUN TUR ITA CHN JPN BRA
TD
   

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar Series

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2008 HVM Racing Dallara Honda HMS
17
STP
4
MOT1
DNP
KAN
14
INDY
26
MIL
8
TXS
14
IOW
13
RIR
10
WGL
10
NSH3
Wth
MDO
22
EDM
15
KTY
13
SNM
6
DET
24
CHI
23
SRF2
6
18th 286
Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE LBH1
9
2009 Dallara Honda STP
17
LBH
23
KAN
21
INDY
24
MIL
18
TXS
24
IOW
20
RIR
12
WGL
7
TOR
13
EDM
12
KTY
15
MDO
15
SNM
22
CHI
17
MOT
15
HMS
16
18th 248
2010 KV Racing Technology SAO
12
STP
17
ALA
16
LBH
15
KAN
27
INDY
25
TXS
11
IOW
3
WGL
11
TOR
19
EDM
8
MDO
26
SNM
19
CHI
27
KTY
26
MOT
15
HMS
19
17th 262
2011 STP
19
ALA
23
LBH
25
SAO
13
INDY
32
TXS
7
TXS
10
MIL
20
IOW
17
TOR
9
EDM
20
MDO
15
NHM
12
SNM
9
BAL
15
MOT
21
KTY
23
LVS4
C
18th 241
2012 Dallara DW12 Chevrolet STP
8
ALA
18
LBH
12
SAO
9
INDY
18
DET
18
TXS
19
MIL
5
IOW
24
TOR
20
EDM
16
MDO
20
SNM
16
BAL
9
FON
25
20th 244
2013 Andretti Autosport STP
7
ALA
12
LBH
22
SAO
6
INDY
18
DET
17
DET
17
TXS
10
MIL
4
IOW
10
POC
21
TOR
14
TOR
5
MDO
17
SNM
14
BAL
13
HOU
9
HOU
16
FON5 15th 340
1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
3 Pulled out of race after contracting mumps
4 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.
5 Missed race after falling ill due to eating bad oysters. Replaced by Carlos Muñoz.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)
Top 10s
(Non-podium)
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
6 3 99 0 0 1 23 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2008 Dallara Honda 26 26 HVM Racing
2009 Dallara Honda 29 24 HVM Racing
2010 Dallara Honda 19 25 KV Racing Technology
2011 Dallara Honda 18 32 KV Racing Technology
2012 Dallara Chevrolet 9 18 KV Racing Technology
2013 Dallara Chevrolet 4 18 Andretti Autosport/ HVM Racing

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points
2012 CORE Autosport PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 M SEB
ovr:12
cls:1
LNB MON LIM MOS MID AME BAL VIR PET 15th* 24*

References

  1. "Viso and Spyker MF1". Grandprix.com. September 18, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  2. "Viso stapt in bij Racing Engineering". GPUpdate.net. June 28, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  3. "Silverstone: Racing Engineering preview". flagworld.auto123.com. July 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  4. IndyCar rookie Viso sidelined by case of mumps, Associated Press via USA Today, July 9, 2008
  5. EJ Viso drivers page, IndyCar.com, May 22, 2012
  6. "Ernesto José Viso firma con Andretti Autosport de Indycar". Informador (in Spanish). February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  7. "Venezuela investigates sports stars in big currency scam". Reuters. October 18, 2013.
  8. Chengelis, Angelique (June 1, 2014). "E.J. Viso sweeps all three races on Belle Isle". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

External links

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