Heamin Choi
Heamin Choi (born January 11, 1984) is a race car driver. He is the first Korean driver to race in the American Open Wheel Series (Pro Mazda, USF2000), and the first Korean driver to participate in any race held in the United States.[1] He has won the 2005 BAT Championship (Formula Korea), 2006 Korea GT championship (GT1), and 2013 Super Race GT driver's title. He was also the Samsung Everland scholarship driver through year 2003 to 2005.[2] In 2016, Choi participated in IndyLights.[3]
| Heamin Choi | |
|---|---|
 Choi in 2013 | |
| Born | January 11, 1984 Busan, South Korea |
| Previous series | |
| 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2009,2010 2007 2006 2004,2005 2002,2003 2001 2000 1999 | Indy Lights Championship Indy Lights Championship Korean Le Mans Series Super Race USF2000 National Championship Super Race Pro Mazda Championship Korea GT Championship BAT Championship Formula Korea BAT Championship Formula 1800 NTC PRD Kart race NTC Freshman Kart Race Carman Park Cup Kart Grand Prix |
| Championship titles | |
| 2013 2006 2005 | Super Race GT Korea GT Championship GT1 Formula Korea |
| Awards | |
| 2012 2003 | KMA Global Driver of the Year KARA Rookie of the Year |
Early career
His racing career started at age 15 with his debut at the 1999 Carman Park Kart Grand Prix. Also in 1999, he entered the team Redstone under Hong Suk Cho, the team director. He finished 4th at his second race. In 2000 he finished 2nd in the Japan New Tokyo Circuit Freshman Kart Race Time Trial. By winning 5 times in the Korean Kart series, he started gaining attention as a Kart prodigy in the Korean motorsport community. Choi gained more experience in riding kart at various track with different conditions such as wet and street track.[4] However, in early 2001, he was injured on his left rib at the Japanese Kart race which had forced him to temporarily stop kart races with high g-force.
2001–2006
In 2001, Choi joined Hankook Tire’s Ventus Motor Sports team, which run formula cars, touring cars, and off-road rallycross cars. He was trained by Myung Mok Lee, who is known as the champion of the Korea Touring Car Championship. In the team, Choi was given the role to test in Formula 1800.[5]
In year 2002, Choi marked his debut for the pro formula race in Korea, finishing 6th in his first race qualification and 6th in championship.
In 2003, Choi was selected as the Samsung Everland Speedway Scholarship driver for the first time and finished 5th at the BAT Championship (Formula 1800).[5]
In 2004, Choi joined the Hyundai Oilbank racing team finishing as a runner-up in the Formula Korea championship.
In 2005, Choi won the driver's championship title of BAT Championship (Formula Korea). In 2006, he moved to Grand Touring Race after achieving the Formula Korea Championship. Despite the difficulty in adapting to the GT car from Formula car, Choi won the championship for GT1 Class.
2007
After Choi won two championship titles in a row, he turned his attention to international competitions. He participated in IMSA Star Mazda Championship (Pro Mazda Championship) at Laguna Seca Race with JDC Motorsports.[6] Choi finished 19th in the race, passing 9 cars during the race.[7]
2009–2011
In 2009, Choi participated in the Korean Stock Car race and finished 4th. In 2010 he joined the Atlas BX racing team as a touring car driver and finished 4th in the 2010 F1 Korean GP support race.[8]
2012
In 2012, Choi participated in Coopertire USF2000 Championship.[9] Choi finished 9th in his second event at St. Petersburg and with his continuous progress, he was ranked 6th in his first qualifying at Lucas Oil raceway oval track.[10]
2013
In 2013, Choi took part in the Formula 3 test with Double R racing in England[11] and in the Super Formula pre-season testing at Fuji Speedway in Japan.[12] Despite driving a heavier car, Choi made very competitive lap time. However, the sponsor company was in the trouble of operating its race track in Korea which left Choi unable to compete in Super Formula series. Therefore, Choi decided to race in Korean GT championship and achieved Driver's Title.[13]
2014
In 2014, Choi participated in the first Korean Le Mans series and won the race with his Korean stock car.
2015~2016
In 2015, Choi came back to the US to participate in Indy Lights series. He finished 11th in his debut event at Laguna Seca. In 2016, Choi participated in all oval races of the season in Indy Lights. He finished in the top 10 at Iowa speedway and managed to finish 12th at Laguna Seca.
Racing record
American open-wheel racing results
U.S. F2000 National Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Afterburner Autosport | SEB 16 |
SEB 18 |
STP 10 |
STP 12 |
LOR 15 |
MDO 26 |
MDO 15 |
ROA 12 |
ROA 27 |
ROA 12 |
BAL |
BAL |
VIR |
VIR |
17th | 55 |
Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | STP | STP | LBH | ALA | ALA | IMS | IMS | INDY | TOR | TOR | MIL | IOW | MDO | MDO | LAG 12 |
LAG 11 |
16th | 19 | ||
| 2016 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | STP | STP | PHX 16 |
ALA | ALA | IMS | IMS | INDY 12 |
RDA | RDA | IOW 10 |
TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | WGL | LAG 15 |
LAG 12 |
18th | 40 |
| 2018 | Juncos Racing | STP | STP | ALA | ALA | IMS | IMS | INDY | RDA | RDA | IOW | TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | GTW | POR 8 |
POR 6 |
10th | 28 |
References
- F1PILOT.COM (November 26, 2015). "Official Website of Heamin Choi". Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.
- NSSN Staff (March 5, 2012). "Afterburner Autosport Hires Choi". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 오토레이싱 Staff (November 26, 2014). "2013 슈퍼레이스 GT 챔피언 최해민, "여유 갖고 새로운 도전 기다린다!"". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 류, 근원 (April 17, 2013). "CJ, GT 3800 NA 드라이버 최해민 전격 영입". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 전, 창 (September 25, 2001). "[레포츠]첫 고교생 포뮬라 드라이버 최해민군 ＂내일은 레이서＂". The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- JDC (October 20, 2007). "Laguna Seca: JDC Motorsports preview". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- EFCN (October 22, 2007). "JDC MotorSports Ends Championship Season with Podium Finish". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 문, 재수 (April 8, 2010). "아트라스BX팀 최해민 "내 꿈은 챔피언"". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- USF2000 (March 5, 2012). "AFTERBURNER AUTOSPORT SIGNS CHOI FOR INAUGURAL USF2000 CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- USF2000 (May 26, 2012). "Night Before the 500 Final Qualifying Report - Round 5" (PDF). Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 최, 상운 (April 17, 2013). "CJ 레이싱팀, GT3800 드라이버 '최해민' 선수 새롭게 영입해!". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- Super Formula (March 20, 2013). "第2回公式合同テスト／富士 総合結果". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 김, 기홍 (October 28, 2013). "[슈퍼레이스 7전] GT클래스 챔프 최해민 `화려한 복귀`". Retrieved July 14, 2015.