Pepe Oriola

Pepe Oriola
NationalitySpanish
Full nameJosep Oriola Vila
Born (1994-07-09) 9 July 1994 (age 30)
Barcelona, Spain
World Touring Car Cup career
Debut season2011
Current teamCampos Racing
Car number74
Former teamsTuenti Racing Team
SUNRED Engineering
Craft-Bamboo Racing
Starts150
Wins20
Poles3
Fastest laps20
Best finish2nd in 2015
Previous series
2010
2009–2010
WTCC
SEAT León Eurocup Spain
Championship titles
2021TCR South America Touring Car Championship

Josep "Pepe" Oriola Vila (born 9 July 1994) is a Spanish racing driver. He became the youngest driver to race in the World Touring Car Championship when he competed in the 2011 season. Oriola is not only the youngest driver to start a WTCC race at the age of 16, he’s also the youngest to be on the podium and to have won a race. Feats he achieved in Brazil in 2011 and Morocco in 2013 respectively. His record of being the youngest driver ever to compete, score championship points and win a race in the prestigious WTCC remains to this day. In 2018 he competed in the World Touring Car Cup and finish 6th in a close title fight till the last rounds in Macau. In 2019 he switches from factory driver of CUPRA to Hyundai Motorsport. Oriola also won the 1st ever 24h race of only TCR Cars in Spa Francorchamps in 2019 with the team Red Camel-Jordans. He is part of the team Changan Ford in China Touring Car Championship CTCC where in 2019 won 3 races.

Career

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Born in Barcelona, Oriola began his career in karting in 2004 at the age of nine.[1] He switched to touring cars at the end of 2009 at the age of 15 when he competed in the final round of the SEAT León Supercopa Spain, finishing on the podium. In 2010 he competed in full seasons of both the Spanish Supercopa and SEAT León Eurocup with the Monlau Competition team. He took his first victory at the second Eurocup race at Brands Hatch, which was shortened due to a heavy accident involving Francisco Carvalho.[2] He then took a double victory at the season finale at Valencia to move up to fourth in the final Eurocup standings. He also finished fourth in the Supercopa standings.

World Touring Car Championship

[edit]

In 2011 Oriola raced a SEAT León in the World Touring Car Championship for Sunred Engineering.[3] He became the youngest ever driver in the series when he made his debut, aged 16 years, 8 months and 11 days at the 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil. He scored his first points in the second race of the season at Curitiba.

Oriola driving for Tuenti Racing Team at the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.

Oriola will continue in the WTCC in 2012, staying with Sunred but now racing under the Tuenti Racing Team banner.[4] He left the first round in Italy in a three way tie for first place in the Yokohama Trophy with Stefano D'Aste and Alex MacDowall, having started from the class pole position in race one.[5] He took his first overall podium finish in race two of the Race of Portugal. Oriola spent much of the season at the top of the Yokohama Trophy but dropped behind Norbert Michelisz in the standings after the Race of Brazil. He took his second podium finish of the season in race two of the Race of Japan with second place behind Stefano D'Aste having started from that position on the reversed grid.

Oriola stayed in the WTCC for the 2013 season driving for the Tuenti Racing Team.[6] He would not be eligible for the Yokohama Trophy as the team was now run by SEAT Sport.[7] At the season opening Race of Italy he qualified fourth as the best placed SEAT driver on the grid.[8] He retired from race one with a puncture having been running fifth and finished sixth in race two. On 7 April 2013 at the Race of Morocco he became the youngest person to win a WTCC race when he claimed victory in race two.[9] After the Race of Russia, Oriola confirmed he would be switching to a Chevrolet Cruze car for the following round in Portugal.[10]

Racing record

[edit]

Career summary

[edit]
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2009 SEAT León Supercopa Spain Team Monlau Competición 6 0 0 0 1 0 NC†
2010 SEAT León Supercopa Spain Monlau Competición 18 0 0 0 2 77 4th
SEAT León Eurocup 12 3 0 1 3 37 4th
2011 World Touring Car Championship SUNRED Engineering 24 0 0 0 0 11 18th
European Touring Car Cup - Super 2000 2 1 0 0 2 20 2nd
2012 World Touring Car Championship Tuenti Racing Team 24 0 0 2 2 131 8th
2013 World Touring Car Championship Tuenti Racing Team 24 1 0 2 4 164 9th
2014 World Touring Car Championship Campos Racing 0 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2015 TCR International Series Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil 22 2 1 4 12 312 2nd
2016 TCR International Series Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil 21 4 1 3 9 241.5 4th
2017 TCR International Series Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing 20 2 0 3 4 164 4th
TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship Ferry Monster Autosport 3 0 0 0 0 50‡ 23rd‡
2018 World Touring Car Cup Team Oscaro by Campos Racing 30 1 0 2 7 245 6th
2019 TCR Asia Series Solite Indigo Racing 10 0 0 0 6 156 3rd
TCR Spa 500 Red Camel-Jordans.nl 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
2020 TCR Europe Touring Car Series Brutal Fish Racing Team 11 1 0 0 2 153 13th
24H TCE Europe Series - TCR Brutal Fish Racing Team by KCMG 2 0 0 0 1 16 25th
2021 TCR South America Touring Car Championship W2 ProGP 14 4 0 6 8 278 1st
2022 TCR Europe Touring Car Series Brutal Fish Racing Team 6 0 0 0 2 185 11th
Hyundai N Team Aggressive Italia 7 0 0 0 0
2023 TCR Europe Touring Car Series RC2 Racing Team 2 0 0 0 0 39 19th

† As Oriola was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

‡ Team standings

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2011 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI BRA
1

13
BRA
2

10
BEL
1

11
BEL
2

14
ITA
1

14
ITA
2

12
18th 11
SUNRED SR León 1.6T HUN
1

10
HUN
2

Ret
CZE
1

13
CZE
2

11
POR
1

13
POR
2

14
GBR
1

12
GBR
2

15
GER
1

8
GER
2

12
ESP
1

12
ESP
2

8
JPN
1

18
JPN
2

13
CHN
1

17
CHN
2

13
MAC
1

10
MAC
2

11
2012 Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC ITA
1

6
ITA
2

12
ESP
1

6
ESP
2

7
MAR
1

4
MAR
2

7
SVK
1

16†
SVK
2

5
HUN
1

8
HUN
2

4
AUT
1

7
AUT
2

4
POR
1

9
POR
2

2
BRA
1

16
BRA
2

17†
USA
1

16†
USA
2

11
JPN
1

7
JPN
2

2
CHN
1

22
CHN
2

Ret
MAC
1

Ret
MAC
2

22†
8th 131
2013 Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León WTCC ITA
1

Ret
ITA
2

6
MAR
1

8
MAR
2

1
SVK
1

9
SVK
2

6
HUN
1

Ret
HUN
2

16
AUT
1

11
AUT
2

7
RUS
1

17
RUS
2

4
9th 164
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T POR
1

4
POR
2

4
ARG
1

2
ARG
2

3
USA
1

11
USA
2

21†
JPN
1

26†
JPN
2

Ret
CHN
1

5
CHN
2

7
MAC
1

15
MAC
2

2
2014 Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 MAR
1
MAR
2
FRA
1
FRA
2
HUN
1
HUN
2
SVK
1
SVK
2
AUT
1
AUT
2
RUS
1
RUS
2
BEL
1
BEL
2
ARG
1
ARG
2
BEI
1
BEI
2
CHN
1
CHN
2
JPN
1
JPN
2
MAC
1

DNS
MAC
2

DNS
NC 0

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 75% of the race distance.

Complete TCR International Series results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2015 Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT León Cup Racer SEP
1

2
SEP
2

2
SHA
1

Ret
SHA
2

4
VAL
1

1
VAL
2

5
ALG
1

Ret
ALG
2

4
MNZ
1

2
MNZ
2

Ret
SAL
1

6
SAL
2

2
SOC
1

2
SOC
2

2
RBR
1

3
RBR
2

2
MRN
1

4
MRN
2

3
CHA
1

1
CHA
2

3
MAC
1

4
MAC
2

9†
2nd 312
2016 Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT León TCR BHR
1

1
BHR
2

1
EST
1

8
EST
2

10
SPA
1

2
SPA
2

7
IMO
1

2
IMO
2

5
SAL
1

12†
SAL
2

DNS
OSC
1

10
OSC
2

1
SOC
1

2
SOC
2

13†
CHA
1

1
CHA
2

11
MRN
1

3
MRN
2

14
SEP
1

4
SEP
2

12
MAC
1

5
MAC
2

3
4th 241.5
2017 Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing SEAT León TCR RIM
1

7
RIM
2

1
BHR
1

6
BHR
2

7
SPA
1

9
SPA
2

Ret
MNZ
1

3
MNZ
2

8
SAL
1

5
SAL
2

Ret
HUN
1

5
HUN
2

2
OSC
1

18†
OSC
2

Ret
CHA
1

21†
CHA
2

Ret
ZHE
1

5
ZHE
2

5
DUB
1

1
DUB
2

Ret
4th 164

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2018 Team Oscaro by Campos Racing Cupra León TCR MAR
1

18†
MAR
2

3
MAR
3

10
HUN
1

16
HUN
2

Ret
HUN
3

19
GER
1

8
GER
2

2
GER
3

6
NED
1

23†
NED
2

4
NED
3

10
POR
1

3
POR
2

3
POR
3

4
SVK
1

1
SVK
2

4
SVK
3

8
CHN
1

13
CHN
2

9
CHN
3

7
WUH
1

2
WUH
2

4
WUH
3

6
JPN
1

10
JPN
2

2
JPN
3

19
MAC
1

7
MAC
2

Ret
MAC
3

6
6th 245

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

TCR Spa 500 results

[edit]
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2019 Netherlands Red Camel-Jordans.nl Netherlands Ivo Breukers
Netherlands Rik Breukers
Netherlands Tom Coronel
CUPRA León TCR P 454 1st 1st

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
2020 Brutal Fish Racing Team Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) LEC
1

20
LEC
2

11
ZOL
1

10
ZOL
2

7
MNZ
1

Ret
MNZ
2

1
CAT
1

2
CAT
2

13
SPA
1

10
SPA
2

11
JAR
1

Ret
JAR
2

DNS
13th 153
2022 Brutal Fish Racing Team Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK8) ALG
1

9
ALG
2

2
LEC
1

7
LEC
2

3
SPA
1

Ret
SPA
2

10
11th 185
Aggressive Italia Hyundai Elantra N TCR NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

12
NÜR
1

4
NÜR
2

C
MNZ
1

7
MNZ
2

10
CAT
1

8
CAT
2

Ret
2023 RC2 Racing Team Audi RS 3 LMS TCR ALG
1
ALG
2
PAU
1
PAU
2
SPA
1
SPA
2
HUN
1
HUN
2
LEC
1
LEC
2
MNZ
1
MNZ
2
CAT
1

6
CAT
2

7
19th 39

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "::: Pepe Oriola 74, Professional driver of the Super copa Seat Leon. :::". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  2. ^ "Pepe Oriola clinches his first SEAT Leon Eurocup triumph in a race fraught with accidents - ONEIGHTURBO". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  3. ^ "FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup".
  4. ^ Pep Oriola to continue with SUNRED Archived 2012-04-28 at the Wayback Machine, TouringCarTimes.
  5. ^ Three-way tie at the top of the indies standings Archived 2012-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, TouringCarTimes.
  6. ^ Aller, Tamara (21 February 2013). "Pepe Oriola seguirá en el WTCC". Motor y Racing. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  7. ^ Hudson, Neil (15 March 2013). "Full entry list for the first round of the 2013 WTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  8. ^ Tremayne, Sam (23 March 2013). "Monza WTCC: Yvan Muller dominates chaotic qualifying". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  9. ^ "RACE 2 – ORIOLA THE YOUNGEST WINNER". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 7 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  10. ^ Hudson, Neil (9 June 2013). "Pepe Oriola confirms Chevrolet switch from next round". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
[edit]

Media related to Pepe Oriola at Wikimedia Commons

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Inaugural
TCR South America Touring Car Championship
Champion

2021
Succeeded by