Heamin Choi

Heamin Choi
Choi in 2013
Born	(1984-01-11) January 11, 1984 (age 41) 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

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]

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 five 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

Heamin Choi Formula Korea

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 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

Heamin Choi Pro Mazda

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 nine 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

Heamin Choi USF2000

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

Heamin Choi Formula 3

Heamin Choi Super Formula

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] 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 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

1. F1PILOT.COM (November 26, 2015). "Official Website of Heamin Choi". Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.
2. NSSN Staff (March 5, 2012). "Afterburner Autosport Hires Choi". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
3. 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.
4. 류, 근원 (April 17, 2013). "CJ, GT 3800 NA 드라이버 최해민 전격 영입". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
5. 전, 창 (September 25, 2001). "[레포츠]첫 고교생 포뮬라 드라이버 최해민군 ＂내일은 레이서＂". The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
6. JDC (October 20, 2007). "Laguna Seca: JDC Motorsports preview". Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
7. EFCN (October 22, 2007). "JDC MotorSports Ends Championship Season with Podium Finish". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
8. 문, 재수 (April 8, 2010). "아트라스BX팀 최해민 "내 꿈은 챔피언"". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
9. USF2000 (March 5, 2012). "AFTERBURNER AUTOSPORT SIGNS CHOI FOR INAUGURAL USF2000 CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
10. USF2000 (May 26, 2012). "Night Before the 500 Final Qualifying Report - Round 5" (PDF). Retrieved July 14, 2015.
11. 최, 상운 (April 17, 2013). "CJ 레이싱팀, GT3800 드라이버 '최해민' 선수 새롭게 영입해!". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
12. 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.
13. 김, 기홍 (October 28, 2013). "[슈퍼레이스 7전] GT클래스 챔프 최해민 '화려한 복귀'". Retrieved July 14, 2015.

External links

• Official website