Adrian Campos Spanish racing driver and manager Date of Birth: 17.06.1960 Country: Spain

1. Biography of Adrian Campos
2. Early Career
3. Formula 1 Career
4. Success as a Racing Manager
5. Later Career and Team Ownership

Biography of Adrian Campos

Adrian Campos Suner was born on July 17, 1960. He is a Spanish racing driver and manager. His maternal grandfather, Luis Suner, was a renowned industrialist in Spain. His father founded the company 'Avidesa', which specializes in frozen products. Adrian is married and has a son, also named Adrian Campos.

Early Career

In 1980, Campos achieved his first success when he won the Spanish radio-controlled car racing competition and became the national champion. The following year, he transitioned to racing cars and competed in Formula 3 races from 1983 to 1985. Campos finished third in the German Championship in 1985. He also participated in the Formula 3000 championship in 1986, but had limited success.

Formula 1 Career

After testing with the 'Tyrrell' team in 1986, Campos entered Formula 1 races in 1987 and 1988 with the 'Minardi' team alongside drivers Alessandro Nannini and Luis Perez-Sala. Although he only finished two races in the Formula 1 World Championship, mainly due to mechanical issues rather than driving errors, Campos was unable to maintain his position in the team. In 1988, he was replaced by Pierluigi Martini after failing to qualify for three consecutive races.

Success as a Racing Manager

After leaving Formula 1, Campos found success as a racing manager. He founded the 'Adrian Campos Motorsport' team in 1998, which later became 'Campos Racing'. In the same year, he won the Open Fortuna by Nissan championship with driver Marc Gene before moving on to Formula 1.

During his early years as a manager, Campos oversaw the career of Fernando Alonso, who he invited to his team in the Nissan World Series. Campos' team debuted in the GP2 series in 2005, achieving two fifth-place finishes as their best results that year.

In 2006, the team introduced Adrian Valles as their driver in Valencia, but neither Valles nor Felix Porteiro, another Spanish driver, achieved podium finishes throughout the season. Campos signed veteran driver Giorgio Pantano in 2007, which led to the team's success. Pantano won two races and finished third overall in the championship. Vitaly Petrov, Campos' teammate, also won a race, securing the team's victory in the 2008 team championship.

Later Career and Team Ownership

In October 2008, Campos announced his intention to retire from the GP2 series and sell his share in the team. He decided to focus on Formula 3 and prepare for a new project. The GP2 team was taken over by Alejandro Agag and renamed 'Barwa Addax'.

Campos ventured into Formula 1 and acquired the assets of the defunct 'Super Aguri' team. In May 2009, his team 'Campos Grand Prix' applied to participate in the 2010 Formula 1 season and became one of the four approved teams alongside 'Lotus F1', 'Manor GP', and 'US F1'.

However, financial difficulties arose for 'Campos Meta' in February 2010, leading to Jose Ramon Carabante becoming the majority shareholder and Colin Kolles replacing Campos as team principal. The team was renamed 'Hispania Racing' or 'HRT F1', with Campos taking on the role of Executive Vice President.