Récardo Bruins Choi (born Choi Myung-gil; 3 December 1985, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

), later known as Roelof Bruins, is a

n-born

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

professional

racecar Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including n ...

driver.

Youth

Choi was

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

by a Dutch family and arrived in the Netherlands at 4 months of age.Choi Myung-Gil who is the first ever winner of F3 championship as an adoptee from Korea
He grew up as Récardo Bruins in the village of

Zwartemeer Zwartemeer () is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Emmen municipality in Drenthe. It is located on the border with Germany. History Zwartemeer is a linear settlement along a canal which was established in 1871 as a buckwheat s ...

near Emmen, where he started to drive mini

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

s at the age of 5. After his first learning years, practicing the basics of racing, he made the step to the karting competition races and drove his first races in the mini class for children from 8 to 12 years of age. This ended very well and in his first seasons of racing Bruins earned numerous of titles and prizes.

Career

After this he made the step to the junior class in which he also raced on international circuits. In his second year he received the title of national champion and later that year he stepped up to Intercontinental A class, the highest karting class in the Netherlands at the time. Proving to be quick, Bruins in his first year was already a competitor for the national title but due to a mechanic failure he eventually finished second in the championship and had to wait a year to win the title of national champion. After his major successes in his karting career, Bruins made the switch to formula racing in 2004. At the most important race of the season, the Marlboro masters, Bruins proved his worth by scoring a pole position, the official track record and a podium finish. After this success more podium finishes followed and at the end of the season Bruins managed a third place in the overall ranking of the Dutch Formula Renault 2.0 series. In 2006 Récardo stepped up to Formula Three racing, in the much faster and highly competitive

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

. Proving to be a quick learner, the Korean driver showed his speed by achieving podium finishes and promising results in his Formula Three debut season. In 2007, Choi continued his career in another season of German Formula Three Championship, getting 2 pole positions, 2 wins and several podium finishes. He finished 4th in the overall standings. In 2008 he was going to focus on getting a seat in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

Racing record

Career summary

References

External links

Official web page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Recardo Bruins 1985 births Living people Dutch Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Dutch racing drivers Formula V6 Asia drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Sportspeople from Seoul Sportspeople from Emmen, Netherlands Dutch people of Korean descent South Korean emigrants to the Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing drivers TCR Asia Series drivers South Korean racing drivers Nordic Formula Renault 2.0 drivers 24H Series drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Asia drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers