Driver Biography – Thomas Erdos
- Date of birth: 30th October 1965
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Marital status: married, two children
- Lives: Great Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
- Car No: 42
Career Highlights: –
- British Formula First Championship 1988, second with five victories and six other podium finishes
- British Formula Ford 2000 Championship 1989, third with three wins and five podium finishes
- British Formula Renault Champion 1990, four wins and five podium finishes
- Le Mans 24 Hours debut with Team Marcos, 1995
- BRDC GT Championship 1995, three class wins, one outright, with Team Marcos
- BPR Global Endurance Championship 1996, third in GT2, 12th overall
- BRDC Privilege Insurance GT Championship 1999, five GT2 pole positions and six podium finishes earn NCK Racing the Team Trophy
Thomas Erdos’ racing career shows his talent to be in the best traditions of Brazilian drivers. Building his career in the UK, he made a rapid early impression to finish second in the 1988 Formula First series and third in the following year’s Formula Ford 2000 competition. It was in 1990 that the depth of his ability was confirmed when he took the British Formula Renault Championship by storm. His season tally boasted four victories, three second places and two thirds.
Thomas was to have graduated to Formula 3, but injuries sustained in a testing accident meant he had to put his racing career on hold for almost two full seasons. Returning to the track in 1993 and 1994, he had some guest runs in Formula Renault and Formula 3, yielding two class wins and a podium finish at Spa in Belgium.
His big break came in 1995 when he joined Team Marcos for the Le Mans 24 Hours. His debut in the legendary race alongside Chris Hodgetts and Cor Euser helped the car rise as high as 11th place before retirement three hours from the flag. Subsequently Thomas joined Marcos for the remainder of the 1995 BRDC GT Championship, during which he clocked up three lap records and claimed one outright victory. In 1996 he and Cor Euser contested the BPR Global Endurance GT Series in the Marcos LM600. Between them they claimed the GT2 pole position in all but two of the races they entered. They also guested twice in the British GT Championship, winning on both occasions and with Thomas setting pole and fastest lap each time. His GT lap record at Thruxton still stands.
In 1997 Thomas made guest drives in the FIA and BRDC championships, at Le Mans he shared the wheel of the Lister Storm GT1 with Julian Bailey and Mark Skaife. In 1998 he contested the second half of the British GT season with NCK Motorsport’s Marcos LM600, giving the team its first GT2 victory. Staying with NCK for 1999, he muscled the five-year-old car to five pole positions and, with team-mate Andy Purvis, scored a podium finish in every race they entered, clinching the BRDC GT Team Trophy for NCK. Thomas and Andy were reunited in a new Marcos LM600 for NCK last year.
Thomas returned to Le Mans in 1999 with Chamberlain Motorsport, pre-qualifying as the fastest independent in the GTS class in his Chrysler Viper. In spite of mechanical problems, he finished the race ninth in class. In 2000 he enjoyed further guest drives with the team in the American Le Mans Series, taking a podium place at the Nürburgring in July.
ENDS
