Eftihios "Tio" Ellinas
Tio Ellinas as a Formula Ford driver in 2010.
Nationality Cypriot
Born (1992-01-27) 27 January 1992
Larnaca, Cyprus
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain career
Debut season2017
Current teamRedline Racing
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number1
Former teamsJTR, Slidesports Engineering
Starts34
Wins1
Poles2
Fastest laps4
Best finish1st in 2018
Previous series
2015
2014
2013–14
201213
2011
2010
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
GP2 Series
MRF Challenge
GP3 Series
Formula Renault UK
British Formula Ford Championship
Championship titles
2018
2009
Porsche Carrera Cup GB
Grand Prix Shootout
Awards
2010FF UK Rookie of the Year

Eftihios "Tio" Ellinas (born 27 January 1992 in Larnaca, Cyprus) is a Cypriot race car driver. Ellinas began racing go-karts at the age of seven, and from 2003 - 2009 won 10 kart racing championships in Cyprus, in 2005 winning the ROK Cup International Final. He was the winner of Grand Prix Shootout in the UK in 2009 competing against 50 other top young drivers from all over the world.

In 2010, he competed in the MSA Dunlop Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain racing with the JTR Team. He won three races and finished fourth in the championship, the highest placing for a novice driver since Jenson Button in 1998, earning him "Rookie Of The Year" honors.

In 2011, Ellinas raced in the UK Formula Renault 2.0 championship for the Atech Reid GP Team, finishing third overall. He joined Marussia Manor Racing for the 2012 GP3 Series season.

In 2013, he tested for the Marussia F1 Team.[1]

Career

Karting

Ellinas' first taste of motorsport came when he was seven years old racing in karts. He competed in 131 races, winning 101 of them with 20 further podium finishes. His championship positions are as follows:

  • Third in Cyprus Karting Championship – KZ2 2009.
  • Second in ROK Cup Cyprus – Super Class 2009.
  • Cyprus Karting Championship – KF2 champion 2009.
  • Bridgestone Cup Cyprus champion in the KZ2 class 2009.
  • Second in Cyprus Karting Championship – KZ2 2008.
  • Third in ROK Cup Cyprus – Senior 2007.
  • Cyprus Rotax Max Challenge champion in the Junior class 2006.
  • Cyprus champion in the ICA Junior class 2006.
  • ROK Cup International Final champion in the Junior ROK class 2005.
  • ROK Cup Cyprus – Junior champion 2005.
  • Cyprus champion in the ICA Junior class 2005.
  • Cyprus Rotax Max Challenge champion in the Junior class 2004.
  • Cyprus champion in the ICA Junior class 2004.
  • Cyprus Rotax Max Challenge champion in the Junior class 2003.

Grand Prix Shootout

Ellinas took part in the inaugural Grand Prix Shootout competition in the United Kingdom in 2009. He was assessed by the world-famous driving coach Rob Wilson in September 2009 as part of the competition. He then completed a number of sessions in a Double R Racing Formula BMW car at the Pembrey Circuit in Wales. In January 2010, Ellinas was announced as the first Grand Prix Shootout winner at the Autosport International exhibition. He had taken on fifty other karters and drivers with over 100 major racing titles between them, and in the end was the runaway winner.

Formula Ford

Ellinas competed in the MSA Dunlop Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain with the JTR team. He was only the second driver since the legendary Ayrton Senna to start on the front row of a British Formula Ford race in his car racing debut, and was also the fastest driver at every wet test during that first year. Ellinas's fourth position overall in the 2010 MSA British Formula Ford championship earned him Rookie Of The Year honors, and is the best result for a rookie driver since the current McLaren Formula One driver and 2009 World Drivers' Champion, Jenson Button, in 1998.

Formula Renault

Ellinas competed in the Formula Renault UK championship with the Atech Reid GP team and finished third overall.

GP3 Series

Ellinas contested the 2012 GP3 Series season debut with Marussia Manor Racing.[2] He finished the season eighth overall, recording one win and one podium finish in the season finale at Monza.

Formula One

On 17 June 2013, it was announced that Ellinas would carry out a scheduled straightline aerodynamic evaluation test session with the Marussia Formula One team at Kemble airfield in Gloucestershire, England. In doing so, he became the first Cypriot to drive a Formula One car. As a reward for being the highest-placed Marussia Manor driver at the end of the 2012 GP3 Series season, Ellinas took part in the 2013 Young Driver Tests with Marussia F1.[3][4]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team name Races Wins Poles F.L. Podiums Points Position
2010 British Formula Ford Championship JTR 25 3 2 4 8 451 4th
Formula Ford Festival 4 2 2 3 4 N/A 3rd
2011 Formula Renault UK Atech Reid GP 20 2 1 1 15 475 3rd
2012 GP3 Series Marussia Manor Racing 16 1 0 3 2 97 8th
2013 GP3 Series Marussia Manor Racing 16 2 1 1 3 116 4th
Formula One Marussia F1 Team Test driver
2013–14 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 MRF Racing 13 3 3 6 10 182 2nd
2014 GP2 Series MP Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 7 22nd
Rapax 2 0 0 0 0
2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Strakka Racing 17 2 2 0 3 135 4th
2017 Porsche Carrera Cup GB JTR 14 0 0 1 5 156 6th
2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Slidesports Engineering 16 1 2 3 13 117 1st
2019 Porsche Supercup Momo Megatron Lechner Racing Team 10 0 0 0 2 81 7th
Porsche Carrera Cup GB Redline Racing 4 0 0 0 3 0 NC†
2021 Porsche Supercup BWT Lechner Racing 8 0 0 0 0 48 11th

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

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2012 Marussia Manor Racing CAT
FEA

7
CAT
SPR

15
MON
FEA

9
MON
SPR

8
VAL
FEA

4
VAL
SPR

5
SIL
FEA

6
SIL
SPR

4
HOC
FEA

10
HOC
SPR

7
HUN
FEA

13
HUN
SPR

4
SPA
FEA

4
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

2
MNZ
SPR

1
8th 97
2013 Marussia Manor Racing CAT
FEA

1
CAT
SPR

4
VAL
FEA

6
VAL
SPR

4
SIL
FEA

5
SIL
SPR

6
NÜR
FEA

2
NÜR
SPR

5
HUN
FEA

11
HUN
SPR

10
SPA
FEA

8
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

11
YMC
FEA

7
YMC
SPR

1
4th 116

Complete GP2 Series results

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2014 MP Motorsport BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA

7
CAT
SPR

11
MON
FEA

10
MON
SPR

22
RBR
FEA

23
RBR
SPR

22
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
22nd 7
Rapax SOC
FEA

21
SOC
SPR

14
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos. Points
2015 Strakka Racing ALC
1

Ret
ALC
2

4
MON
1

Ret
SPA
1

7
SPA
2

5
HUN
1

17
HUN
2

6
RBR
1

9
RBR
2

13
SIL
1

1
SIL
2

11
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

1
BUG
1

9
BUG
2

3
JER
1

5
JER
2

4
4th 135

Complete Porsche Supercup results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points
2019 Momo Megatron Lechner Racing Team CAT
4
MON
8
RBR
10
SIL
16
HOC
3
HUN
4
SPA
6
MNZ
11
MEX
3
MEX
11
7th 81
2021 BWT Lechner Racing MON
8
RBR
12
RBR
6
HUN
7
SPA
9
ZND
17
MNZ
11
MNZ
Ret
11th 48

No points awarded as less than 50% of race distance was completed.

Personal life

Ellinas continues to live in Larnaca, Cyprus.

References

  1. "GP3 driver Ellinas to test for Marussia in 2013". ESPN. 13 September 2012.
  2. Ellinas completes Marussia Manor Racing GP3 driver line-up, GP3 Series.
  3. Collantine, Keith (13 September 2012). "Ellinas handed 2013 Marussia test chance". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  4. Ellinas to make F1 history for Cyprus Archived 2013-08-24 at the Wayback Machine inCyprus.com.cy
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