Caca Bueno

Caca Bueno is a Brazilian racing driver and the second most successful driver in the history of the Brazilian Stock Car series with five championship titles. After making a Stock Car debut in 2002, Bueno was the champion in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Outside national competitions, he recorded few attempts in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and spent three seasons in European GT competitions (FIA GT Series or Blancpain Sprint Series) but without notable results.

Caca Bueno is the second most successful Brazilian Stock Car driver

Preferring touring cars from the beginning

Born in July 1976 in Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Eduardo Santos Galvao Bueno Filho grew up in a family of Galvao Bueno, the famous Brazilian sports commentator. Caca spent his teenage years in karting competitions, reaching a peak in 1992 when he was Sao Paulo state champion.

In the car racing, he preferred touring cars from the beginning, entering the Stock Car Light series in 1996. He immediately gained some success, finishing third in the points in his rookie season and then becoming the champion in 1997.

Caca Bueno early in a career

South American supertouring champion in 1999

The next step in his career was the South American Supertouring Championship in 1998. Driving a Peugeot 406 for EF Racing, he won two races to finish second in the points, behind Oscar Ruben Larrauri. In 1999, Bueno won three races in a Peugeot 406 and take the championship title, finishing the season tied in the points with his teammate Argentinean Emiliano Spataro.

In the next two season, Bueno was driving Peugeot 306 in the Argentinean TC2000 Championship. He scored no wins or podiums in 2000 and then scored two podiums in 2001 to finish fourth in the points.

Caca Bueno in a Petrobras Chevrolet

Stock Car Brasil debut in 2002

In 2002, Bueno made a debut in Stock Car Brasil, the major South American racing competition. Driving the #0 Action Power Chevrolet Vectra, he was race winner three times in his rookie season, finishing third in the points. The champion was Ingo Hoffmann. That was his 12th and final championship title.

Continuing to drive the #0 car, Caca Bueno was a vice-champion in the next three years, winning eight races in three seasons. He lost a title to David Muffato in 2003 or to Giuliano Losacco in 2004 and 2005. It's interesting that Caca's teammate in 2003 was his younger brother Popo Bueno (born 1978).

Caca Bueno was a champion two times in the #0 Eurofarma Mitsubishi

Two championship titles with Eurofarma RC in 2006 and 2007

After four years with Chevrolets, Caca Bueno joined Eurofarma RC to drive the #0 Mitsubishi Lancer in 2006. He finally captured his first championship title after he won four of twelve races during the season. In 2006, Bueno also recorded two starts in the Porsche Supercup, racing at Hockenheimring and Hungaroring.

In 2007, he was a race winner three times in the #0 Mitsubishi Lancer to defend his Stock Car title. In the same year, he spent a season with Honda in TC2000 Argentina, scoring four podiums and finishing 8th. In 2008, Bueno was a race winner two times in Stock Car Brasil to finish fourth in the points. It was his last season with Eurofarma.

Caca Bueno was a champion with Red Bull Racing in 2009, 2011 and 2012

Three championship titles with Red Bull Racing

For the 2009 Stock Car season, Bueno joined WA Mattheis-operated Red Bull Racing to drive the #0 Peugeot. He won just one race but added seven podiums to take his third championship title in a career. Next year, he won two races but finished second in the points, losing a title to Max Wilson by just one point.

In 2011, Bueno's Red Bull #0 Peugeot was the victorious car in three races and he captured his fourth championship title. In 2012, the team switched to Chevrolet Sonic chassis. Caca Bueno won three races and took his fifth championship title.

Caca Bueno in the WTCC race in 2011 at Curitiba

Reaching podium in the Brazilian WTCC round

During his period of domination in Stock Car Brasil, Caca Bueno recorded two appearances in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. In July 2010, he was invited by RML to drive the #9 Chevrolet Cruze in the sixth round at Brands Hatch. He retired in the first race and didn't start in the second race.

In 2011, he rejoined RML to drive the #6 Chevrolet Cruze in the season-opening WTCC round at Brazilian Autodromo Curitiba. He reached a podium in the first race, finishing third, and then was fifth in the second race.

Three championship titles in the Trofeo Linea

Parallel to his Stock Car commitments, Bueno participated in the Trofeo Linea Brasil, taking three consecutive championship titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In that period, he won thirteen races.

In 2012, Bueno had a triple programme because he also raced in the Brazilian GT3 Championship, driving a BMW Z4 GT3 for BMW Team Brasil. He won three races to finish second in the championship, together with Claudio Dahruj as his co-driver.

Caca Bueno raced with BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil from 2013 to 2015

Three European GT seasons with BMW

In 2013, parallel to Stock Car duties in Brasil, Bueno started his GT racing career in Europe, driving the #0 BMW Z4 GT3 for BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil in the FIA GT Series. He was sharing the car in all six rounds with Allam Khodair. Their best result was the fifth place in the Qualifying Race at Zandvoort.

In 2014, the series had been renamed to Blancpain Sprint Series. Bueno stayed in the #0 BMW Z4 GT3, sharing a car with Sergio Jimenez. They were on a podium four times but missed the last round and finished sixth in the points.

Bueno spent one more season in the Blancpain Sprint Series in 2015, again sharing the #0 BMW with Sergio Jimenez. Without wins or podiums, they were 11th in the points. In 2015, he also participated in four rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series, including 24 Hours of Spa, where he was 13th.

Caca Bueno raced with Red Bull Racing from 2010 to 2016

Four more seasons with Red Bull, switch to Cimed Racing in 2017

After winning his fifth Stock Car title in 2012, Caca Bueno spent four more seasons with Red Bull Racing. He finished third in the points in 2013 and 2014. The season 2014 was the first in his Stock car career in which he didn't score at least one victory.

In 2015, he returned to the top podium spot two times, finishing the year as a vice-champion, behind Marcos Gomes. Then, in 2016, the worst season followed in which Caca scored two wins but finished just 9th in the points. The result was even worst in 2017 when Bueno moved to the #0 Cimed Racing Chevrolet. He was without wins and finished ninth in the points.

Caca Bueno drives for Cimed Racing since 2017

Successful in electric racing in 2019

Bueno returned to the top podium spot in 2018, winning one race in the Brazilian Stock Car championship and finishing ninth in the final standings. He stayed with Cimed Racing in the 2019 Stock Car season but also gained some success in electric racing.

He participated in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series, a supporting series to the Formula E, winning three races and finishing as a runner-up, behind abother Brazilian veteran Sergio Jimenez.

Photos: Caca Bueno Oficial,