# Martin Cao

Cao Hongwei (Chinese: 曹宏炜; pinyin: Cáo Hóngwěi, born 17 February 1993), commonly known as Martin Cao, is a Chinese racing driver. He is the reigning champion of the TCR China Touring Car Championship, having won the title in 2023, and previously won the 2014 British Formula Three Championship.

## Career
### Asian championships

Born in Changsha, Hunan Province, Cao began karting in 1999 at the age of six, and would compete in the China National Karting Championship for the first time in 2003. In 2009, at the age of sixteen, Cao, alongside Zhu Daiwei, would become the first Chinese driver in history to compete in the FIA World Karting Championship.
Cao stepped up to single-seater racing in 2008, competing in the Chinese Formula Ford Campus Championship. He won five races and clinched the championship with an advantage of seven points. Also in 2008, Cao finished third with seven podiums in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and also contested two races of the Formula BMW Pacific Championship, with Pacific Racing.
In 2009, Cao remained in Formula BMW Pacific but switched to Ao's Racing. He had six point-scoring finishes in nine races, finishing twelfth in the championship.
In 2010, Cao returned to the Asian Formula Renault Challenge with the FRD Racing Team. He won five out of the six races he contested – one more than champion Sandy Stuvik – and finished fourth in the championship.

### Protyre Formula Renault

In 2012, Cao moved to Europe and joined Fortec Motorsports to compete in Formula Renault BARC. He finished nine races in the points to take fourteenth position in the championship, with 100 points. He also finished fifth in the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.
Cao remained with Fortec into 2013, staying in the newly renamed Protyre Formula Renault Championship. He won a race at Rockingham and finished fourth in the final championship standings. He finished runner-up to Ben Barnicoat in the Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup at Rockingham, winning one of the event's three races.

### British Formula 3 Championship

Cao continued his collaboration with Fortec into the British Formula 3 Championship in 2014. He finished fifteen races on the podium, including four wins. He battled with his teammate Matt Rao for the title, and clinched the championship by just two points, ahead of Rao.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2008 | Ford Formula Campus Championship - China Category | Baleno Team | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 58 | 1st |
| 2008 | Asian Formula Renault Challenge | Pekka Saarinen Racing | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 231 | 3rd |
| 2008 | Formula BMW Pacific | Pacific Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC† |
| 2009 | Formula BMW Pacific | Ao's Racing Team | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12th |
| 2009 | China Touring Car Championship | Changan Ford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 10th |
| 2010 | Asian Formula Renault Challenge | FRD Racing Team | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 155 | 4th |
| 2011 | Asian Formula Renault Challenge | FRD Racing Team | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 20th |
| 2012 | Formula Renault BARC | Fortec Motorsports | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 14th |
| 2012 | Formula Renault BARC Winter Series | Fortec Motorsports | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 5th |
| 2013 | Protyre Formula Renault Championship | Fortec Motorsports | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 296 | 4th |
| 2013 | Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup | Fortec Motorsports | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 79 | 2nd |
| 2014 | British Formula 3 Championship | Fortec Motorsports | 21 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 285 | 1st |
| 2014 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship | Fortec Motorsports | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2014 | Zandvoort Masters | Fortec Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th |
| 2014 | Macau Grand Prix | Fortec Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2015 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship | Fortec Motorsports | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th |
| 2015 | Macau Grand Prix | Fortec Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 17th |
| 2016 | China Touring Car Championship - Super Production 2.0 | Changan Ford Racing Team | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 4th |
| 2016 | TCR International Series | FRD Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2017 | China Touring Car Championship | Changan Ford Racing Team | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 121.5 | 3rd |
| 2017 | FRD LMP3 Series | Eurasia Motorsport | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 77 | 6th |
| 2018 | China Touring Car Championship | Changan Ford Racing Team | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 121.5 | 2nd |
| 2019 | China Touring Car Championship | Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team | 16 | 2 | | | 3 | 151 | 2nd |
| 2020 | China Touring Car Championship | Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team | 16 | 2 | | | | 174 | 4th |
| 2021 | China Touring Car Championship | Team MG XPower | 12 | | | | | 156 | 4th |
| 2021 | TCR Asia Series | Team MG XPower | | | | | | | |
| 2022 | China Touring Car Championship | Team MG XPower | 12 | | | | | 127 | 4th |
| 2022 | TCR Asia Series | Team MG XPower | | | | | | | |
| 2023 | TCR China Touring Car Championship | Hyundai N Team | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 178 | 1st |
| 2024 | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-FWD | Hyundai Driving Experience | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - TCR | Hyundai Motorsport N | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR | Hyundai Motorsport N | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | TCR World Tour | Hyundai N Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 14th |
$^†$ As Cao was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. $^*$ Season still in progress.

### Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | DC | Points |
| 2015 | Fortec Motorsports | Mercedes | SIL 1 23 | SIL 2 17 | SIL 3 23 | HOC 1 18 | HOC 2 18 | HOC 3 21 | PAU 1 21 | PAU 2 16 | PAU 3 24 | MNZ 1 14 | MNZ 2 17 | MNZ 3 15 | SPA 1 20 | SPA 2 20 | SPA 3 17 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | NOR 3 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | ZAN 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | ALG 3 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NÜR 3 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | HOC 3 | 30th | 0 |

### Complete TCR International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
| 2016 | FRD Motorsports | Ford Focus TCR | BHR 1 | BHR 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | SAL 1 | SAL 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | SOC 1 | SOC 2 | CHA 1 13 | CHA 2 12 | MRN 1 | MRN 2 | SEP 1 | SEP 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 |

### Complete TCR World Tour results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Points |
| 2024 | Hyundai N Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | MRK 1 | MRK 2 | MDO 1 | MDO 2 | SAP 1 | SAP 2 | ELP 1 | ELP 2 | ZHZ 1 12 | ZHZ 2 13 | MAC 1 8 | MAC 2 11 | 14th | 25 |