Aaro Vainio
Aaro Vainio is a Finnish former racing driver who last competed in the 2019 [GT World Challenge Europe]. He previously competed in GP3 Series between 2011 and 2013. He currently acts as a mentor towards Formula 3 driver Tuukka Taponen.
Career
Karting
Vainio enjoyed a successful karting career. He won the Finnish championship in 2007, and in 2008 he won the European KF3 Championship and the Junior Monaco Kart Cup. In 2009 he was runner-up in the CIK-FIA Karting World Championship and was the European KF1 Champion.Formula Renault
In 2010, Vainio stepped up to single-seater racing, driving for Tech 1 Racing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He had been expected to be part of the SG Formula team, but the team shut down. His manager was Nicolas Todt, son of FIA president Jean Todt and manager of Formula One driver Felipe Massa who had set a goal to get Vainio to Formula One in 2014. Vainio was also a candidate for the Ferrari Young Driver Academy, but was unsuccessful. During the season, he took five podium finishes in the last eight races and placed fourth in the standings. In the same year, he also competed in one round of the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, where he finished ninth in race two.In 2012, he returned to Formula Renault machinery to contest three rounds of the 2012 Formula [Renault 3.5 Series|Formula Renault 3.5 Series], replacing the underperforming Anton Nebylitskiy. Despite a slow start where he qualified in last place and retired from race one in his first round, he took a podium in the final race of the season.
GP3 Series
For the 2011 racing season, Vainio moved into the GP3 series with Tech 1 Racing. He achieved a podium finish in his third race but only scored points twice during the remainder of the season, ultimately finishing 15th in the standings.He remained in GP3 for 2012, moving to the Lotus GP team, where he took his maiden series win in the first ever GP3 race in 2012 Monaco GP3 [Series round|Monaco]. He finished the season fourth in the standings, behind António Félix da Costa, teammate Daniel Abt and champion Mitch Evans.
In 2013, Vainio once again competed in GP3, this time for new team Koiranen GP. This season was not as successful; despite winning two races, he left the series one round before the end and finished ninth in the standings.
GT racing
After a hiatus from racing, Vainio entered the 2017 Italian GT Championship in the Super GT Cup, competing for Vincenzo Sospiri Racing alongside compatriot Tuomas Tujula. The pair won their class.Vainio switched to ADAC GT Masters for 2018, racing for Team Rosberg with Michele Beretta. They scored points only twice during the campaign, finishing 37th overall and 17th in the Junior Cup.
Vainio last competed in the 2019 GT [World Challenge Europe] season, driving for R-Motorsport alongside Hugo de Sadeleer. They finished 15th overall, but were runners-up in the Silver Cup, with two class wins and an additional five class podiums. The pair also entered the 2019 24 Hours of Spa with Ricky Collard and Ferdinand Habsburg, but they did not finish the race.
Racing record
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
| 2010 | Tech 1 Racing | ALC 1 6 | ALC 2 Ret | SPA 1 7 | SPA 2 12 | BRN 1 5 | BRN 2 8 | MAG 1 6 | MAG 2 Ret | HUN 1 3 | HUN 2 3 | HOC 1 2 | HOC 2 2 | SIL 1 5 | SIL 2 5 | CAT 1 2 | CAT 2 Ret | 4th | 101 |
Complete GP3 Series results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | |
| 2011 | Tech 1 Racing | IST FEA 15 | IST SPR Ret | CAT FEA 3 | CAT SPR 20 | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR Ret | SIL FEA 11 | SIL SPR 18 | NÜR FEA 7 | NÜR SPR 13 | HUN FEA 5 | HUN SPR 7 | SPA FEA 13 | SPA SPR Ret | MNZ FEA 22† | MNZ SPR 8 | 15th | 12 |
| 2012 | Lotus GP | CAT FEA 3 | CAT SPR 4 | MON FEA 1 | MON SPR 7 | VAL FEA 2 | VAL SPR 7 | SIL FEA 3 | SIL SPR Ret | HOC FEA 5 | HOC SPR 6 | HUN FEA 5 | HUN SPR 7 | SPA FEA 6 | SPA SPR 14 | MNZ FEA 11 | MNZ SPR 14 | 4th | 123 |
| 2013 | Koiranen GP | CAT FEA 5 | CAT SPR 1 | VAL FEA 7 | VAL SPR 2 | SIL FEA 11 | SIL SPR 8 | NÜR FEA 14 | NÜR SPR 11 | HUN FEA 1 | HUN SPR 9 | SPA FEA 20 | SPA SPR 22† | MNZ FEA 16 | MNZ SPR 13 | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 9th | 75 |
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
| 2012 | Team RFR | ALC 1 | ALC 2 | MON 1 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MSC 1 | MSC 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | HUN 1 Ret | HUN 2 18 | LEC 1 16 | LEC 2 6 | CAT 1 8 | CAT 2 3 | 18th | 27 |
Complete ADAC GT Masters results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Points |
| 2018 | Team Rosberg | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 | OSC 1 29 | OSC 2 25 | MST 1 22 | MST 2 DNS | RBR 1 30 | RBR 2 15 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 20 | ZAN 1 19 | ZAN 2 26 | SAC 1 9 | SAC 2 25 | HOC 1 25 | HOC 2 17 | 37th | 6 |
Complete Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
| 2019 | R-Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Silver | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 11 | MIS 1 17 | MIS 2 7 | ZAN 1 6 | ZAN 2 8 | NÜR 1 15 | NÜR 2 14 | HUN 1 9 | HUN 2 9 | 2nd | 99 |