João Horto is a racing driver from Brazil who last raced in Star Mazda Championship for Juncos Racing. Horto has recorded 1 win and 8 podiums from 24 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,060 ranks Horto 3339th of 40,700 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2011-09-16 | Laguna Seca | P6 | +9 |
| 2011-09-02 | Baltimore | P3 | +60 |
| 2011-08-26 | Sonoma Raceway | P6 | +8 |
| 2011-08-05 | Trois-Rivieres | P2 | +88 |
| 2011-08-05 | Trois-Rivieres | P4 | +35 |
| Rating won | Race | Series | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| +135 | St. Petersburg 2010 | Star Mazda Championship | P2 |
| +122 | Mosport 2011 | Star Mazda Championship | P1 |
| +115 | Lucas Oil Raceway 2010 | Star Mazda Championship | P3 |
| +115 | Iowa 2011 | Star Mazda Championship | P2 |
| +108 | New Jersey Motorsports Park 2010 | Star Mazda Championship | P2 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ▸Star Mazda Championship | Juncos Racing | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P4 | +467 | 4,371 |
| 2010 | ▸Star Mazda Championship | Team Apex | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P8 | +2,554 | 3,904 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Connor De PhillippiFIA Gold | 5,481 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 50% |
| 🇫🇷 Tristan VautierFIA Gold | 5,143 | 24 | 7 | 17 | 29% |
| 🇨🇴 Tatiana CalderónFIA Silver | 3,974 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 75% |
| 🇻🇪 Carlos Linares | 3,055 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 87% |
| 🇺🇸 Nick Andries | 4,040 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 48% |
| 🇺🇸 J.W.Roberts | 2,934 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 80% |
| 🇺🇸 Chris MillerFIA Silver | 3,725 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 67% |
| 🇺🇸 Conor DalyFIA Gold | 5,394 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 8% |
| 🇨🇦 Rusty Mitchell | 4,690 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 69% |
| 🇳🇴 Anders KrohnFIA Bronze | 4,400 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 31% |
| 🇩🇰 Gustavo MenezesFIA Gold, 1× champion | 5,435 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 82% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,329 | 🇺🇸 Ron Young | NASCAR Xfinity | 4,064 |
| 3,330 | 🇮🇹 Marcello Zani | FIA GT Championship | 4,062 |
| 3,331 | 🇺🇸 Patrick Staropoli | NASCAR Xfinity | 4,062 |
| 3,332 | 🇺🇸 Tyler Rypkema | NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour | 4,062 |
| 3,333 | 🇷🇺 Aleksei Dudukalo | World Touring Car Championship | 4,061 |
| 3,334 | 🇺🇸 Brandon Butler | NASCAR Xfinity | 4,061 |
| 3,335 | 🇺🇸 Joe Foster | 24H Series | 4,061 |
| 3,336 | 🇱🇹 Julius Adomavičius | 24H Series | 4,061 |
| 3,337 | 🇺🇸 Ron Lamell Jr. | NASCAR Xfinity | 4,061 |
| 3,338 | 🇫🇷 Hugo Valente | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,060 |
| 3,339 | 🇧🇷 João Horto | Star Mazda Championship | 4,060 |
| 3,340 | 🇧🇪 Benjamin Lessennes | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,059 |
| 3,341 | 🏳️ Franjo Kovac | 24H Series | 4,059 |
| 3,342 | 🇧🇪 Hans Willems | FIA GT Championship | 4,059 |
| 3,343 | 🇩🇪 Karsten Krämer | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie | 4,059 |
| 3,344 | 🇯🇵 Keiichi Nishimiya | Formula 3 Macau | 4,059 |
| 3,345 | 🇬🇧 Mark Richards | Le Mans Cup | 4,059 |
| 3,346 | 🇺🇸 Mike Potekhen | Star Mazda Championship | 4,059 |
| 3,347 | 🇫🇷 Nyls Stievenart | GT World Challenge Europe | 4,059 |
| 3,348 | 🇧🇪 Philippe Nozière | FIA GT Championship | 4,059 |
| 3,349 | 🇧🇪 Rémy Brouard | FIA GT Championship | 4,059 |
João Horto is a Brazilian racing driver who competed in single-seat racing at the semi-professional level. His Racer Rating of 4,095 places him as a professional-grade competitor; he raced in fields where he could beat semi-professionals comfortably but finished on average in seventh position across his 24 starts. His career consisted of two seasons in the Star Mazda Championship between 2010 and 2011, where he recorded one victory and eight podium finishes while driving for Juncos Racing and Team Apex.[1]
Horto's record against his most frequent rivals shows a driver operating at the middle of his field. He went head-to-head 24 times with Connor De Phillippi, a Gold-graded professional who later won the 2025 GT World Challenge America Pro, splitting results evenly at 12 finishes ahead and 12 behind. Against Tristan Vautier, the 2011 Star Mazda champion, Horto finished ahead on seven occasions but behind on 17, indicating a clear performance gap; he was more consistently competitive against Tatiana Calderón, a Silver-graded driver, whom he beat 18 times in 24 races. He achieved notable results against stronger drivers on occasion, notably finishing ahead of Conor Daly, the 2010 Star Mazda champion, once, and beating Gustavo Menezes, a Gold-graded professional and 2016 WEC LMP2 champion, on nine separate occasions.[2]
Horto's career in top-level single-seat racing was brief and ended in 2011. His win and eight podiums came within a championship that fielded established professionals and future champions, placing his achievements in a context of genuine competitive racing rather than amateur success. The gap visible in his head-to-head records against Gold-graded rivals suggests he operated below the threshold of elite professional racing, and his retirement after just two seasons left his career incomplete.