Cem Bölükbaşı

Cem Bölükbaşı
Born	(1998-02-09) February 9, 1998 Turkey
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, former sim racer
Years active	2017–present
Known for	Competing in European Le Mans Series, Formula 2, Super Formula; first esports driver to win a formula racing event

Cem Bölükbaşı (; born 9 February 1998) is a professional Turkish racing driver and former sim racer currently competing in the 2025 European Le Mans Series with Nielsen Racing. Prior to this, he competed in the 2024 European Le Mans Series representing DKR Engineering.

Starting motocross at the age of five, Bölükbaşı secured the Turkish Championship title just one year later. His professional journey began in the realm of esports in 2017 when he joined G2 Esports FA Racing, taking part in multiple Formula One eSports Series seasons and clinching the first-ever Formula Renault Esport Series championship in 2020.

Making the transition to physical racing in May 2019, he entered the GT4 European Series and made his open-wheel debut in October with the Formula Renault Eurocup. Early in 2021, Bölükbaşı competed in the 2021 F3 Asian Championship, earning the rookie runner-up position. Concurrently, he participated part-time in the 2021 Euroformula Open Championship, where he achieved two victories. After conducting Formula 2 testing at the end of 2021, he secured a seat with Charouz Racing System for the 2022 Formula 2 Championship.

On 27 August 2022, prior to the Spa-Francorchamps event, Bölükbaşı parted ways with Charouz. The team accused him of a significant contract violation, while Bölükbaşı attributed his exit to unresolved financial disputes and considered the termination unjust.

Early and personal life

Bölükbaşı’s enthusiasm for motorsport was sparked early on when his father introduced him to motocross at six years old. He began competing at five and had already won the Turkish Championship by age six. In 2022, he identified Fernando Alonso as his preferred Formula One driver, admiring both Alonso’s character and driving approach.

Esports

At the end of 2017, Bölükbaşı became part of G2 Esports FA Racing, engaging in sim racing competitions throughout 2018. During the 2017 Formula One eSports Series, he represented McLaren, finishing fifth overall including a race victory. The following year, he switched allegiance to Toro Rosso, participating in four out of ten races and concluding the season twelfth. In 2019, he competed in nine of twelve events, ending up twenty-first in the standings. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in 2020, he secured the inaugural Formula Renault Esport Series championship and took part in numerous virtual racing events, which boosted his prominence within esports motorsports.

GT4

In May 2019, Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport revealed Bölükbaşı would take part in the 2019 GT4 European Series. He achieved a runner-up position at the Misano event and ultimately ranked 17th in the overall standings. Competing full-time in the 2020 season, Bölükbaşı secured three pole positions, triumphed in three races, and finished as the championship runner-up.

Formula Renault Eurocup

Bölükbaşı made his debut in the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup with M2 Competition as a guest entrant, participating exclusively at the Hockenheim round. He finished 16th in the first race and retired from the second.

Formula 3

In January 2021, Bölükbaşı was signed by BlackArts Racing to compete in the 2021 F3 Asian Championship. Over 15 races, he scored points in 13, with a highest finish of fifth place, concluding the championship in ninth position overall.

During the rebranded 2022 season, he joined Evans GP but was forced to retire from all three races in the opening round due to a crash that severely damaged his car. The necessary repairs delayed his return, causing him to miss round two. In early February, Bölükbaşı withdrew from the series, citing limited opportunities to accumulate FIA Super Licence points.

Euroformula Open

On 3 July 2021, Bölükbaşı entered the 2021 Euroformula Open Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. Making his debut in round four at Hungaroring, he won race one, becoming the first esports driver to claim victory in a formula racing event. He followed this with a third-place finish in race two and seventh place in a rain-affected third race.

At round five held at Imola, Bölükbaşı qualified third, finished third in race one after running second for much of it, and placed fourth in race two starting from fourth due to a reversed grid format. A collision with teammate Rafael Villagómez led to both drivers retiring from race three.

In round six at the Red Bull Ring, he initially finished fifth in race one but was promoted to fourth following a post-race penalty for another driver. He secured second place behind Nazim Azman in race two and ended race three in sixth position. At round seven at Monza, Bölükbaşı recorded third place and fastest lap in race one, took second place in a wet race two, and despite crossing the line first in race three, was demoted to second after receiving a penalty.

During round eight at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he claimed pole position and won race one for his second victory of the series. He then finished fourth in both subsequent races. Although he missed the initial three rounds of competition, he completed the season ranked fifth overall.

Formula Regional

Bölükbaşı was signed by Evans GP for participation in the opening round of the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship. Unfortunately, he retired from every race that weekend due to an accident at the start of his final race that inflicted significant damage on his car. This prevented his involvement in round two and ultimately led to his withdrawal from the championship.

Formula 2

On 14 October 2021, Bölükbaşı experienced driving a Formula Two car for the first time during testing at the Brno Circuit, piloting a Dallara GP2/11, previously used in both the GP2 Series and early seasons of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He officially debuted in Formula 2 during post-season testing with Van Amersfoort Racing on 18 December, finishing 22nd. On 12 January 2022, it was confirmed that he would compete in the 2022 Formula 2 Championship representing Charouz Racing System.

2022 season

During the Bahrain event, Bölükbaşı secured 20th place in his debut Formula 2 qualifying session. In the sprint race, he advanced four spots to finish 14th, surpassing several notable retirees including Marcus Armstrong and Theo Pourchaire. In the feature race, employing an early pitstop strategy and setting fastest laps briefly elevated him to 12th, but a late spin resulted in a 15th-place finish.

At the Jeddah round, Bölükbaşı suffered a crash during practice that caused a concussion, leading to his withdrawal from qualifying and the race weekend. His misfortune continued at the in-season test in Barcelona where another crash fractured a rib, causing him to miss further testing and the Imola event, where David Beckmann took his place.

Bölükbaşı made his return at the Barcelona round, qualifying 21st. He gained multiple positions in both sprint and feature races but remained outside the points, hindered by a slow pitstop that affected his feature race outcome. At Monaco, despite qualifying 21st, he improved to an 11th-place finish in the feature race through strategic pit stops and benefiting from retirements.

At the Baku round, he again qualified 21st. A collision during the sprint race forced him to retire while running in points contention. In the feature race, contact with Roy Nissany ended his participation prematurely; Nissany received a penalty for causing the incident. Subsequently, after an altercation in the paddock involving Bölükbaşı’s father and Nissany’s team personnel, Bölükbaşı was fined €5,000.

In Silverstone, Bölükbaşı qualified 20th. Wet track conditions limited his progress to 19th in the sprint race; an early pit strategy in the feature race failed to improve his position, resulting in an 18th-place finish. At Spielberg, he achieved a season-best qualifying position of 13th but retired from both races due to brake problems and collision damage.

At Le Castellet, despite qualifying last, he delivered a strong start that saw him rise as high as 13th before settling into mid-field finishes in both events. In Budapest, qualifying 16th, he maintained consistent driving to finish both races near that position while gaining several places.

Prior to the Spa-Francorchamps round, Bölükbaşı and Charouz mutually agreed to terminate his contract; he was replaced by Tatiana Calderón. He attributed his sudden exit from Formula 2 to financial constraints.

Super Formula

Following his unexpected departure from Formula 2 in December 2022, Bölükbaşı participated in testing for Super Formula alongside fellow Formula 2 competitor Liam Lawson. In March 2023, he secured a seat with TGM Grand Prix for the 2023 Super Formula Championship. Throughout the season, Bölükbaşı struggled to find form and scored points only with eighth and ninth-place finishes during the opening rounds, concluding the championship in 18th place with five points. After one season, he was succeeded by Nobuharu Matsushita for the 2024 season.

European Le Mans Series

After competing in Super Formula, Bölükbaşı joined DKR Engineering for participation in the 2024 European Le Mans Series, competing within the LMP2 class.

Overview of Karting Performance

Season	Competition	Team	Final Standing
2007	Turkey Karting Championship — Mini		7th place
	South East European Karting Zone — Mini		20th place
2008	Turkey Karting Championship — Mini		9th place
2009	Turkey Karting Championship — Mini		3rd place
	South East European Karting Zone — Mini		11th place
2011	Kartmasters British Grand Prix — Rotax Junior		13th place
2012	Rotax Max Challenge Belgium — Junior		36th place
	Rotax Max Euro Challenge — Junior	Paul Carr Racing	25th place
	Rotax Max Wintercup — Junior		4th place

Summary of Esports Participation

Year	Competition	Team Affiliation	Events Entered	Victories	Pole Positions	Fastest Laps	Podium Finishes	Accumulated Points	Overall Ranking
2017	2017 Formula One eSports Series	Unaffiliated	5	1 win	N/A	N/A	3 podiums	35 points	5th place
2018	2018 Formula One eSports Series	Toro Rosso Esports Team	4 events	0 wins	0 poles	0 fastest laps	0 podiums	32 points	12th overall
2019	2019 Formula One eSports Series	Toro Rosso Esports Team	9 races contested	0 victories	0 poles earned	0 fastest laps recorded	0 podiums achieved	4 points accumulated	21st position

Full Results in Formula One Esports Series

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Races shown in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final Rank	Points Scored
2017 Formula One eSports Series	N/A	Silverstone Circuit 3rd	Autódromo José Carlos Pace 2nd	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 19th	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 1st	Yas Marina Circuit 11th								5th	35
2018 Formula One eSports Series	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	Albert Park Circuit	Shanghai International Circuit	Baku City Circuit	Circuit Paul Ricard	Silverstone Circuit 4th	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 6th	Hockenheimring 8th	Marina Bay Street Circuit 6th	Circuit of the Americas	Yas Marina Circuit			12th	32	-	2019 Formula One eSports Series	Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team	Bahrain International Circuit 14th	Shanghai International Circuit 13th	Baku City Circuit 15th	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 9th	Red Bull Ring 18th	Silverstone Circuit 9th	Hockenheimring	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 20th	Suzuka International Racing Course 11th	Circuit of the Americas 20th	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	21st	4

Summary of Racing Career

Season	Championship	Team	Events	Victories	Pole Positions	Fastest Laps	Podium Finishes	Points Accumulated	Final Standing
2019	GT4 European Series - Pro-Am	Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport	4	0	0	0	1	26	17th
	Formula Renault Eurocup	M2 Competition	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2020	GT4 European Series - Pro-Am	Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport	12	2	2	3	7	192	2nd
2021	Euroformula Open Championship	Van Amersfoort Racing	15	2	1	1	8	217	5th
	F3 Asian Championship	BlackArts Racing	15	0	0	0	0	61	9th
	2021 GT4 European Series (Pro-Am)	Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport	4	0	0	0	1	44	11th
	2021 GT4 European Series (Am)		2	2	1	1	2	51	'11th'
	4		0	0	0	1	30	15th
	EuroInternational	1	0	0	0	1	18	18th
2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship	Evans GP	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2022 Formula 2 Championship	Charouz Racing System	16	0	0	0	0	0	24th
2023 Super Formula Championship	Team Goh (TGM Grand Prix)	9	0	0	0	0	5	18th
"2024 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Pro-Am"	"DKR Engineering"	6	0	0	0	0	38	8th
"2025 European Le Mans Series - LMP2"	"Nielsen Racing"	3	0	0	0	0	22	'7th*'

^† Competed as a guest driver, not eligible for points.
^* Current season in progress.

Full GT4 European Series Results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend) (Bold indicates pole position; italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Vehicle	Category	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Ranking	Points Earned
'2019'	Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport	BMW M4 GT4	Pro-Am	'–'|'–'|'–'|'Ret'|'24'|'9'|'20'|'–'|'–'|'–'|'–' !17th !26
'2020'	Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport	BMW M4 GT4	Silver	'11'|'4'|'7'|'12'|'8'|'12'|'14'|'9'|'5'|'8'|'Ret' !style="background:#DFDFDF;" rowspan="1"|2nd !192

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup Results

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole position; entries in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Position	Points
2019	M2 Competition	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	MON 1	MON 2	LEC 1	LEC 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	HOC 1 16	HOC 2 Ret	YMC 1	YMC 2	NC†	0

Full Formula Regional Asian Championship results

(key) (Races shown in bold represent pole positions; those in italics indicate fastest laps)

Year	Team/Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final Position	Points Scored
2021	BlackArts Racing	DUB 1 7	DUB 2 9	DUB 3 8	ABU 1 8	ABU 2 7	ABU 3 10	ABU 1 7	ABU 2 5	ABU 3 Ret	DUB 1 7	DUB 2 8
DUB 3 12
ABU 1 9
ABU 2 6
ABU 3 9	9th	61
2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship	nowrap| Evans GP	style= " background: #EFCFFF; "| ABU < br >1 < br >Ret| style= " background: #EFCFFF; "| ABU < br >2 < br >Ret| style= " background: #EFCFFF; "| ABU < br >3 < br >Ret|											-	0

Full Euroformula Open Championship results

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole position; entries in italics indicate fastest lap points awarded to top ten finishers)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Final Position	Points Scored
2021	Van Amersfoort Racing	POR 1	POR 2	POR 3	LEC 1	LEC 2	LEC 3	SPA 1	SPA 2	SPA 3	HUN 1 1	HUN 2 3	HUN 3 7	IMO 1 3	IMO 2 4	IMO 3 Ret	RBR 1 4	RBR 2 2	RBR 3 6	MNZ 1 3	MNZ 2 2	MNZ 3 2	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 4	CAT 3 4	5th overall	217

Full European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Entries in bold represent pole positions; results in italics signify fastest laps)

Year	Team	Category	Chassis Model	Engine Type	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Overall Ranking	Points Accumulated
2021	Eurointernational	LMP3 Category	Ligier JS P320	Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8	CAT	RBR 2	LEC	MNZ	SPA	ALG	18th place	18 points
2024	DKR Engineering	LMP2 Pro-Am class	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	CAT 6	LEC 8	IMO 5	SPA 5	MUG Ret	ALG 7	8th position	38 points
2025	Nielsen Racing	LMP2 category	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	CAT 7	LEC 5	IMO 7	[[4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps SPA]] {{{1}}}	[[4 Hours of Silverstone SIL]] {{{1}}}	[[4 Hours of Portimão ALG]] {{{1}}}	7th* place	22* points

^* Current season ongoing.

Full FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions; races in italics signify fastest lap points)

Year	Team	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	Final Position	Points Scored
2022	Charouz Racing System	BHR SPR 14	BHR FEA 14	JED SPR WD	JED FEA WD	IMO SPR	IMO FEA	CAT SPR 18	CAT FEA 20	MCO SPR 12	MCO FEA 11	BAK SPR 18†	BAK FEA Ret	SIL SPR 19	SIL FEA 18	RBR SPR NC	RBR FEA Ret	LEC SPR 15	LEC FEA Ret	HUN SPR 16	HUN FEA 13	SPA SPR	SPA FEA	ZAN SPR	ZAN FEA	MNZ SPR	MNZ FEA	YMC SPR	YMC FEA	24th	0

Full Super Formula Championship results

( key) (Entries in bold represent pole positions; entries in italics indicate fastest laps)

Year	Team	Engine	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Final Ranking	Total Points
2023	TGM Grand Prix	Honda	FUJ 8	FUJ 17	SUZ 9	AUT 15	SUG 17	FUJ 18	MOT 11	SUZ 20	SUZ 15	18th	5

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Category	Laps Completed	Overall Result	Category Result
2025	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nielsen Racing	Colin Braun Naveen Rao	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	170	DNF	DNF
				LMP2 Pro-Am