Races
From Corso Pilota to Le Mans
Before 2020, the closest Custodio Toledo came to racing was at a go-kart track. This year, the software entrepreneur makes his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing a Ferrari 296 GT3 with the Richard Mille AF Corse team. The 55-year-old credits Corso Pilota – Ferrari’s series of two-day driving courses – for his transformation from amateur to multiple race winner. The journey begins in 2019. Having worked hard for almost two decades, Toledo sold the software company he co-founded in his adopted Miami. His reward was a 488 GTB – his first Ferrari.
In October 2020, keen to hone his driving craft, Toledo signed up for the Corso Pilota Sport programme at the Thermal Club, Palm Springs. The two-day course was a beginner’s guide to high-performance driving that included one-on-one instruction, fast laps, car-control practice and an introduction to telemetry. Toledo was hooked.
‘It was my first time driving a Ferrari on track. I was in heaven,’ he reminisces.
Recalling the eye-opening experience from that day in late 2020, he adds: ‘The main takeaway was learning how much you can trust Ferraris at high speed, especially under braking – it really helped me to understand and appreciate what a Ferrari can do.’
Toledo debuted in the 2022 Ferrari Challenge and contested Le Mans 2025 with Lilou Wadoux and Riccardo Agostini
In an early indication of his natural potential, Toledo even won the time trial that rounded out the course. In May 2021, Toledo progressed to the Advanced course at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), where he built on previous driving techniques, with skills like trail braking and advanced car control. He stepped up to the Evolution course immediately after.
That brought a chance to drive both a road car and a Challenge race car back-to-back, but it was a passenger ride that proved most inspirational: ‘I remember being amazed by how much performance a professional driver could extract from the Challenge car on the Formula 1 circuit,’ he recalls. Determined to race, Toledo completed the Corso Pilota Race programme in December 2021 – his final step before competition. The two-day course focused on race scenarios like rolling starts and racecraft refinement.
‘Before Corso Pilota I was essentially just a motorsport fan with no formal racing skills,’ explains Toledo. ‘Over the four modules I acquired good experience and confidence, and an understanding of driving a race car.’ Driving in the 2022 Ferrari Challenge North America Pirelli Am category, the first-time racer made an immediate impression – placing second on his debut race weekend at COTA, qualifying on pole for both races at Watkins Glen and clinching his maiden win at Imola during Finali Mondiali.
Toledo admiring his adopted Miami with his Ferrari 296 GTB
Promotion to the Ferrari Challenge Pirelli category beckoned for 2023 and in 2024 Toledo moved into multi-marque competition with the 296 GT3. Last year’s packed programme included the GT World Challenge America, Asian Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup – where Toledo finished second in the championship, with co-driver and coach Riccardo Agostini.
But 2025 is the year things really got serious. In January, Toledo contested the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona with Agostini, Conrad Laursen and Ferrari factory driver Arthur Leclerc – achieving a seventh-place finish in the GTD class, among the top Ferrari entrants. And now Toledo has achieved his dream of racing at Le Mans, lining up in the 296 GT3 on a Le Mans grid that included the two factory Ferrari 499P Hypercars.
‘Looking back at the past four-plus years, it is really amazing,’ he reflects. ‘To go from having no real racing experience to competing at the races and championships I’m doing this year is really incredible. It’s a true privilege and a reflection of the fantastic programmes and path Ferrari provides for those who desire to race.’
From Corso Pilota to Le Mans in under five years sounds like an impossible dream. Custodio Toledo just made it reality.