Luciano Bacheta

Akshay Luciano Bacheta (/ˈækʃeɪ luˈtʃɑːnoʊ bæˈtʃɛtə/; born 26 April 1990) is a British stunt driver and former racing driver who competed in the FIA Formula Two Championship from 2011 to 2012.

Born in Romford to Indian parents, Bacheta began competitive kart racing aged 14. He debuted in the 2006 Ginetta Junior Championship, winning the T Cars title that year. After finishing runner-up to Kevin Korjus in the 2010 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, he competed in FIA Formula Two from 2011 to 2012, winning the latter title with MotorSport Vision. After testing the FW33 with Williams, he then became a race-winner in the 2013 Auto GP Series. After three seasons in sportscar racing, he retired in 2016 to move into stunt driving.

Bacheta made his feature film debut with his stunt work in the Mission: Impossible film Rogue Nation (2015)—he has since worked on Fallout (2018) and Dead Reckoning (2023). He has further performed for The Mummy (2017), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). He choreographed the racing sequences in F1 (2025), which received widespread acclaim, and made his acting debut as reserve driver Luca Cortez.

Akshay Luciano Bacheta was born on 26 April 1990 in Romford, London, England. His parents are Indian and he has Italian ancestry.^[1]

Bacheta started karting at the age of fourteen in 2004 and stepped up to cars in 2005, racing in the Junior Ginetta series, recording six wins and the most fastest laps and pole positions. In 2006, Bacheta won the T Cars Championship after scoring six consecutive victories mid-season, and edged out Max Chilton by three points. In the off-season, Bacheta moved into open-wheel racing, competing in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy. At Snetterton, Bacheta won his very first race in a single-seater car, and went on to finish the Autumn Trophy in third place after problems at round two.

Bacheta committed to racing a full campaign in Formula Palmer Audi for the 2007 season, and finished third overall in the championship standings with three poles and four wins. He competed in the Autumn Trophy again at the completion of the season, but could only finish a lowly fourteenth in the standings.

Bacheta moved into Formula Renault in 2008, moving into both the Eurocup and the West European Cup, driving for the Hitech Junior Team. Bacheta made six starts in the WEC, recording a best finish of ninth at Magny-Cours with left him 26th in the championship. He fared three places better in the pan-European series, amassing three points from an eighth-place finish at Le Mans.

Bacheta moved to Epsilon Sport for the 2009 campaigns, but put his main emphasis into the Eurocup, with just one appearance in the WEC – finishing fifth and sixth – at the World Touring Car Championship-supporting round in Pau. In the Eurocup, Bacheta finished in the points three times, en route to sixteenth in the championship, despite missing the rounds in Hungary with budgetary problems.

Bacheta returned to the Eurocup in 2010, with the new Interwetten Junior Team, finishing as vice-champion to Kevin Korjus. He was also awarded BRDC Rising Star status and nominated for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Bacheta graduated to the GP3 Series in 2011 with Mücke. He scored his sole points finish at the Silverstone feature race, finishing fifth in race one after starting twenty-third. He departed the series after the Budapest round.

Bacheta debuted in FIA Formula Two in 2011 at the Red Bull Ring, where he finished seventh and tenth. He returned at Monza, claiming two further points finishes in tenth and fifth.

Bacheta earned a full-time drive in F2 for his 2012 campaign. He dominated the opening two rounds, winning all four races at Silverstone and Portimão. Following another podium at the Nürburgring, he won the second race at Spa-Francorchamps from pole position. He took podiums in each of the four remaining rounds—Brands Hatch, Paul Ricard, Hungaroring, and Monza—as he claimed the title by 21.5 points over Mathéo Tuscher, and 35.5 points over Christopher Zanella.

Following his F2 title, Bacheta signed for Zele Racing in the 2013 Auto GP Series. He took a podium in his debut weekend at Monza before achieving his maiden victory at Marrakech. Points finishes followed at the Hungaroring and Silverstone but he departed halfway through the season, ending eleventh overall in the standings.

Bacheta debuted in sportscar racing in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series in 2014 with Greaves, driving the No. 28 Zytek Z11SN alongside Mark Shulzhitskiy. He finished fourth on debut at the Red Bull Ring. He closed the season with fifth and a retirement at Paul Ricard and Estoril, respectively.

Bacheta moved to the Renault Sport Trophy in 2015 with Oregon, finishing fifth overall and third in the Endurance Trophy, the latter alongside amateur driver Niccolò Nalio.

Bacheta joined HTP in the Blancpain GT Series in 2016, contesting five rounds of the Endurance Cup in the No. 85 Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Indy Dontje and Clemens Schmid. They claimed their sole points finish at the 3 Hours of Silverstone, where they finished fifth. Aged 26, Bacheta retired from motor racing at the end of the season to move into stunt driving.

After three years away from competing, Bacheta returned to racing at the 750MC Birkett 6 Hour Relay in 2019 and won aboard a Radical SR3, with team-mates Wade Eastwood and Charles Graham.

After his racing career ended, Bacheta became a film stunt driver. In 2025, he appeared as APXGP reserve driver Luca Cortez as a non-speaking role in F1, where he was also the driving sequences choreographer.

^† As Bacheta was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Luciano Bacheta career summary at DriverDB.com