| Basil Shaaban | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Lebanese |
| Born | (1980-03-27)27 March 1980 (age 44) Beirut,Lebanon |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | Prema Powerteam |
| F3 Euroseries | |
| Car number | 5 |
| Former teams | HBR Motorsport |
| Starts | 60 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 17th in2009 |
| Previous series | |
| 2005 2005 2005–06,2006–07 2006,2008 | Italian F3 3000 Pro Series A1 Grand Prix British F3 |
Basil Shaaban (born 27 March 1980 inBeirut) is aLebanese racing driver.
Shaaban began racing in Lebanon at the age of 14 at theCircuit des Champions karting center nearBrummana. Eventually, he worked his way up to driving 16 horsepower (12 kW) 100 cc 2-stroke karts.
While a student atUniversity of California, Berkeley, Shaaban bought a 23 horsepower (17 kW) 100 cc kart fromTrackmagic and began racing in theNorthern California region alongside his studies. Over the next few years he won several races. Shaaban graduated with a bachelor degree inastrophysics from Berkeley.[citation needed]
After graduating from Berkeley, in 2004, Shaaban began racing inFormula Renault 2000 in the USA andFormula Ford 1800 in theUnited Kingdom. He became the first Arab to win a Formula Ford 1800 race in Europe.[citation needed]
Shaaban was one ofA1 Team Lebanon's drivers for theinaugural 2005–06 season of the series, alongsideKhalil Beschir and AmericanGraham Rahal. None of the drivers scored any points. However, Shaaban scored Lebanon's highest finishing position of the season in the feature race inEstoril, finishing 11th out of 24.
Shaaban inaugurated A1 Team Lebanon's second season when he raced at the A1GP2006–07 season opener inZandvoort, the Netherlands.
Shaaban competed in theFormula Three Euroseries beginning in2007, which was his first full season of car racing. He spent his first two seasons (2007-2008) at HBR Motorsport, before moving toPrema Powerteam for the2009 season. In his 55th race, Shaaban took both his first top-ten finish and his first Euroseries points (seventh) inBarcelona. In the second race, he started from the front row due to the series' reverse-grid system for the top eight finishers in the first race. Although he was passed byAlexander Sims, Shaaban finished third. In 2009, he finished 12th in theMasters of F3 at Zandvoort.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Lebanon | GBR SPR PO | GBR FEA PO | GER SPR | GER FEA | POR SPR 18 | POR FEA 11 | AUS SPR Ret | AUS FEA 12 | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | UAE SPR Ret | UAE FEA 16 | RSA SPR 17 | RSA FEA Ret | IDN SPR 17 | IDN FEA Ret | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | USA SPR | USA FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | 23rd | 0 |
| 2006–07 | NED SPR 16 | NED FEA Ret | CZE SPR | CZE FEA | CHN SPR 19 | CHN FEA 13 | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | IDN SPR 19 | IDN FEA Ret | NZL SPR | NZL FEA | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | GBR SPR | GBR SPR | 23rd | 0 |