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Thierry Boutsen | |
|---|---|
 Boutsen at the1993 British Grand Prix | |
| Born | Thierry Marc Alain Boutsen (1957-07-13)13 July 1957 (age 68) Brussels, Belgium |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Belgian |
| Active years | 1983–1993 |
| Teams | Arrows,Benetton,Williams,Ligier,Jordan |
| Entries | 164 (163 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podiums | 15 |
| Careerpoints | 132 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1983 Belgian Grand Prix |
| First win | 1989 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1993 Belgian Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1981,1983,1986,1993–1999 |
| Teams | Welter,Ford,Brun,Peugeot,Porsche,Toyota |
| Best finish | 2nd(1993,1996) |
| Class wins | 1(1996) |
Thierry Marc Alain Boutsen (French:[tjɛ.ʁibut.sɛn]; born 13 July 1957)[1] is a Belgian formerracing driver, businessman andmotorsport executive, who competed inFormula One from1983 to1993. Boutsen won threeFormula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons.
Boutsen competed in Formula One forArrows,Benetton,Williams,Ligier andJordan. He finished fourth in the1988 World Drivers' Championship with Benetton. Boutsen also competed in 10 editions of the24 Hours of Le Mans from1981 to1999, finishing runner-up in1993 and1996 withPeugeot andPorsche, respectively.
Since retiring from motor racing, Boutsen has moved into theaviation industry, sellingbusiness jets from his firm inMonaco. He is also the founder, co-owner and advisor toBoutsen Racing, who have competed intouring car racing since 1998.
After winning the "Volant V" in 1977 at the André Pilette Racing School, Zolder, Boutsen entered the BelgianFormula Ford 1600 championship and won it in 1978 with 15 victories in 18 races.[2] He also entered the 1978 Spa 24 Hours race, the last auto race on the old 14 km (8.7 mi) Spa-Francorchamps circuit- driving a Toyota Trueno.[3] For 1979 he moved toFormula 3, winning three races in 1980 and second place in theEuropean title race, behindMichele Alboreto.[2] In 1981 he moved toFormula 2 and was again second in theEuropean championship, including winning at the 14-mileNürburgring- this time behindGeoff Lees.[2]
He also entered the1981 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race started at 3pm in unusually hot weather – one hour earlier than usual due to theParliamentary elections held on the same weekend. At 4:06pm Boutsen suffered a massive accident just after the Hunaudières kink, some 400 metres (0.25 mi) before theMulsanne bosse (the "hump") when his WM P81-Peugeot was travelling at some 350 km/h (217 mph). A suspension piece had failed and the car hit the guard-rail losing the entire rear end. Boutsen was untouched, but the debris field of hurled parts and bodywork was spread over 150 metres (490 ft). Three marshals and agendarme were struck by the debris. One of them, Thierry Mabilat, was killed - struck in the chest by a detached piece of the guard rail. The other two marshals, Claude Hertault and Serge David (who lost an arm), and the gendarme were all seriously injured.
In 1983 Boutsen drove in theEuropean Touring Car Championship and inWorld Sportscar races,[2] where he won the very first Group C race, the Monza 1000 km withBob Wollek driving a Porsche 956. He also won the famousDaytona 24-hour race in 1985, co-driving thePorsche 956 from the Preston Henn Racing withBob Wollek,A. J. Foyt andAl Unser Sr.
Boutsen was considered a promising driver, testing forMcLaren andBrabham. He was briefly attached to theSpirit Honda F1 project before losing out to hisFormula Two teammateStefan Johansson.
In 1983 he paid $500,000 for a drive in Formula One and made his debut withArrows at his home race, the1983 Belgian Grand Prix at the shortened 7 km (4.3 mi)Spa.[2] While he scored no points in 1983 his careful handling and close performance compared to experienced teammateMarc Surer allowed him to foster a positive reputation within the team. With backing fromBarclay cigarettes he remained with Arrows for a further three seasons. The first saw Arrows struggle with their difficultfirstturbocharged car, with powerfulBMW turbo engines but poor handling. Boutsen scored points twice in the oldCosworth DFV poweredA6 and once in the turbo machine. His second season saw several notable results, including 2nd place atImola. Boutsen crossed the line third, behindAlain Prost andElio de Angelis but after the race, Prost was disqualified because his car was 2 kg underweight. Three more points scores saw him 11th overall in the standings. A final season with Arrows saw no points for Boutsen in an uncompetitive car, but in parallel to F1 he drove for theWalter Brun team inGroup C and clinched the World Championship title with them in 1986, winning that year'sSpa 1000 km.
Boutsen got his big chance when he switched to the worksFordEurope F1 team,Benetton, for the1987 season as teammate toTeo Fabi. While the package wasn't a race winner, it did allow him to run regularly in the top 6. He scored points in six races, his best being awarded 3rd place inAdelaide after the disqualification ofAyrton Senna'sLotus and moved to 8th overall. At theAustralian Grand Prix, Boutsen was furious with Fabi when the Italian refused to let his teammate lap him for a number of laps. When Boutsen confronted Fabi about this after the race, a frustrated Fabi (who had been unable to find an F1 drive for1988), told the Belgian to "come back and see me when you have a pole position". Fabi scored no wins in his F1 career but did have 3 poles to his name while at that stage Boutsen could only boast his 2nd place at Imola in 1985.
1988 saw Boutsen with a new teammate, the ItalianAlessandro Nannini. WhenCosworth stopped development of their turbocharged V6 engine, Benetton were forced to switch to normally aspiratedFord DFRV8 engines in anticipation of the banning of turbos in 1989. Boutsen's consistency, mechanical sympathy and speed in theRory Byrne designedBenetton B188 saw him score points in 10 of the 16 races, including five 3rd-place finishes (all behind the all-conqueringMcLaren-Honda cars), and place 4th overall as the best non-turbo driver in the field.
Frank Williams signed Boutsen in the summer of 1988 to replaceNigel Mansell for 1989 as Mansell had signed to move to Ferrari.[4] Boutsen's reputation as a reliable, fast driver with good development skills saw Williams sign him on a two-year contract.
For 1989, he drove the newV10Renault poweredWilliams FW12C.1989 began with Boutsen on the back foot due to a heavy pre-season testing crash inRio and because veteran teammateRiccardo Patrese had a major resurgence in form. However at theCanadian Grand Prix, Boutsen drove well in wet conditions and took his maiden victory after Senna suffered a late engine failure. Although it was a welcome win (Boutsen became the first new winner in F1 since former Arrows teammateGerhard Berger had won the1986 Mexican Grand Prix for Benetton), it was considered a lucky win for the Belgian as he had been last at one stage and had a full 360° spin, though luckily he managed to keep his car off the walls. He managed to catch and pass Patrese who was suffering with a loose undertray and took the lead 3 laps from the end when the Honda V10 engine in Senna'sMcLaren MP4/5 seized. Three more podium finishes came before Boutsen rounded the year off with a second victory at the rain-soakedAustralian Grand Prix. Ironically Boutsen had been one of the drivers protesting about the conditions at the circuit before the race.
1990 saw more consistent points scoring drives, including his third and final Grand Prix victory - a lights-to-flag victory inHungary where he took his first pole position and held off sustained pressure from Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) and Ayrton Senna (McLaren) to win. However, with Nigel Mansell available in 1991, Williams felt they needed a 'star' driver to put together a championship bid. Despite Boutsen winning three races in two years to Patrese's one and finishing every race in 1990 in the points (top 6) barring retirements, the team felt that Patrese had been more consistent (and had worked well with Mansell in 1988) and decided to keep the Italian to drive alongside Mansell.
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With no vacancies among the top teams Boutsen had to drop down to theLigier team. Despite having a sizeable budget andLamborghini V12 engines, theJS35 was an uncompetitive car and Boutsen was frequently unable to disguise his disgust with the machinery given to him. The arrival of Renault engines in 1992 improved matters a little and in hisfinal race for the team he scored 5th place, his first points since leaving Williams.
Initially he was unable to find a drive for 1993 but Barclay secured him a slot atJordan, replacingIvan Capelli. Boutsen was too tall for the car and largely outpaced by young teammateRubens Barrichello, failing to score any points in ten races. WithEddie Jordan keen to bring in younger, well-sponsored drivers to the seat the decision was taken to turn Boutsen'shome race into a farewell event, though he retired on the first lap.
For 1994, Boutsen was hired by Ford Motorsport to lead their works challenge on the newly createdSuper Tourenwagen Cup in Germany. Driving a factory preparedFord Mondeo built byEggenberger Motorsport, that first season was a learning year for both Boutsen and the team.
The following year, Boutsen was joined by his old Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese, but the season was a disaster. Attempting to follow Audi's lead by developing a four-wheel drive car, the Mondeo was totally uncompetitive.
Boutsen started in only the first four races in 1996 before leaving the team and turning his attention to sports car racing. After three years of limited success, Ford pulled the plug on the project at the end of that season to focus solely on theBritish series.
Boutsen then drove sports cars in the US, driving for Champion Racing in a Porsche 911 GT1, alongsideBill Adam andHans Stuck. The trio finished 2nd in class at the24 Hours of Daytona in 1997, Boutsen won the GT-1 US Championship with the Champion Racing in 1998. After a crash at Le Mans in 1999 at the wheel of aToyota GT-One he retired from racing altogether.[2]
Boutsen's helmet was black with a red, orange and yellow ribbon design surrounding the visor and the rear area. The colours used are the colours of theBelgian flag (except for orange).
Today Boutsen runs his own company,Boutsen Aviation, inMonaco.[5] Its business is the "Sale and Acquisition of Business Jets". He founded the company in 1997 with his wife Daniela and up to May 2011, the company had sold 205 aircraft, ranging from Airbus Corporate Jets to Cessna Citation. He is also co-owner of Boutsen Energy Racing alongside his brother-in-law Olivier Lainé and Georges Kaczka. The team competes in theFormula Le Mans class in theLe Mans Series. Boutsen also runs cars inFormula Renault andEurocup Mégane Trophy.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Marlboro Racing for Zolder | March 812 | BMW | SIL Ret | HOC Ret | THR Ret | NÜR 1 | VAL 3 | MUG Ret | PAU 2 | PER 1 | SPA 2 | DON 12 | MIS 8 | MAN 4 | 2nd | 37 | |
| 1982 | Marlboro Team Spirit | Spirit 201 | Honda | SIL 12 | HOC 2 | THR 3 | NÜR 1 | MUG 4 | VAL 6 | PAU 2 | SPA 1 | HOC Ret | DON 9 | MAN 4 | PER 1 | MIS 6 | 3rd | 50 |
Source:[6] | ||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |  WM A.E.R.E.M. | Serge Saulnier Michel Pignard | WM P81-Peugeot | C | 15 | DNF | DNF |
| 1983 | Ford France | Henri Pescarolo | Rondeau M482-FordCosworth | C | 174 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 |  Brun Motorsport | Alain FertéDidier Theys | Porsche 956 | C1 | 89 | DNF | DNF |
| 1993 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | Yannick Dalmas Teo Fabi | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 374 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 1994 |  Le Mans Porsche TeamJoest Racing | Hans-Joachim Stuck Danny Sullivan | Dauer 962 Le Mans | GT1 | 343 | 3rd | 2nd |
| 1995 | PorscheKremer Racing | Hans-Joachim StuckChristophe Bouchut | Kremer K8 Spyder | WSC | 289 | 6th | 2nd |
| 1996 | Porsche AG | Hans-Joachim StuckBob Wollek | Porsche 911 GT1 | GT1 | 353 | 2nd | 1st |
| 1997 | Porsche AG | Hans-Joachim StuckBob Wollek | Porsche 911 GT1 | GT1 | 238 | DNF | DNF |
| 1998 |  Toyota MotorsportToyota Team Europe | Ralf Kelleners Geoff Lees | Toyota GT-One | GT1 | 330 | DNF | DNF |
| 1999 | Toyota MotorsportToyota Team Europe | Ralf KellenersAllan McNish | Toyota GT-One | LMGTP | 173 | DNF | DNF |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Luigi Racing | Marc DuezLella Lombardi | Toyota Sprinter Trueno | 1 | 5 | DNF | DNF |
| 1979 | J. P. Willeme | Pierre Dieudonné | BMW 530i | DNF | DNF | ||
| 1983 | SJA/Texaco Racing Team | Claude Ballot-LénaThierry Sabine | BMW 635 CSi | 3 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1985 | Brun Motorsport | Walter BrunHarald Grohs | BMW 635 CSi | 3 | 264 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 | BMW Belgium | Enzo CalderariHans Heyer | BMW 635 CSi | 3 | 85 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Ford Texaco Racing Team | Klaus LudwigKlaus Niedzwiedz | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | 3 | 406 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Ford Texaco Eggenberger Racing Team | Pierre DieudonnéKlaus Ludwig | Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth | 3 | 506 | 2nd | 1st |
| 1998 | Ecurie Toison d'Or | Jean-Michel Martin Frédéric Moreau | BMW 320i | SP | 458 | 12th | 11th |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Eggenberger Motorsport | Ford Mondeo Ghia | AVU 4 | WUN 11 | ZOL 14 | ZAN Ret | ÖST 7 | SAL 6 | SPA Ret | NÜR 8 | 10th | 23 | ||||||||||
| 1995 | Ford Mondeo Team Schübel | Ford Mondeo 4x4 | ZOL 1 10 | ZOL 2 Ret | SPA 1 Ret | SPA 2 NC | ÖST 1 22 | ÖST 2 Ret | HOC 1 NC | HOC 2 12 | NÜR 1 Ret | NÜR 2 15 | SAL 1 14 | SAL 2 Ret | AVU 1 14 | AVU 2 10 | NÜR 1 14 | NÜR 2 10 | 18th | 95 | ||
| 1996 | Ford Mondeo Team Schübel | Ford Mondeo Ghia | ZOL 1 13 | ZOL 2 Ret | ASS 1 18 | ASS 2 16 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | SAC 1 | SAC 2 | WUN 1 | WUN 2 | ZWE 1 | ZWE 2 | SAL 1 | SAL 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | 30th | 21 |
Source:[8] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Porsche AG | Porsche 911 GT1 | GT1 | HOC 4 | SIL 5 | HEL | 15th | 18 | ||||||||
| Porsche 911 GT1 Evo | NÜR 10 | SPA Ret | A1R 6 | SUZ 5 | DON 11 | MUG 4 | SEB 6 | LAG 5 | ||||||||
Source:[6] | ||||||||||||||||
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