Gil de Ferran

Gil De Ferran

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Gil de Ferran

Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
ian parents), is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car

Champ Car

Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of automobiles used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race....
champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500

2003 Indianapolis 500

The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003....
.

Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi

Emerson Fittipaldi

Emerson Fittipaldi is a highly successful Brazilian automobile racing driver, winning championships in both Formula One and Champcars, and the Indianapolis 500 twice....
, de Ferran began his career in kart racing

Kart racing

Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design....
in the early 1980s.

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Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, France

France

Brazil

Champ Car

2003 Indianapolis 500

The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003....
.

Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi

Emerson Fittipaldi

Kart racing

Formula Three

Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open wheel car formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers....
in 1991. Driving for Edenbridge Racing, De Ferran finished the 1991 British Formula Three Championship

British Formula Three Championship

Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Gon?alves Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. Following the management buy-out of the Honda racing team, with whom Barrichello competed during the 2008 season, he was confirmed for 2009 as one of the drivers in the new Brawn GP team....
and David Coulthard

David Coulthard

David Marshall Coulthard, often called DC, is a United Kingdom former Formula One racing driver. By virtue of a long career he has amassed a notable points haul, and lies fifth on the List of Formula One driver records#Career points, being the top United Kingdom scorer....
. For the 1992 season, De Ferran moved to Paul Stewart Racing and won the British Formula Three Championship

British Formula Three Championship

The British Formula Three Championship is a national Auto racing championship that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe....
title, scoring seven wins in the process.

1993 and 1994 were spent driving for Paul Stewart Racing in International Formula 3000. De Ferran finished fourth in the series in 1993 and third in 1994. In 1993, De Ferran tested for a day the Footwork Arrows

Footwork Arrows

Footwork Arrows was the name of a Formula One motor racing team, competing during the mid-1990s. Japanese businessman Wataru Ohashi began investing heavily in the Arrows team in 1990, the deal including requiring the cars to display the Footwork logo prominently....
Formula One

Formula One

Jos Verstappen

Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen is a Netherlands racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races....
. His day was seriously compromised after he bumped his head while walking nearby the motorhome and also due to Verstappen's impressive test times.

At the end of 1994 de Ferran was invited to test a Champ Car

Champ Car

Pennzoil

Pennzoil is an oil company originally founded in Oil City, Pennsylvania. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Corporation to become Pennzoil....
that de Ferran was not famous enough name for their car, the team was sufficiently impressed to offer de Ferran a drive for 1995. With no top-line Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, and currently officially referred as the FIA Formula One World Championship is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile ....
drive available de Ferran took up the offer to drive in America.

De Ferran won the rookie of the year award in 1995 by finishing 14th. He scored his first Champ Car

Champ Car

Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of automobiles used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race....
win in the last race of the year at Laguna Seca.

In 1996 de Ferran was a consistent challenger but only scored one win, at Cleveland. This win was the last for veteran car owner and driver Jim Hall

Jim Hall

Jim Hall is the name of:* Jim Hall , jazz guitarist and composer* Jim Hall , Australian boxer in the late 19th century* Jim Hall , race car driver and founder of Chaparral Cars...
who retired from the sport at the end of 1996. Hall's retirement also spelled the end of the Pennzoil Hall team. Despite rumours that he would be a driver for the new Stewart Grand Prix

Stewart Grand Prix

Stewart Grand Prix is a former Formula One constructor and racing team. The team was formed by three times Formula One champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart in 1996....
Formula One team, de Ferran stayed in America for 1997, joining Walker Racing

Walker Racing

Walker Racing is a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. Presently the team competes in the Atlantic Championship series....
.

De Ferran finished 1997 as runner-up to Alex Zanardi

Alex Zanardi

Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an italian people racing driver. He won two Champ Car championship titles in North America during the late 1990s. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver....
with ten top-ten finishes but failed to score a single victory. He looked on course to win the season opener at Homestead

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami, Florida. It plays host to Ford Championship Weekend, the final races of the season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series....
but was knocked out of the lead by a lapped driver. At the Grand Prix of Portland

Grand Prix of Portland

The Grand Prix of Portland was a Champ Car race held at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon....
he lost out to PacWest Racing

PacWest Racing

PacWest Racing was a Champ Car racing team owned by Bruce McCaw founded in 1993. The team's first full time season was the next year, 1994, with drivers Dominic Dobson and future Indy Racing League co-champion Scott Sharp....
's Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell is a former Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One commentator for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season....
in the closest finish in Champ Car history.

The expected championship challenge never materialized in 1998, unreliability, driver errors and the inferior performance of the Goodyear

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Today it is the third largest tire company in the world after Bridgestone and Michelin....
tires compared to the Firestone

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era....
tires all combined to leave de Ferran 12th in the standings, again with no wins in the year.

In 1999 the breakthrough finally came as de Ferran beat Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya Rold?n is a race car driver in NASCAR and a former Formula One and Champ Car driver. He has enjoyed great success, most famously in top open wheel racing series....
at Portland to take his first win since mid-1996 and the Walker team's first since early-1995. However that victory would be the end of an era as Goodyear and Valvoline both left Champ Car racing at the end of 1999. De Ferran signed for a ride with Penske Racing

Penske Racing

Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....
racing for 2000, partnering highly rated Canadian Greg Moore

Greg Moore (race car driver)

Greg Moore was a Canada racecar driver who competed in the Indy Lights and CART World Series, where he had great success with several wins in both series and a championship in the 1995 Indy Lights series....
. When Moore was killed in the last race of 1999, the seat went to fellow Brazilian Hélio Castroneves

Hélio Castroneves

H?lio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 12 wins and 25 poles, and has championship point finishes ranging from second to sixth in a complete season of racing....
.

The Penske years saw de Ferran finally fulfil the promise of his earlier career with two Champ Car

Champ Car

Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of automobiles used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race....
titles and an Indy 500 victory. His analytical approach earned him comparisons with Penske's first driver, Mark Donohue

Mark Donohue

Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. was an USA racecar driver known for his ability to set up his own race car and drive it consistently on the absolute limit....
. He also garnered praise for his politeness and integrity: when Penske controversially switched to the Indy Racing League

Indy Racing League

The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel Auto racing.The League sanctions two series, the premier IndyCar Series , whose centerpiece is the Indianapolis 500, and Firestone Indy Lights, the official developmental series of the Indy Racing League....
in 2002, he did not criticize the move even though it meant he could not defend his Champ Car title. Once in the IRL he also did not deride the rival Champ Car series like Al Unser, Jr.

Al Unser, Jr.

Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is an United States race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner....
and others who had switched sides had done.

Following his Indianapolis triumph de Ferran decided to retire at the end of 2003. He won his final race, although the moment was soured by a terrifying crash during the race that left fellow Indy winner Kenny Bräck

Kenny Bräck

Kenneth "Kenny" Br?ck is a race car driver from Sweden. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series....
seriously injured.

In 2005, he moved to the BAR-Honda

British American Racing

British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell Racing, and used Supertec engines for their first year....
Formula One team as their Sports Director. He resigned from this position in July 2007 after becoming "increasingly uncomfortable" with the team.

On January 29, 2008 de Ferran announced that he will return to the cockpit and field a factory-backed LMP2 class Acura ARX-01b prototype in the American Le Mans Series

American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance racing and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans....
. The team began competing around the mid-way point of the 2008 season, with De Ferran running the team and sharing driving duties with Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud is a France race car driver born in Poitiers. In 2002 and 2003 he competed in French Formula Renault and in 2002 and 2004 competed in Formula Renault Eurocup....
.

De Ferran currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, known as the "Venice of America" due to its expansive and intricate canal system, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States....
with his English wife Angela and children Anna (born 1995) and Luke (born 1997).

Motorsports Career Results

American Open Wheel

(key)

Champ Car career results

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1995	Hall/VDS Racing Jim Hall (race car driver) Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....	1	56	14th
1996	Hall/VDS Racing Jim Hall (race car driver) Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....	1	104	6th
1997	Walker Racing Derrick Walker For the football player of the same name see Derrick Walker .Derrick Walker is a British auto racing team owner....	0	162	2nd
1998	Walker Racing Derrick Walker For the football player of the same name see Derrick Walker .Derrick Walker is a British auto racing team owner....	0	67	12th
1999	Walker Racing Derrick Walker For the football player of the same name see Derrick Walker .Derrick Walker is a British auto racing team owner....	1	108	8th
2000	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	2	168	1st
2001	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	2	199	1st

Champ Car

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
1995 1995 CART World Series season The 1995 CART PPG IndyCar World Series began on March 5, 1995 and ended on September 10 after 17 races. It was the seventeenth Champ Car. The championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve driving for Andretti Green Racing....	Jim Hall Jim Hall (race car driver) Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....	MIA Ret	SRF 16	PHX 11	LBH 27	NZR 19	INDY 1995 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1995 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1995.... Ret	MIL 8	DET 16	POR 10	ROA Ret	TOR 16	CLE 14	MIS 12	MDO Ret	NHM 7	VAN 2	LS 1					14th	56
1996 1996 CART World Series season The 1996 CART World Series Season was the eighteenth CART. It began on March 3, 1996 and it ended on September 8 after 16 races. This was the first series after the split with the Indy Racing League....	Jim Hall Jim Hall (race car driver) Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....	MIA 2	RIO 10	SRF Ret	LBH 5	NZR Ret	MIS1 9	MIL 9	DET 3	POR 2	CLE 1	TOR 18	MIS2 Ret	MDO 17	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	LS Ret						6th	104
1997 1997 CART World Series season The 1997 CART World Series Season was the nineteenth CART. It began on March 2, 1997 and it ended on September 28 after 17 races....	Walker Walker Racing Walker Racing is a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. Presently the team competes in the Atlantic Championship series....	MIA Ret	SRF 5	LBH Ret	NZR 4	RIO 11	STL 3	MIL 7	DET 3	POR 2	CLE 2	TOR Ret	MIS 3	MDO 6	ROA 3	VAN 3	LS 5	FON 6					2nd	162
1998 1998 CART World Series Season The 1998 CART Championship Series Season was the twentieth CART. It began on March 15, 1998 and it ended on November 1 after 19 races....	Walker Walker Racing Walker Racing is a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. Presently the team competes in the Atlantic Championship series....	MIA 7	MOT 3	LBH Ret	NZR 4	RIO Ret	STL 6	MIL Ret	DET 3	POR Ret	CLE 6	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	MDO 9	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	LS Ret	HOU Ret	SRF 14	FON Ret			12th	67
1999 1999 CART World Series Season The 1999 CART Championship Series Season was the twenty first CART. It began on March 21, 1999 and it ended on November 1 after 20 races....	Walker Walker Racing Walker Racing is a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. Presently the team competes in the Atlantic Championship series....	MIA 6	MOT 2	LBH 6	NZR 15	RIO 10	STL Ret	MIL 3	POR 1	CLE 2	ROA Ret	TOR Ret	MIS Ret	DET Ret	MDO 6	CHI 13	VAN Ret	LS 6	HOU 17	SRF Ret	FON 9		8th	108
2000	Penske Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	MIA 6	*LBH* 7	RIO Ret	MOT 9	NZR 1	MIL 12	DET 9	POR 1	CLE Ret	TOR 5	MIS Ret	CHI 3	MDO 2	ROA Ret	VAN 5	LS 2	STL 8	HOU 3	SRF Ret	FON 3		1st	168
2001	Penske Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	MTY 2	LBH 3	TXS NH	NZR Ret	MOT Ret	MIL 7	DET 6	POR 13	CLE 4	TOR 14	MIS Ret	CHI 3	MDO 2	ROA 5	VAN 2	LAU 8	ROC 1	HOU 1	LS 3	SRF 4	FON 6	1st	199

2 championships, 7 victories

Indy Racing League career results

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
2001	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	0	46	28th
2002	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	2	443	3rd
2003	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, American Le Mans, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART....	3	489	2nd

0 championships, 5 victories

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2002	Penske	HMS 2	PHX 2	FON 4	NZR 3	INDY 2002 Indianapolis 500 The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 IndyCar Series season.... 10	TXS 16	PPIR 1	RIR 2	KAN 5	NSH 2	MIS 5	KTY 21	*STL* 1	CHI Ret	TX2		3rd	443
2003	Penske	HMS 2	PHX Ret	MOT	INDY 2003 Indianapolis 500 The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003.... 1	TXS 8	PPIR 3	RIR 3	KAN 3	NSH 1	MIS 7	STL 3	KTY 9	NZR 4	CHI 12	FON 15	*TX2* 1	2nd	489

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1995 1995 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1995 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1995....	Reynard Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula 3, Formula 3000 and Indy Car....	Ilmor Ilmor Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in 1984, is a UK independent high-performance autosport engineering company. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the IndyCar Series, Formula One, and MotoGP.... -Mercedes Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coach es, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz....	19th	29th	Hall Jim Hall (race car driver) Jim Hall is a former racecar driver and constructor from the United States. He competed in Formula One from to , participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races....
2001 2001 Indianapolis 500 The 85th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 27, 2001. Race rookie H?lio Castroneves led the final 52 laps and won his first Indianapolis 500....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Oldsmobile was a brand name of automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory....	5th	2nd	Penske
2002 2002 Indianapolis 500 The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 IndyCar Series season....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....	14th	10th	Penske
2003 2003 Indianapolis 500 The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003....	G-Force Élan Motorsport Technologies ?lan Motorsport Technologies is an umbrella company containing the race car manufacturing companies owned by the Panoz#Panoz Motor Sports Group....	Toyota	10th	1st	Penske

Gil de Ferran

Motorsports Career Results

American Open Wheel

Champ Car career results

Champ Car

Indy Racing League career results

IndyCar

Indianapolis 500 results

External links