Gregor Fisken

Last updated

Gregor Fisken
1926 Vauxhall 30-98 OE (20536355596).jpg
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1964-09-28) 28 September 1964 (age 59)
Alencon (Scotland)
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 20042007
TeamsRacers Group
Intersport (LMP2)
Courage (LMP1)
Larbre Competition (GT1)
Best finish6th in class / 18th overall (2004)

Gregor Fisken is a British racing driver and businessman (born 28 September 1964) who currently races historic and modern-day sportscars. He is one of only a handful of racing drivers to have driven in all four classes (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2) at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours motor race.

Contents

Early career

Fisken began his career as an apprentice mechanic with the famous Scottish restorer and dealer of pre-war motorcars, Bunty Scott-Moncrieff, while also trying his luck at rallycross in old cars he prepared. In the late 1980s Gregor worked in the sales department of Coys of Kensington, an upmarket classic car dealership in a Kensington Mews.

In 1996 Fisken’s passion for classic cars led him to open his dealership, Fiskens Fine Historic Automobiles, in London’s upmarket South Kensington. As of 2014, the business continues to operate successfully, with work currently underway to expand the premises.

Racing success

With continuing business success, Fisken decided to turn his attention back to racing – both in historic cars and more modern machinery.

In 1998, Fisken managed the feat of winning his class in both the Tour Auto and the Monaco Historic Grand Prix as well as finish a competitive second overall in the British Empire Trophy at Silverstone in a Porsche 962 Group C car. A first foray in modern racing netted Fisken a third in the Silverstone GT race in a McLaren F1 GTR.

Due to a lack of spare time, Fisken was forced to cut back on his racing activities in 1999 and 2000, only being able to compete in one race each year. Success still arrived though, scoring a third in class in the Spa 3 Hours and winning his class for the second time in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix.

For 2001, Fisken competed in the Spa 24 Hours, but was unable to finish due to mechanical failure, in modern racing as well as two other races in classic cars: the Goodwood Revival Meeting Tourist Trophy, which he won with team-mate Emmanuele Pirro, and the Nurburgring 500 km where he won his class on the famous Nordschleife.

2002 saw him return to the Nordschleife for the Nürburgring 24 Hours where he finished third in class in a BMW M3 despite spending over an hour in the pits with mechanical problems.

Work commitments proved too much in 2003, but a return to modern racing in 2004 saw Fisken compete in two iconic races: the Sebring 12 Hours and the Le Mans 24 Hours, both with the GT – Racers Group Porsche GT3 RSR.

Attracted by endurance racing, in 2005 Fisken signed up to the Intersport team for two rounds of the American Le Mans Series (with a best in class result in Portland) and the Le Mans 24 Hours (retired after having led his class), and with Team Jota for two rounds of the Le Mans Series (best result of fifth overall in Istanbul).

Mechanical problems plagued the 2006 season in which the best result possible was a first in class in the Shell Historic Ferrari Challenge and a fourth in the Donington 1000 km driving an LMP1 works Courage.

2007 saw Fisken race for the complete year in the Le Mans Series for Larbre Competition in the Aston Martin DBR9 with a best result being first in class in the Mille Milhas, Interlagos, Brazil. He did, however, manage to make the finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours, with the same car, with a respectable 13th in class. He was also awarded the Scott Moncrieffe award, named after his former employer Bunty, given for sportsmanship and services to historic racing.

In 2008, Fisken experienced the thrill of a lifetime driving the famous Ferrari 330 P3 at Paul Ricard, twice finishing on the podium. An appearance at the Le Mans Classic and Silverstone Classic weekends showed that he had lost none of his passion for old-timers. A return to the American Le Mans Series quickly followed with 19th position overall and fourth in the LMP1 class at Road America with Intersport.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
2004 Flag of the United States.svg The Racer's Group Flag of Denmark.svg Lars-Erik Nielsen
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Donaldson
Porsche 911 GT3-RSRGT31418th6th
2005 Flag of the United States.svg Intersport Racing Flag of the United States.svg Liz Halliday
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam Hancock
Lola B05/40-AER LMP2119DNFDNF
2006 Flag of France.svg Courage Compétition Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam Hancock
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Alexander Frei
Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1171DNFDNF
2007 Flag of France.svg Aston Martin Racing Larbre Flag of France.svg Patrick Bornhauser
Flag of France.svg Roland Bervillé
Aston Martin DBR9 GT127229th13th
Sources: [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauber SHS C6</span> Racing car model

The Sauber SHS C6 was a Group C prototype racing car built by Swiss manufacturer Sauber and engineering firm Seger & Hoffman, intended for competition in the World Endurance Championship and Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft series. Seger & Hoffman left the project later in 1982, leaving the car completely under Sauber's control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creation Autosportif</span> Sports car racing team

Creation Autosportif, Ltd. was a sports car racing team based in Oxford, England. It was founded in 2003 by Ian Bickerton and Mike Jankowski and has raced in the FIA GT Championship, FFSA GT Championship, American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Endurance Series, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their cars are known for their blue and yellow paint schemes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG-Lola EX257</span>

The MG-Lola EX257 is a Le Mans Prototype racing car built by Lola for the MG car company for their attempt to compete again at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001. The car has had many years of mixed success since its introduction, even in privateer hands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola B06/10</span>

The Lola B06/10 is a Le Mans Prototype developed by Lola Cars International for use in the LMP1 class of the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was developed in 2006 as a replacement for the Lola B2K/10 as well as the MG-Lola EX257. It shared much of its mechanical elements and design with the LMP2 class Lola B05/40, which was developed the year prior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reynard 02S</span>

The Reynard 02S was a Le Mans Prototype race car built by Reynard Motorsport in 2002. Intended to replace the failed Reynard 2KQ prototype, the 02S would end up becoming the final new design from Reynard as the company went bankrupt prior to the project's completion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Primat</span> Swiss racing driver

Harold Primat is a French-born Swiss racing driver who previously competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series and other long-distance events such as the Bathurst 12 Hour and Nurburgring 24 Hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pescarolo 01</span> Racing car

The Pescarolo 01 was the first sports prototype racing car built entirely by French team Pescarolo Sport. It had been designed to meet the LMP1 and LMP2 regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the Le Mans Series as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and replace Pescarolo's previous C60 chassis which had been heavily modified from cars purchased through Courage Compétition. The 01s debut was at the 2007 1000 km of Monza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Belicchi</span> Italian professional racing driver

Andrea Belicchi is an Italian professional racing driver. He has competed in such series as the Porsche Supercup, Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Buncombe</span>

Christopher James Buncombe is a British racing driver who made his last appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours was in 2011. He joined Aston Martin Racing at the end of the 2009 season when he drove in the Le Mans Series scoring a podium finish on his debut with the team at Nürburgring driving the 008 Aston Martin LMP1 car. Chris won the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class driving for Binnie Motorsports in their Lola B05/40-Zytek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Newton (racing driver)</span> British racing driver (born 1960)

Mike Newton is a British businessman and racing driver. He is the founder and CEO of the AD Group of companies, which includes its solution arm AD Network Video. He raced in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans in cars prepared by the RML Group. Newton was named Britain's Top Entrepreneur by Management Today magazine in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strakka Racing</span> Auto racing team based in the United Kingdom

Strakka Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Nick Leventis. The team was based at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The team made history at the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring when they became the first team in Le Mans Series history to win overall in an LMP2 class car. They also became the first team in LMS history to take overall pole position in an LMP2 class car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Leventis</span> British racing driver

Nicholas Leventis is a retired British racing driver and founder of Strakka Racing. One of his most memorable successes was winning the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category with Danny Watts and Jonny Kane, breaking five records in the process.

Stuart Hall is a British racing driver. He is the 2013 GTEAM World Endurance Champion and has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for teams including Aston Martin Racing.

Intersport Racing is a former American auto racing team founded by Jon Field. The team was based in Dublin, Ohio. They previously operated two Oreca FLM09 sports cars in the American Le Mans Series. At current, the company has transitioned into diet supplements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romain Dumas</span> French racing driver (born 1977)

Romain Dumas is a French racing driver and driver for Glickenhaus in the World Endurance Championship. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest races of the discipline, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He has been one of Porsche's factory drivers since 2004. He's also been contracted to Audi from 2009 to 2012, Volkswagen from 2017 to 2019, and Ford Performance since 2022. Adding to this, Dumas is a Chopard ambassador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jann Mardenborough</span> British racing driver (born 1991)

Jann Mardenborough is a British professional racing driver. In 2011 he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants to earn a professional racing contract with Nissan. He had no previous motorsport experience, having played sim racing video games instead. During his career, he has finished on the podium in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won races and contended for titles in GT3 and junior formula cars, and competed at the highest level in Super GT, Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

John Timothy Greaves is a British former racing driver and the team principal of Greaves Motorsport. He raced in various Radical series during the 2000s and also drove in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2004 and 2010.

Ian Grob is a former English racing driver. He raced in a number of events, including European Formula 2 and Le Mans 24 Hours. He retired from international motor sport after his last race, 1980 24 Hours of Daytona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CLM P1/01</span> Racing car model

The CLM P1/01, renamed ENSO CLM P1/01 in 2017, is a sports prototype racing car built for Lotus Racing in 2014. The Lotus team entered the last five rounds of the World Endurance championship in 2014, but later took name as the Austrian based team ByKolles Racing. It is designed to meet the 2014 LMP1-L regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The P1/01 debuted at the 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jota Sport</span> British sports car racing team

Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport has finished on the overall podium of 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Oreca in an alliance with Jackie Chan DC Racing. In 2018/2019 Jota competed, in partnership with Arden International, RP Motorsport, Jackie Chan DC Racing and Aston Martin in the FIA World Endurance Championship with two ORECA 07 LMP2 and in the GT World Challenge Europe with Mclaren 720S GT3 cars.

References

  1. "Gregor Fisken Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  2. "Gregor Fisken". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 26 August 2023.