Christophe Bouchut

Christophe Bouchut as a young racing driver in 1980 ...

... and 2011 in Le Mans (left)

Bouchut's Porsche 911 GT1 in 1997

Bouchuts Aston Martin during the pre-tests for the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours

Bouchut in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 at the Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km race in 2009

Bouchut Ferrari F430 GTC at Le Mans 2009

Christophe Bouchut jumps out of his burning Lotus P1 / 01 at the Fuji 1000 km race in 2014 after failing to use the fire extinguisher after a cable fire

Christophe Bouchut (born September 24, 1966 in Voiron ) is a French racing driver . He won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1993 , titles in the FIA GT Championship from 2000 to 2002 and the GTS class of the Le Mans Endurance Series in 2004 . This makes him one of the most successful GT drivers.

Career

Junior classes

Like almost every racing driver, Christophe Bouchut began his career in karting . He was French champion in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Then Bouchut went to the Formula Ford School, which he finished as the winner. In the 1988 season he drove in the French Formula Ford championship and achieved several racing victories. These successes brought him to French Formula 3 a year later , where he drove for three years. In his last season in 1991, he won the French Formula 3 championship. He also finished third in the prestigious Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup in Macau in 1989. From the 1992 season, Bouchut switched to sports car racing .

Peugeot works driver

In 1992 Christophe Bouchut competed in the French Peugeot 905 Spyder Cup, where he achieved five victories. In the same year he also competed in the European 905 Spyder Cup, in which he took three wins. For the works team of Peugeot he was driving in his home race in the World Sportscar Championship with the Peugeot 905 to second place. A year later, Bouchut's first major success in the sports car sector followed. With the Peugeot 905, he drove to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his partners Éric Hélary and Geoff Brabham . In the same year he also drove as a Peugeot works driver in the French Supertouring Championship, which he finished fourth in the overall standings.

BPR Global GT Series

After Peugeot withdrew from sports car racing , Bouchut switched to Venturi in 1994 . For the French sports car manufacturer, he contested the newly founded BPR Global GT Series . A year later he moved to the French team Larbre Compétition , which fielded a Porsche 911 GT1 . He also drove for Kremer Racing in the Daytona 24-hour race in 1995 , where he won together with Marco Werner , Giovanni Lavaggi and Jürgen Lässig in a Kremer K8 Spyder . In 1996 Bouchut also drove in the BPR Global GT Series for Kremer Racing in the Porsche 993 GT2 Evo .

Porsche Carrera Cup France

In addition to the BPR Global GT Series , Bouchut drove five seasons in the French Porsche Carrera Cup between 1994 and 2002 . Here Bouchut has an incredible record of 29 wins and four championship titles, three of which he brought in with the SONAUTO team. He won the titles in 1994, 1995, 1996. In 2000 he succeeded in doing so with the Larbre Compétition team . He drove his last Carrera Cup season in 2002, which he finished fifth in the championship.

FIA GT Championship

After the end of the BPR Global GT Series , the FIA GT Championship was founded in the 1997 season , to which Bouchut also switched. In the first season he drove a Porsche 911 GT1 again for the Kremer Racing team . In most of the races his partner was called Carl Rosenblad , but there were no great successes. Eighth place at the season opener at the Hockenheimring was the best result of the season. In 1998 Bouchut switched to Team Persson , which uses a Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR . Together with Bernd Mayländer, the races in Dijon and Suzuka took second place. After a year break, during which Bouchut only competed in Le Mans in the crashed Mercedes-Benz CLR No. 6, he returned to the FIA ​​GT championship in the 2000 season. In the team Larbre Compétition used Porsche 911 GT3 R , Bouchut was with Patrice Goueslard win the N-GT Championship after six class victories.

A year later he rose to the GT class together with the Larbre team. The race car was now a Chrysler Viper GTS-R and Bouchut won the championship title again this season , together with Jean-Philippe Belloc . He was also able to win the 24-hour races of Spa-Francorchamps , which were held as part of the FIA ​​GT. His partners here were alongside Belloc Marc Duez .

The 2002 season was similar to that of the previous year. Bouchut again took the title in the GT class of the FIA ​​GT Championship on a Chrysler Viper GTS-R, although he only won the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race with David Terrien and Vincent Vosse .

In 2003 Bouchut only contested three races in the FIA ​​GT, although he was able to drive out of second class again in Spa-Francorchamps . In the following season , Bouchut did not concentrate on the FIA ​​GT either and only drove a few races before he contested a full season again for the following year 2005 .

His team was now called Russian Age Racing , for which he drove a Ferrari 550 Maranello in the first races . After a short detour to Team Larbre for the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps, he drove an Aston Martin DBR9 in the last championship round and won the race in Bahrain together with Antonio García .

The year 2006 was the first season of Bouchut in the Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT , its now fourth GT1 car. In Team B-Racing RS Line, which was later called All-Inkl.com Racing, there were no great successes. The Lamborghini was not yet fully developed and lagged behind the other vehicles. In addition, constantly changing partners made life difficult for Bouchut. Nevertheless, he stayed with All-Inkl.com Racing in 2007 and has now got a permanent partner in Stefan Mücke . Together with him, he drove the Murciélago's first victory in an FIA GT race at the season opener in Zhuhai. At the end of the season, Bouchut was 10th on the final table.

In the 2008 season Christophe Bouchut drove in a Corvette C6.R from the SRT team, for which he had previously driven in national GT series. At the second race of the season in Monza , he and Xavier Maassen won the team's first victory.

Le Mans Series

In 2004, after many years in the FIA ​​GT Championship, Bouchut put his main focus on the Le Mans Endurance Series . Together with the Larbre Compétition team and its partners Steve Zacchia and Pedro Lamy , the championship was won. The trio finished all four championship races as class winners of the GTS.

The following year, Bouchut drove as the reigning champion for the Convers team . This season he could not achieve a class win in the Ferrari 550 Maranello and was third in the championship at the end of the year.

For 2006 Bouchut took a step back and drove a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR in the GT2 category for IMSA Performance Matmut . Apart from a few points, Bouchut, Raymond Narac and Sébastien Dumez could not achieve much.

In 2007 it went back to Team Larbre, which took up the name Aston Martin Team Larbre . Bouchut was back in the GT1 class. In an Aston Martin DBR9, he drove to two podium places with Gabriele Gardel and Fabrizio Gollin . After a year off, he switched to Reiter Engineering . The team had already developed the GT1 Murcielago and reported it in 2009 on a new GT2 variant of the Lamborghini Gallardo . Ultimately, however, Bouchout only started with Albert von Thurn und Taxis in the 1000 km race at Spa-Francorchamps after the car was not yet ready for the first run in Spain. Technical problems in Spa threw the driver pairing far back, so that the Lamborghini was not classified. At the championship run in Portugal the car was again missing, team mate Thurn und Taxis commented on the situation: “The LMS program, on the other hand, has actually ended for us in the rider team after an important Russian sponsor has withdrawn due to the current economic situation. Therefore the GT1 and unfortunately also the GT2 will probably not be used for the time being. " With the end of the GT2 program, the 2009 season was already over for him after one race.

Le Mans 24 hour race

In addition to his victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993, Bouchut also competed in various other vehicles at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 1994 to 1997 he drove for Kremer Racing in various vehicles, although he only saw the checkered flag once.

1998 was the first year in the Mercedes . But even the use in the CLK LM was not successful, the engine gave up after just 31 laps. The following year Bouchut drove in the Mercedes-Benz CLR, but team-mate Peter Dumbreck took off with the car and completely destroyed the car.

Since Mercedes then withdrew from Le Mans, Bouchut also went into the GT class here. He has been driving for Larbre Compétition since 2000 (exception 2006) and was able to book several target arrivals. His best result so far was a seventh place overall and a podium finish in the 2007 GT1 category. With his commitment to Reiter-Team in 2009 and its short-term cancellation of the GT1 and GT2 program, Bouchut had to fight a few weeks before the 24-hour race secure a new driver's seat. Ultimately, he got the opportunity to drive for the Monegasque team JMB Racing . While Bouchut was able to briefly drive with the car in the top field of the GT2 category, he finished the race with teammates Manuel Rodrigues and Yvan Lebon only in the middle of his class.

Other activities

In addition to the racing series listed, Christophe Bouchut has also been active in many other racing series in recent years. He drove in the French GT championship, the Belcar and the ADAC GT Masters . He also drove the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring (second place) and in Zolder . In 2003 he won the FFSA Supertourisme title.

In addition to his races, Bouchut is the official tester for FIA GT3 vehicles . This task involves balancing all of the cars to a similar level for which he has qualified through his experience.

statistics

successes

• 1982, 1983, 1987 - French kart champion
• 1989 - Third in the Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup
• 1991 - French Formula 3 champion
• 1993 - Winner of the Le Mans 24-hour race
• 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 - French Porsche Carrera Cup winner
• 1995 - Daytona 24 Hours Winner
• 2000 - Winner N-GT class of the FIA-GT championship
• 2001, 2002 - GT class winner of the FIA ​​GT championship
• 2001, 2002 - Winner of the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race
• 2004 - Winner of the GTS class of the Le Mans Endurance Series
• 2011 - Winner LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1993	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 905 Evo 1 C	Eric Helary	Geoff Brabham	Overall victory
1994	Kremer Honda Racing	Honda NSX	Armin Hahne	Bertrand Gachot	Rank 14
1995	Kremer Porsche Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	Thierry Boutsen	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Rank 6
1996	Kremer Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	Jürgen Lässig	Harri Toivonen	failure	accident
1997	Kremer Porsche Racing	Porsche 911 GT1	Andy Evans	Bertrand Gachot	failure	Engine failure
1998	AMG Mercedes	Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR LM	Jean-Marc Gounon	Ricardo Zonta	failure	Engine failure
1999	AMG Mercedes	Mercedes-Benz CLR	Nick Heidfeld	Peter Dumbreck	failure	accident
2000	Larbre Compétition	Porsche 996 GT3-R	Patrice Goueslard	Jean-Luc Chéreau	failure	accident
2001	Larbre Compétition	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Jean-Philippe Belloc	Tiago Monteiro	Rank 20
2002	Larbre Compétition	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Patrice Goueslard	Vincent Vosse	Rank 18
2003	Larbre Compétition	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Patrice Goueslard	Steve Zacchia	Rank 16
2004	Larbre Compétition	Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello	Patrice Goueslard	Olivier Dupard	Rank 14
2005	Russian Age Racing	Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello	Nikolai Fomenko	Alexey Vasilyev	Rank 17
2007	Aston Martin Racing Larbre	Aston Martin DBR9	Fabrizio Gollin	Casper Elgaard	Rank 7
2008	Larbre Compétition	Saleen S7-R	David Hallyday	Patrick Bornhauser	Rank 28
2009	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430 GTC	Manuel Rodrigues	Yvan Lebon	Rank 29
2010	Kolles	Audi R10 TDI	Manuel Rodrigues	Scott Tucker	failure	accident
2011	Level 5 motorsports	Lola B08 / 60	João Barbosa	Scott Tucker	Rank 10
2012	Level 5 motorsports	HPD ARX-03b	Luis Díaz	Scott Tucker	failure	no petrol
2013	lotus	Lotus T128	Kevin Weeda	James Rossiter	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1995	Kremer Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	Jürgen Lässig	Giovanni Lavaggi	Rank 30
2000	Team LR organization	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Angelo Zadra		Rank 15
2001	Larbre Compétition	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	Patrice Goueslard	Sébastien Dumez	Rank 13
2002	Larbre Compétition Chereau	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Vincent Vosse		Rank 11
2004	Larbre Compétition	Panoz GTP	Jean-Luc Blanchemain	Roland Bervillé	Rank 9
2005	Care Racing Larbre	Ferrari 550 Maranello	Fabrizio Gollin	Sébastien Bourdais	failure	Gearbox damage
2010	Level 5 motorsports	Oreca FLM09	Mark Wilkins	Scott Tucker	Rank 10 and class win
2011	Level 5 motorsports	Lola B11 / 80	João Barbosa	Scott Tucker	Rank 33
2012	Level 5 motorsports	HPD ARX-03b	João Barbosa	Scott Tucker	Rank 4

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th
1992	Peugeot Sport	Peugeot 905	MON	SIL	LEM	DON	SUZ	LIKE
								2

Individual results in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th
2012	lotus	Lotus T128	SEB	SPA	LEM	SIL	SAO	BAH	FUJ	SHA
			4th		DNF
2013	lotus	Lotus T128	SIL	SPA	LEM	SAO	OUT	FUJ	SHA	BAH
			DNF		DNF	DNF			DNF
2014	lotus	CLM P1 / 01	SIL	SPA	LEM	OUT	FUJ	SHA	BAH	SAO
						15th	DNF

Web links

Commons : Christophe Bouchut  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of Christophe Bouchut

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harald Gallins: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4212&Itemid=1 as of August 14, 2009