Allan Simonsen (racing driver)

Allan Simonsen
Simonsen in 2011
Nationality	Danish
Born	(1978-07-05)5 July 1978 Odense, Denmark
Died	22 June 2013(2013-06-22) (aged 34) Le Mans, France
Previous series
1999 1999 2000 2001 2001 2002 2003–2004 2003–2007 2005 2005–2012 2006 2006, 2008 2006–2009 2007–2013 2008 2009 2009, 2012 2009–2012 2010, 2012 2010, 2012 2010–2012 2011–2013 2012–2013 2013	Formula Ford 1800 Netherlands Danish Formula Ford Championship Formula Palmer Audi German Formula Three Championship British Formula Renault Championship British GT Championship Australian Nations Cup Championship V8 Supercars V8 Ute Racing Series European Le Mans Series FIA GT3 European Championship FIA GT Championship Australian GT Championship British GT Championship American Le Mans Series Aussie Racing Cars Rolex Sports Car Series V8 Supercars VLN Porsche Carrera Cup Asia PSCRAA Enduro Championship Australian GT Championship FIA World Endurance Championship ADAC GT Masters
Championship titles
1999 2007	Danish Formula Ford Championship Australian GT Championship
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2007–2013
Teams	Autorlando Sport KSM Hankook Team Farnbacher Aston Martin Racing
Best finish	12th (2010)
Class wins	0

Allan Simonsen (5 July 1978 – 22 June 2013) was a Danish racing driver, born in Odense. He died after a crash during the third lap^[1] of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[2][3][4]

Career[]

Simonsen driving an Aston Martin Vantage GTE at the test session prior to the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans.

After beginning his career in karting racing against the likes of future Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, Simonsen moved to cars in 1999, winning the Danish Formula Ford Championship. He raced in Formula Palmer Audi in 2000, before moving to German Formula 3 and Formula Renault 2.0 UK in 2001.^[5]

Simonsen moved to sports car racing for 2002, driving a Ferrari 360 for in the British GT Championship. He began racing in Australia in 2003 for Mark Coffey Racing, driving a Ferrari 360 Challenge to 8th place in the 2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship for GT style cars and 2nd place in Group 2. He would then go on to finish in 8th place in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR. In the 2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship he drove the 360 to 3rd place in the Trophy Class while driving a Ferrari 550 GT2 in a limited campaign to 7th in the outright class.

While in Australia, Simonsen also drove in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar events. Simonsen's best Bathurst result came in 2011, when he finished third for Kelly Racing driving alongside Greg Murphy in a Holden VE Commodore.^[6] Simonsen won the Australian GT Championship in 2007 (driving both a Ferrari 360 GT and a Ferrari F430) and finished second in 2008 driving a Ferrari F430 GT.

At the 2011 Sprint Bathurst event, he set a blistering time of 2.04.95 around the famous Mount Panorama circuit. This was a monumental effort at the time as it was a full 2 seconds clear of any V8 Supercar lap time and comparable to the Formula 3 lap record set in the following year.^[7][8] This time so amazed the officials that they initially removed it from the timing screens as they believed it to be in error. It wasn't until it was confirmed by the manual time keeper and the teams own data that the time was reinstated.^[9]

Simonsen placed fourth in the 2007 Le Mans Series season, in a partial season driving a Porsche 911 GT3 for Virgo Motorsport, which included a GT2 class win in the Nürburgring 1000.^[10] He drove Ferraris for Team Farnbacher in the Le Mans Series and various international series from 2008 through 2011. During that time, Simonson won the GT2 class at the 2009 1000 km of Okayama with Dominik Farnbacher and the SP7 class in the 2010 24 Hours Nürburgring with Farnbacher, Leh Keen, and Marco Seefried. He participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times between 2007 and 2013, finishing on the GT2 class podium twice: third in 2007 and second in 2010.

Death[]

Simonsen in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE before crashing

In the 9th minute of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans,^[11] and on his third lap,^[12] Simonsen was leading the LMGTE Am field with his No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.^[13] At the Tertre Rouge corner, Simonsen's car twitched as he accelerated through the right hand turn,^[13] and when he attempted to correct,^[13][14] the car veered left before impacting the crash barriers on the outside of the corner.^[3][4] He was extricated from the car, reportedly conscious,^[15] before being taken to the on-site medical centre where he succumbed to his injuries.^[16] His death was the first in racing conditions during the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Jo Gartner died in a 1986 crash, while French driver Sébastien Enjolras died more recently in a pre-qualifying session accident in 1997.^[16]

Race officials raised a Danish flag at half mast over the circuit's podium during the race in honor of Simonsen. Fellow Danish driver Tom Kristensen won the race overall and dedicated his team's victory to the memory of Simonsen.^[17]

Memorials[]

The award for the fastest qualifier at the Bathurst 12 Hour, which Simonsen won in 2013, is named the Allan Simonsen Pole Position Trophy.^[18]

Career results[]

Career summary[]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2007	Autorlando Sport Farnbacher Racing	Pierre Ehret Lars-Erik Nielsen	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	GT2	309	21st	3rd
2008	Kruse Schiller Motorsport	Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda	Lola B05/40-Mazda	LMP2	147	DNF	DNF
2009	Hankook Team Farnbacher	Dominik Farnbacher Christian Montanari	Ferrari F430 GT2	GT2	183	DNF	DNF
2010	Hankook Team Farnbacher	Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen	Ferrari F430 GT2	GT2	336	12th	2nd
2011	Hankook Team Farnbacher	Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Pro	137	DNF	DNF
2012	Aston Martin Racing	Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	GTE Am	31	DNF	DNF
2013	Aston Martin Racing	Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	GTE Am	2	DNF	DNF

Bathurst 24 Hour results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2003	Mark Coffey Racing	Paul Stokell Luke Youlden Peter Hackett	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	A	487	8th	6th

Bathurst 12 Hour results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2010	Action Racing	Jason Bright	Ford Mustang Shelby	I	121	26th	1st
2011	Red Alert Laser Tag		Ferrari 430 GT3	A	276	6th	5th
2012	Maranello Motorsport	John Bowe Dominik Farnbacher	Ferrari 458 GT3	A	114	DNF	DNF
2013	Maranello Motorsport	John Bowe Mika Salo	Ferrari 458 GT3	A	111	DNF	DNF

International V8 Supercars Championship[]

Complete Bathurst 1000 results[]

Year	Team	Car	Co-driver	Position	Laps
2003	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden Commodore VX	Nathan Pretty	DNF	42
2004	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden Commodore VY	Nathan Pretty	10th	160
2005	Perkins Engineering	Holden Commodore VZ	Alex Davison	20th	129
2006	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon BA	Richard Lyons	12th	161
2007	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon BF	Richard Lyons	5th	161
2009	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon FG	James Thompson	DNF	152
2010	Paul Morris Motorsport	Holden Commodore VE	Greg Murphy	6th	161
2011	Kelly Racing	Holden Commodore VE	Greg Murphy	3rd	161
2012	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford Falcon FG	Steven Johnson	17th	161

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Allan Simonsen driver statistics at Racing-Reference