Patrick Friesacher

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Patrick Friesacher
Patrick Friesacher.jpg
Friesacher at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Born (1980-09-26) 26 September 1980 (age 41)
Wolfsberg, Carinthia, Austria
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityAustria Austrian
Active years2005
TeamsMinardi
Entries11
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points3
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2005 British Grand Prix

Patrick Friesacher (born 26 September 1980, in Wolfsberg) is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.

Early career[]

Friesacher began Kart racing at the age of 10 in 1990 and became the first Red Bull junior driver in 1994. In 1998, he moved to the French Formula Campus series, finishing third in the season. In 1999, Friesacher advanced to the French Formula 3 'B' class, before moving to the German Formula 3 series in 2000.

In 2001, Friesacher jumped to Formula 3000, where he scored three top-six finishes for the Red Bull Junior team. He stayed with Red Bull throughout the next two years, winning a race at the Hungaroring in 2003 after recovering from a broken arm sustained during a race earlier in the season. Later that year, he joined the Super Nova squad; in 2004, he won another race (again in Hungary), this time for the Coloni team. At the end of 2004, Friesacher was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team.

Formula One[]

Friesacher at the 2005 British Grand Prix.

In November 2004, Friesacher tested for Minardi at the Misano circuit in Italy, impressing team principal Paul Stoddart. On 14 February 2005, he signed a one-year deal to race alongside Christijan Albers, another former Formula 3000 driver and F1 rookie. ITV's Martin Brundle noted during his debut race that he felt Friesacher had never looked like a potential F1 driver.

In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he picked up three Formula One Championship points despite finishing last; this is because he came sixth out of the six drivers who competed as seven teams pulled out for tyre safety reasons.

On 19 July 2005, it was announced that Friesacher had been dropped from the Minardi team due to the failure of his personal sponsors to pay Minardi the amounts agreed at the start of the season. He was replaced in the lineup by Robert Doornbos, who completed the rest of the season for Minardi.

A1GP commitments[]

In 2006, Friesacher joined the A1 Grand Prix of nations racing for his home country, Austria for the Mexican Grand Prix, clinching 18th in his first A1GP qualifying session. He then went on to finish tenth and ninth, scoring a total of three points for the team. He has also been a test driver of the new A1 GP chassis scheduled for introduction in the 2008–09 season. During a test session at the Magny-Cours circuit in August 2008, a suspension failure caused the car to crash. Friesacher sustained three crushed vertebrae in the accident.[1]

Re-emergence in ALMS[]

In early 2008, American Le Mans Series team Risi Competizione announced that Friesacher had been hired to co-drive the team's second Ferrari F430 racing car. Partnered with the young , Friesacher made his series debut at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, a sprint event held on a street-course in Saint Petersburg, Florida. He missed part of the season due to his back injury sustained in A1 GP testing.

Racing record[]

Complete International Formula 3000 results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2001 Red Bull Junior Team F3000 INT
Ret 		IMO
5 		CAT
8 		A1R
Ret 		MON
Ret 		NUR
10 		MAG
4 		SIL
19 		HOC
11 		HUN
4 		SPA
10 		MNZ
Ret 		13th 8
2002 Red Bull Junior Team INT
10 		IMO
5 		CAT
11 		A1R
5 		MON
2 		NUR
4 		SIL
7 		MAG
7 		HOC
Ret 		HUN
6 		SPA
16 		MNZ
Ret 		10th 14
2003 Red Bull Junior Team F3000 IMO
2 		CAT
Ret 		A1R MON NUR
Ret 		MAG
11 		SIL
5 		HOC
3 		HUN
1 		MNZ
2 		5th 36
2004 Super Nova Racing IMO
9 		CAT
4 		MON
5 		NUR
Ret 		5th 33
Coloni Motorsport MAG
3 		SIL
5 		HOC
DNS 		HUN
1 		SPA
5 		MNZ
Ret

Complete Formula One results[]

(key)

Yr Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2005 Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS
17 		MAL
Ret 		BHR
12 		21st 3
Minardi PS05 SMR
Ret 		ESP
Ret 		MON
Ret 		EUR
18 		CAN
Ret 		USA
6 		FRA
Ret 		GBR
19 		GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN

References[]

  1. ^ Freeman, Glenn (ed.) (August 2008). "First A1GP group test delayed after crash". Autosport. Vol. 193 no. 7. p. 16.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

External links[]

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