Gil de Ferran

Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500. He also finished runner-up in the American Le Mans Series LMP1 class with his own de Ferran Motorsports.

Gil de Ferran
de Ferran at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in March 2011.
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1967-11-11) November 11, 1967 Paris, France
IRL IndyCar Series
Years active	2001–2003
Teams	Penske Racing
Starts	31
Wins	5
Poles	5
Best finish	2nd in 2003
CART Championship Car
Years active	1995–2001
Teams	Hall Racing Walker Racing Penske Racing
Starts	129
Wins	7
Poles	16
Best finish	1st in 2000 & 2001
Previous series
1991-1992 1993-1994	British Formula Three Formula 3000
Championship titles
1992 2000-2001 2003	British Formula Three Champion CART World Series Champion Indianapolis 500 winner
Awards
1995	CART Rookie of the Year

De Ferran's car in 2001

De Ferran at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

Early career

Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, de Ferran began his career in kart racing in the early 1980s. He graduated to Formula Ford level in 1987 and Formula Three in 1991. Driving for Edenbridge Racing, De Ferran finished the 1991 British Formula Three season in third, only behind Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. For the 1992 season, De Ferran moved to Paul Stewart Racing and won the 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 then took the championship down to the wire in 1994, ultimately finishing third. In 1993, De Ferran tested for a day the Footwork Arrows Formula One team along with Dutch racer Jos Verstappen. His day was seriously compromised after he bumped his head while walking nearby the motorhome. His times also compared poorly to Verstappen's.

CART

At the end of 1994, de Ferran was invited to test a CART by Hall/VDS Racing. Despite the worries of the team's sponsor 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 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 CART win in the last race of the year at Laguna Seca Raceway.

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 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 Formula One team, de Ferran stayed in America for 1997, joining Walker Racing.

De Ferran finished 1997 as runner-up to Alex Zanardi with ten top-ten finishes but failed to score a single victory. He looked on course to win the season opener at Homestead but was knocked out of the lead by a lapped driver, Dennis Vitolo. At the Grand Prix of Portland he lost out to PacWest Racing's Mark Blundell in the closest finish in CART history.

The expected championship challenge never materialized in 1998. Unreliability, driver errors and the inferior performance of the Goodyear tires compared to the Firestone 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 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 CART racing at the end of 1999. Toward the end of that season, de Ferran and Greg Moore were signed to Marlboro Team Penske to replace Al Unser, Jr. and the rotating arrangement of drivers employed after Andre Ribeiro retired. However, Moore was killed in a crash in the season finale and de Ferran's fellow countryman Hélio Castroneves joined him.

On October 28, 2000, during CART qualifying at California Speedway, de Ferran set the track record for fastest lap at 241.428 mph (388.541 km/h).[1] As of June 2020, this stands as the fastest qualifying lap speed ever recorded at an official race meeting.[2]

In 2001, de Ferran did not appeared in Sylvester Stallone's film Driven along his team mate Hélio Castroneves and his owner Roger Penske.

The Penske years saw de Ferran finally fulfill the promise of his earlier career with two CART titles and an Indy 500 victory. His analytical approach earned him comparisons with Penske's first driver, Mark Donohue. He also garnered praise for his politeness and integrity: when Penske switched to the Indy Racing League in 2002, he did not criticize the move even though it meant he could not defend his Champ Car title.

In 2003, de Ferran was injured during a race at Phoenix, suffering a broken back. Despite the injury, de Ferran passed his teammate, Castroneves with 31 laps left to win an emotional victory at the 2003 Indianapolis 500. It also was the second 1-2 finish for Penske Racing in the Indianapolis 500.

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 seriously injured.

Formula One managerial career

In 2005, he moved to the BAR-Honda Formula One team as their Sports Director. He resigned from this position in July 2007 after becoming "increasingly uncomfortable" with the team.[3]

In July 2018 de Ferran was made sporting director for McLaren following Eric Boullier's resignation.[4]

de Ferran Motorsports

On January 29, 2008 de Ferran announced that he would return to the cockpit and field a factory-backed LMP2 class Acura ARX-01b prototype in the American Le Mans Series, under the team name de Ferran Motorsports. 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.[5]

Success again was immediate and de Ferran Motorsports took four front row grid positions, led six races and scored three podium finishes in just eight starts.

2009 saw another challenge when de Ferran Motorsports was chosen by Honda to develop the Acura ARX-02a for competition in the LMP1 division of the American Le Mans Series. The team scored five outright wins, seven poles, seven fastest laps and finished runners up in the ALMS LMP1 class.

Return to IndyCar

Half way through 2009 de Ferran announced his decision to retire from the cockpit at the end of the racing season, expressing his intention to concentrate all his resources on expanding his team, making public his desire to return to IndyCar racing as a front running team owner. Prior to the start of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season, de Ferran merged his team with Luczo Dragon Racing, a team started by Jay Penske, the son of de Ferran’s former boss Roger Penske, and Steve Luczo, a successful technology leader and racing enthusiast. The new team was named de Ferran Dragon Racing and is the realization of de Ferran’s ambition to return to IndyCar.

De Ferran Dragon Racing, with driver Raphael Matos, earned four Top Ten finishes in its debut campaign and led 15 laps during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In 2010, IndyCar also began planning for a completely new car concept, to debut during the 2012 season. Due to his technical knowledge, motorsports experience across different series and roles, as well as the widespread respect he holds within the racing industry, de Ferran was chosen by his team owner peers to represent their interests in the development of the future IndyCar. As part of the ICONIC committee, who created the concept for the future of IndyCar Racing.

In 2011 de Ferran Dragon racing closed its doors due to lack of funding, having attempted to stay operational for the new season.

Recognition

In July 2013, Autosport magazine named De Ferran one of the 50 greatest drivers to have never raced in Formula One.

Personal life

De Ferran currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his English wife Angela and children Anna (born 1995) and Luke (born 1997).

Motorsports career results

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	DC	Points
1993	Paul Stewart Racing	DON Ret	SIL 1	PAU Ret	PER Ret	HOC 9†	NÜR 2	SPA 2	MAG Ret	NOG 7	4th	21
1994	Paul Stewart Racing	SIL 3	PAU 1	CAT Ret	PER 1	HOC 3	SPA 5	EST Ret	MAG Ret		3rd	28

Complete American Open Wheel Racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
1995	Hall/VDS Racing	Reynard 95i	Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8t	MIA 25	SRF 16	PHX 11	LBH 27	NZR 19	INDY 29	MIL 8	DET 16	POR 10	ROA 21	TOR 16	CLE 14	MIS 12	MDO 24	NHM 7	VAN 2	LS 1					14th	56
1996	Hall/VDS Racing	Reynard 96i	Honda HRH V8t	MIA 2	RIO 10	SRF 11	LBH 5	NZR 23	MIS1 9	MIL 9	DET 3	POR 2	CLE 1	TOR 18	MIS2 19	MDO 17	ROA 25	VAN 4	LS 25						6th	104
1997	Walker Racing	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR V8t	MIA 22	SRF 5	LBH 21	NZR 4	RIO 11	STL 3	MIL 7	DET 3	POR 2	CLE 2	TOR 25	MIS 3	MDO 6	ROA 3	VAN 3	LS 5	FON 6					2nd	162
1998	Walker Racing	Reynard 98i	Honda HRK V8t	MIA 7	MOT 3	LBH 20	NZR 4	RIO 26	STL 6	MIL 22	DET 3	POR 20	CLE 6	TOR 27	MIS 16	MDO 9	ROA 16	VAN 13	LS 19	HOU 21	SRF 14	FON 17			12th	67
1999	Walker Racing	Reynard 99i	Honda HRS V8t	MIA 6	MOT 2	LBH 6	NZR 15	RIO 10	STL 25	MIL 3	POR 1	CLE 2	ROA 14	TOR 19	MIS 24	DET 22	MDO 6	CHI 13	VAN 26	LS 6	HOU 17	SRF 27	FON 9		8th	108
2000	Penske Racing	Reynard 2Ki	Honda HR-0 V8t	MIA 6	LBH 7	RIO 17	MOT 9	NZR 1	MIL 12	DET 9	POR 1	CLE 14	TOR 6	MIS 18	CHI 3	MDO 2	ROA 25	VAN 5	LS 2	STL 8	HOU 3	SRF 23	FON 3		1st	168
2001	Penske Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1 V8t	MTY 2	LBH 3	TXS NH	NZR 23	MOT 13	MIL 7	DET 6	POR 13	CLE 4	TOR 14	MIS 24	CHI 3	MDO 2	ROA 5	VAN 2	LAU 8	ROC 1	HOU 1	LS 3	SRF 4	FON 6	1st	199

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2001	Team Penske	Dallara IR-01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	PHX 24	HMS	ATL	INDY 2	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2				28th	46
2002	Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara IR-02	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS 2	PHX 2	FON 4	NZR 3	INDY 10	TXS 16	PPIR 1	RIR 2	KAN 5	NSH 2	MIS 5	KTY 21	STL 1	CHI 23	TX2 INJ		3rd	443
2003	Penske Racing	Dallara IR-03	Toyota Indy V8	HMS 2	PHX 14	MOT INJ			PPIR 3	RIR 3	KAN 3	NSH 1	MIS 7	STL 3	KTY 9	NZR 4	CHI 12		TX2 1	2nd	489
		G-Force GF09					INDY 1	TXS 8										FON 15

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1995	Reynard 95i	Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8t	19	29	Hall/VDS Racing
2001	Dallara IR-01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	5	2	Penske Racing
2002	Dallara IR-02	Chevrolet Indy V8	14	10	Penske Racing
2003	G-Force GF09	Toyota Indy V8	10	1	Penske Racing

CART career results

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1995	Hall/VDS Racing	1	56	14th
1996	Hall/VDS Racing	1	104	6th
1997	Walker Racing	0	162	2nd
1998	Walker Racing	0	67	12th
1999	Walker Racing	1	108	8th
2000	Penske Racing	2	168	1st
2001	Penske Racing	2	199	1st

Indy Racing League career results

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
2001	Penske Racing	0	46	28th
2002	Penske Racing	2	443	3rd
2003	Penske Racing	3	489	2nd

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2008	de Ferran Motorsports	LMP2	Acura ARX-01b	Acura 3.4L V8	M	SEB	STP	LNB	UTA 3	LIM 14/7	MID Ret	AME 18/8	MOS 7/5	DET 3	PET 8/5	MON 4/2	9th	85
2009	de Ferran Motorsports	LMP1	Acura ARX-02a	Acura 4.0L V8	M	SEB Ret	STP Ret	LNB 1	UTA 1	LIM 1	MID 1	AME 2	MOS 2	PET 24/7	MON 1		2nd	162

References

1. "De Ferran wins pole, sets record". Las Vegas Sun. October 28, 2000. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013.
2. Webster, George (May 16, 2009). "Who holds the world's closed course record? A.J. Foyt". PRN Motorsport Magazine. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018.
3. "De Ferran quits role with Honda". BBC Sport. July 16, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
4. Mitchell, Scott (July 4, 2018). "Eric Boullier resigns from McLaren Formula 1 team". www.autosport.com. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
5. Olson, Jeff. De Ferran to Become Acura Owner/Driver Archived 2008-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, SpeedTV.com, January 29, 2008

External links

• Media related to Gil de Ferran at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Rubens Barrichello	British Formula Three Champion 1992	Succeeded by Kelvin Burt
Preceded by Jacques Villeneuve	CART Rookie of the Year 1995	Succeeded by Alex Zanardi
Preceded by Juan Pablo Montoya	CART Series Champion 2000-2001	Succeeded by Cristiano da Matta
Preceded by Hélio Castroneves	Indianapolis 500 Winner 2003	Succeeded by Buddy Rice