Soheil Ayari
Soheil Ayari (born 5 April 1970) is a French-Iranian race car driver born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, from an Iranian father and a French mother. He won the French Formula Ford championship of 1994, Formula Three championship of 1996 and the Macau Grand Prix of 1997. From 1997 until 2000, he competed in Formula 3000 where he won two races before moving on to the French Supertouring Championship in 2001 where he became champion in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
 | |
| Nationality |  |
|---|---|
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1997, 1999, 2003 - 2005, 2007-2012, 2014 |
| Teams | Viper Team Oreca, Pescarolo Sport, Pecom Racing |
| Best finish | 4th (2004, 2010) |
| Class wins | 0 |
In 2006 and 2007, he drove in GT Championship, in GT1 for Team Oreca (on a Saleen S7-R). He became French champion in 2006 & 2007 and won the European Le Mans séries championship in 2007 with Stephane Ortelli. In 2008 & 2009, he drove a Corvette GT 1 in French GT 3 championship before joining the Audi ORECA Team in 2010. In 2011, he raced and won 2 Championships : ILMC LMP2 (Signatech Nissan) and International Open GT with JMB Ferrari F458 GT2
Soheil Ayari is also a famous 24 Hours of Le Mans driver with 11 starts in GT 1, LMP1 & LMP2. Best results over all were 4th in 2004 ((Pescarolo)) & 2010 (ORECA 01)), 5th in 2009 ((ORECA)) and 2nd LMP2 (Signatech Nissan) in 2011.
In 2014, he was in the European Le Mans Series, and in 2015, was in the French GT Championship in which he remained in 2016. In 2017, he switched to the GT4 European Southern Cup and in 2018, moved into French GT's again. Ayari also works as a journalist specialising in track tests and races in historic events.[1]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Team Astromega | SIL Ret |
PAU 6 |
HEL 1 |
NÜR 19 |
PER Ret |
HOC Ret |
A1R 10 |
SPA Ret |
MUG 6 |
JER Ret |
8th | 12 | ||
| 1998 | Durango Formula | OSC Ret |
IMO Ret |
CAT 5 |
SIL Ret |
MON DNQ |
PAU Ret |
A1R 1 |
HOC Ret |
HUN Ret |
SPA 3 |
PER 3 |
NÜR Ret |
5th | 20 |
| 1999 | Cica Team Oreca | IMO Ret |
MON Ret |
CAT 10 |
MAG 8 |
SIL 4 |
A1R 2 |
HOC 12 |
HUN 4 |
SPA Ret |
NÜR 4 |
7th | 15 | ||
| 2000 | Coloni Motorsport | IMO 14 |
SIL 6 |
CAT Ret |
NÜR Ret |
MON Ret |
MAG 22 |
A1R Ret |
HOC | 24th | 1 | ||||
| WRT Racing | HUN 13 |
SPA 14 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | |
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Chrysler Viper GTS-R | GT2 | 76 | DNF | DNF |
| 1999 | |
|
Chrysler Viper GTS-R | GTS | 271 | DNF | DNF |
| 2003 | |
|
Courage C60-Peugeot | LMP900 | 352 | 9th | 7th |
| 2004 | |
|
Pescarolo C60-Judd | LMP1 | 361 | 4th | 4th |
| 2005 | |
|
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | LMP1 | 288 | DNF | DNF |
| 2007 | |
 |
Saleen S7-R | GT1 | 318 | 16th | 9th |
| 2008 | |
|
Courage-Oreca LC70-Judd | LMP1 | 357 | 8th | 8th |
| 2009 | |
|
Oreca 01-AIM | LMP1 | 370 | 5th | 5th |
| 2010 | |
 |
Oreca 01-AIM | LMP1 | 369 | 4th | 4th |
| 2011 | |
 |
Oreca 03-Nissan | LMP2 | 320 | 9th | 2nd |
| 2012 |  |
 |
Oreca 03-Nissan | LMP2 | 352 | 9th | 3rd |
| 2014 | |
|
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | GTE Am |
325 | 29th | 9th |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Peugeot Sport Denmark | Peugeot 407 | ITA 1 |
ITA 2 |
FRA 1 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 1 |
GBR 2 |
SMR 1 |
SMR 2 |
MEX 1 |
MEX 2 |
BEL 1 23 |
BEL 2 Ret |
GER 1 |
GER 2 |
TUR 1 |
TUR 2 |
ESP 1 |
ESP 2 |
MAC 1 |
MAC 2 |
NC | 0 |
FIA GT Series results
| Year | Class | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Pro-Am | SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion | Ferrari | NOG QR Ret |
NOG CR 19 |
ZOL QR |
ZOL CR |
ZAN QR |
ZAN QR |
SVK QR |
SVK CR |
NAV QR |
NAV CR |
BAK QR |
BAK CR |
20th | 4 |
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Laurent Rédon |
French Formula Three Champion 1996 |
Succeeded by Patrice Gay |
| Preceded by Ralph Firman |
Macau Grand Prix Winner 1997 |
Succeeded by Peter Dumbreck |
| Preceded by Jean-Philippe Dayraut |
French Touring Car Champion 2002 |
Succeeded by Christophe Bouchut |
| Preceded by Christophe Bouchut |
French Touring Car Champion 2004-2005 |
Succeeded by None |
| Preceded by Olivier Thévenin Patrick Bornhauser |
FFSA GT Champion 2006 with: (Bruno Hernandez) |
Succeeded by Soheil Ayari Raymond Narac |
| Preceded by Soheil Ayari Bruno Hernandez |
FFSA GT Champion 2007 with: (Raymond Narac) |
Succeeded by Christophe Bouchut Patrick Bornhauser |
| Preceded by Álvaro Barba Pierre Kaffer |
International GT Open champion 2011 |
Succeeded by Federico Leo Gianmaria Bruni |