Patrick Friesacher

Patrick Friesacher
	Friesacher at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Born	26 September 1980; Wolfsberg, Carinthia, Austria
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Austrian
Active years	2005
Teams	Minardi
Entries	11
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	3
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2005 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 Harrison Brix, 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
2004	Coloni Motorsport					MAG 3	SIL 5	HOC DNS	HUN 1	SPA 5	MNZ Ret			5th	33

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
2005	Minardi Cosworth	Minardi PS05	Cosworth V10				SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON Ret	EUR 18	CAN Ret	USA 6	FRA Ret	GBR 19	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	BRA	JPN	CHN	21st	3

References

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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[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)