Paul Dumbrell

Paul Dumbrell (born 1 September 1982) is an Australian business executive and retired racing driver.

Paul Dumbrell
Paul Dumbrell at the 2010 Clipsal 500 Adelaide
Nationality Australian
Born1 September 1982 (1982-09) (age 38)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Supercars Record
Series championships0
Races299
Race wins7
Podium finishes14
Pole positions5

Racing history

Junior career

Son of former racing driver Garry Dumbrell, Paul Dumbrell started racing in karts in 1996 and by the end of 1997 Dumbrell was looking to further his racing. He was educated at Xavier College in Kew, Melbourne and resides in Melbourne, Australia. He competed in the Australian Sprint Kart National Championships in April 1998. He then attended a driving course at Sandown Raceway where he briefly drove the ex Craig Lowndes Van Diemen RF85. Paul then attended the Jim Russell International School of Racing in England. During the course, Dumbrell drove a Formula Vauxhall. At age 15 he was the youngest in the class and even though he was the fastest graduate from the school, he was ineligible for the final race, for which drivers had to be 16.

On returning to Australia he looked to do a couple of races in Formula Ford but broke his hip when hit by a car while training on his mountain bike. This injury prevented him from racing for 8 weeks and put an end to any chance of running a Formula Ford. At the end of 1998 he entered his first production car race, the GT Production three-hour at Bathurst in a Subaru WRX, but his race ended with mechanical failure.[1] For the 1999 season he drove a Formula Holden in the Australian Drivers' Championship, and had his first race in the V8 Supercar Championship Series in August 1999 at Symmons Plains, in Tasmania.

After a full year's experience in a Formula Holden, Dumbrell had the chance to test a Formula 3000 car with Mark Webber for Paul Stoddart's Arrows Team, driving 20 laps in the car at Donington Park. When he returned to Australia he took up a permanent driving spot in the Konica V8 Supercar Development Series. 2001 saw Dumbrell consistently at the front, and he won the Series in 2002.

Dumbrell made his first Bathurst 1000 start at 17 years and 74 days, and was the youngest ever driver to drive a V8 Supercar. He raced a Wynns/Falkuner Racing No. 96 Holden VS Commodore with Matthew White, qualifying the car in 33rd position but retiring on lap 15 after he hit the wall at McPhillamy Park.[2]

2002 saw Dumbrell picked up by Castrol Perkins Racing's Team Owner Larry Perkins as his co-driver in the Castrol Perkins Holden VX Commodore at both the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. At Bathurst that year, Perkins and Dumbrell finished a surprise fifth position overall.[3]

Castrol Perkins Motorsport

Dumbrell's fifth placing at Bathurst in 2002 helped him secure a 2-year deal with Castrol Perkins Motorsport for 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Dumbrell achieved his best-ever round V8 Supercar Championship Series result at Symmons Plains, Tasmania - the venue of his first ever V8 Supercar start - ending the round in fifth place.[4] 2005 also saw his best ever Championship placing, finishing in 20th, after placing 29th in 2003 and 24th in 2004.

2006 saw Paul driving the number 11 Holden VZ Commodore to 12th place, his best ever V8 Supercar Championship Series placing. He finished 5th at Bathurst and was within reach of a podium finish until slowed by mechanical problems.

Supercheap Auto Racing

For the 2007 season, Dumbrell moved from Jack Daniels Racing to Supercheap Auto Racing, replacing Greg Murphy. He had a poor season due to the unreliability of the cars, and the only highlight was a 6th placing with Paul Weel at the Sandown 500.

HSV Dealer Team

The Holden VE Commodore of Paul Dumbrell at Queensland Raceway 2008.

In 2008, Dumbrell joined the HSV Dealer Team to drive the No. 16 Autobarn Holden Commodore, as teammate to 2006 V8 Supercar Champion, Rick Kelly. It was a difficult season for the team and Dumbrell finished 21st in the championship.

Walkinshaw Racing

In 2009 Dumbrell stayed under the Walkinshaw umbrella with the newly formed Walkinshaw Racing, the team which replaced the newly-defunct HSV Dealer Team. He drove an Autobarn-sponsored Holden VE Commodore.

Rod Nash Racing

The Ford FG Falcon of Paul Dumbrell at the 2010 Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

For the 2010 V8 Supercar season, Dumbrell signed with Rod Nash Racing to drive their No. 55, "The Bottle-O" sponsored, Ford Performance Racing prepared Ford FG Falcon in a deal encompassing 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. This marked his first experience of racing a Ford, having competed in Holdens throughout his V8 Supercar career.

Dumbrell recorded his first V8 Supercar Championship podium finish at the 2010 Falken Tasmania Challenge[5] and followed this up with his first Championship race win[6] and first Championship pole position[7] at the next event, the 2010 Norton 360 Sandown Challenge. On 8 August 2011, Dumbrell announced he will retire from full-time driving at the end of the 2011 season.[8]

Triple Eight Race Engineering

Jamie Whincup's 2012 car in which Dumbrell would later co-drive to victory at the 2012 Bathurst 1000
Paul Dumbrell won his third Sandown 500 in 2018, driving with Jamie Whincup

Despite his retirement from full-time racing, Dumbrell returned in a limited basis from 2012 onwards as a co-driver for the two-driver endurance races in V8 Supercars, the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and since 2013, the Gold Coast 600. Dumbrell drives alongside seven-time series champion Jamie Whincup for Triple Eight Race Engineering.

Dumbrell and Whincup's partnership was almost immediately successful, winning the 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. In 2013, they won the 2013 Wilson Security Sandown 500. In 2014, Dumbrell and Whincup won the Enduro Cup as the highest scoring driver combination across the three endurance events, which included winning for a second year running at Sandown in the 2014 Wilson Security Sandown 500.

In 2014, Dumbrell entered the Dunlop V8 Supercar Development Series once again, and won the championship for a second time.

Business

For much of his career, Dumbrell has balanced racing and business. He previously owned a Boost Juice franchise as early as 2002, and was a founding partner of a media company.[9] He also progressed up the ranks of the family business, the Automotive Brands Group – owners of brands such as Autobarn and Autopro – eventually becoming chief executive officer in 2009.[10] Dumbrell's increasing business commitments were cited by him as a reason for his full-time V8 Supercar retirement in 2011.[8] Automotive Brands was sold to Metcash in 2012 with Dumbrell remaining in charge of the automotive business at Metcash, and taking a place on their executive team.[10] Coincidentally Metcash also owned The Bottle-O, a previous sponsor of Dumbrell at Rod Nash Racing. In 2015, the business was again sold, to Burson Group, in an AU$275 million deal.[11] Dumbrell once again remained in charge of the division, and at the announcement of the deal, Burson CEO Darryl Abotomey indicated that there was no reason Dumbrell couldn't continue as an endurance co-driver in the V8 Supercars series alongside his business commitments.[11]

Career results

Season Series Position Car Team
1998 Victorian Sports Sedan Championship Holden Commodore Paul Dumbrell
1999 Australian Drivers' Championship 6th Reynard 94D Holden Badia Court
Shell Championship Series NC Holden VS Commodore John Faulkner Racing
2000 Australian Drivers' Championship 6th Reynard 93D Holden K Mart Racing
Formula Holden Tasman Cup 5th Wynns Racing
2001 Konica V8 Supercar Series 2nd Holden VT Commodore Gibson Motor Sport
Shell Championship Series 59th Holden VX Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport
2002 Konica V8 Supercar Series 1st Holden VX Commodore Independent Race Cars Australia
V8 Supercar Championship Series 37th Castrol Perkins Motorsport
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 29th Holden VX Commodore Castrol Perkins Motorsport
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series 24th Holden VX Commodore
Holden VY Commodore
Castrol Perkins Motorsport
2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series 20th Holden VY Commodore
Holden VZ Commodore
Castrol Perkins Motorsport
2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 12th Holden VZ Commodore Jack Daniel's Racing
2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 23rd Holden VE Commodore Paul Weel Racing
2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series 21st Holden VE Commodore HSV Dealer Team
2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series 15th Holden VE Commodore Walkinshaw Racing
2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series 9th Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing
2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 24th Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing
2012 International V8 Supercars Championship 29th Holden VE Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering
2013 International V8 Supercars Championship 30th Holden VF Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering
2014 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series 1st Holden VE Commodore Eggleston Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 26th Holden VF Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering
2015 V8 Supercars Dunlop Series 2nd Holden VE Commodore Eggleston Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 41st Holden VF Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering
2016 Supercars Dunlop Series 7th Holden VE Commodore Eggleston Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 30th Holden VF Commodore Triple Eight Race Engineering
2017 Dunlop Super2 Series 2nd Holden VF Commodore Eggleston Motorsport
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 31st Triple Eight Race Engineering
2018 Dunlop Super2 Series 2nd Holden VF Commodore Eggleston Motorsport
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 32nd Triple Eight Race Engineering

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps
1999 John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore VS Matthew White DNF 11
2000 Rod Nash Racing Holden Commodore VT Rod Nash DNF 13
2001 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VX Leanne Ferrier DNF 41
2002 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VX Larry Perkins 5th 161
2003 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VX Tomas Mezera 14th 155
2004 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VY Tony Longhurst DNF 129
2005 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VZ Steven Richards DNF 28
2006 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VZ Steven Richards 5th 161
2007 Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore VE Paul Weel 12th 161
2008 HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE Rick Kelly
David Reynolds
20th 127
2009 Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE Craig Baird 21st 153
2010 Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon FG Dean Canto 14th 161
2011 Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon FG Dean Canto DNF 144
2012 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VE Jamie Whincup 1st 161
2013 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF Jamie Whincup 2nd 161
2014 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF Jamie Whincup 5th 161
2015 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF Jamie Whincup 18th 161
2016 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF Jamie Whincup 11th 161
2017 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VF Jamie Whincup 20th 124
2018 Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore ZB Jamie Whincup 10th 161

‡ Kelly replaced Reynolds in the No. 16 post-qualifying after an event-ending accident for Rick's original car.

References

  1. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?15/11/1998.MOUN.R3 Archived 23 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine 1998 Bathurst 3 Hour results
  2. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?14/11/1999.MOUN.R6 Archived 23 October 2000 at the Wayback Machine 1999 Bathurst 1000 results
  3. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?13/10/2002.MOUN.R8 Archived 10 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine 2002 Bathurst 1000 results
  4. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?13/11/2005.SYMM.V8S.M Archived 20 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 2005 Symmons Plains V8 Results
  5. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?14/11/2010.SYMM.R15 Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine 2010 Symmons Plains V8 Supercar Race 2 results
  6. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?21/11/2010.SAN.R4 Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine 2010 V8 Supercars Race 23 results
  7. http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?21/11/2010.SAN.Q7 Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine 2010 V8 Supercar race 24 Qualifying
  8. "Dumbrell confirms full-time retirement". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  9. "Paul Dumbrell". Great Expectations. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  10. Urban, Rebecca (29 June 2012). "Dumbrell switches lanes with $53m deal". The Australian. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  11. Evans, Simon (16 June 2015). "V8 Supercar driver and CEO to stay full speed ahead in Metcash buyout". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Simon Wills
Winner of the Konica V8 Supercar Series
2002
Succeeded by
Mark Winterbottom
Preceded by
Garth Tander
Nick Percat
Winner of the Bathurst 1000
2012
(with Jamie Whincup)
Succeeded by
Mark Winterbottom
Steven Richards
Preceded by
Craig Lowndes
Warren Luff
Winner of the Pirtek Endurance Cup
2014
(with Jamie Whincup)
Succeeded by
Garth Tander
Warren Luff
Preceded by
Dale Wood
Winner of the Dunlop V8 Supercar Series
2014
Succeeded by
Cameron Waters
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