Tristan Vautier

Racing career

Formula Renault

Born in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Isère, Vautier began his career in the French Formula Renault Campus series in 2006, where he finished runner-up.[1] He moved up to the main Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 series in 2007, finishing fourth, also competing in some events in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, scoring a 2nd and 3rd in Zolder.[1] In 2008 the French series was replaced by the West European Cup, in which Vautier finished sixth.[1]

Formula Palmer Audi

Vautier moved to the Formula Palmer Audi series in 2009, where he finished fourth with six victories.[2]

FIA Formula Two Championship

Vautier made his FIA Formula Two Championship debut at Circuit de Catalunya, in place of Edoardo Piscopo.[3][4] Vautier excelled in the pre-race tests and in the first race, where he finished third behind Andy Soucek and Mikhail Aleshin. He also finished in the points in the second race, finishing sixth. Those two results were enough to place him thirteenth overall in the championship standings.

Star Mazda

2010 saw Vautier move to the American Star Mazda Championship driving for Andersen Racing. Vautier won the season-opener at Sebring Raceway and then in June at New Jersey Motorsports Park. However, several mechanical issues saw him achieve only fifth in the final standings despite being the only driver other than champion Conor Daly to win more than one race. He returned to the series in 2011, this time driving for JDC MotorSports. He won four races and finished every race in the top five, winning the championship over Connor De Phillippi by 25 points. With the title he won a scholarship to move to Firestone Indy Lights in 2012 through the Road to Indy program.

Indy Lights

Vautier signed with Sam Schmidt Motorsports to race in Firestone Indy Lights in 2012.[5] He won the pole in his first race on the Streets of St. Petersburg and took a flag-to-flag victory,[6] duplicating his Star Mazda feat from two years before by winning on debut. Another win on the Milwaukee Mile came in the midst of a remarkable run of 20 consecutive Top 5 finishes (including the final 2 Star Mazda events of 2010, and his championship season of 2011) in his Road to Indy career. The streak ended at Toronto when a first-lap collision put him out of the race for the first time in an open-wheel car in nearly two years.

Vautier clinched the 2012 Firestone Indy Lights championship by eight points over Esteban Guerrieri.[7] Winning a partial scholarship to compete in the IndyCar Series in 2013 through the Road to Indy program.

IndyCar

Vautier signed to compete in the 2013 IndyCar Series season for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.[8] He is the first driver to be champion of two rungs of the Road to Indy ladder and move onto the IndyCar Series. Vautier finished 20th in points with a best finish of tenth in the second race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. Vautier qualified in the Firestone Fast-Six on his debut race in St Petersburg, and 3rd for the following round in Barber. He won rookie of the year honours. He finished sixteenth in his first Indianapolis 500 race.

The Frenchman returned to IndyCar in 2015 as a part-time driver for Dale Coyne Racing. He qualified James Davison's car for the Indianapolis 500, then raced in place of Carlos Huertas. A week later, he finished fourth in Detroit for the second race, starting last on the grid after qualifying was cancelled. His showing got Dale Coyne to keep him in the car for the remainder of the season, and he backed his strong Detroit result with a 6th place in Mid-Ohio.

Sports car racing

Vautier debuted Sports Car racing while still racing open wheels, in the 2009 French GT Championship, and won on his debut race in Nogaro, teaming-up with French driver Jean-Charles Levy.

In 2014, Vautier was hired by the Mazda factory team to race at the four endurance races of the 2014 United SportsCar Championship in a LMP2 diesel prototype. At the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona he joined JDC/Miller, resulting third in the Prototype Challenge class.

The Frenchman has completed the 24 Hours of Spa four times for team Akka-ASP, in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017, finishing 2nd overall in 2016 on an AMG-Factory backed car alongside Rosenqvist and Van der Zande. He ended the 2016 season by winning the Blancpain GT Sprint final race in Barcelona, teamed-up with Rosenqvist.

He returned to full-time racing in the US in 2017 with Mercedes-AMG customer Team SunEnergy1 racing, teaming-up with Team owner Kenny Habul, and Boris Said. Vautier set Sebring's GTD track record on his way to pole position for the 12-Hour race, before finishing on the podium after a late comeback in the closing stages. He also returned to the Blanpain GT Series with Team Akka-ASP, teaming-up with Mercedes driver Dani Juncadella and open wheel ace Felix Serralles, closing the season by a win in Barcelona just as he did in 2016.

2017 also makes his return to IndyCar for a one-off, subbing for injured Sebastien Bourdais in Texas. Vautier went on to qualify 5th in the Dale Coyne Racing entry, and led 15 laps in the race before being caught in a multi-car incident.

In 2018, Vautier joined American Matt McMurry behind the wheel of the No. 90 Cadillac DPi-V.R. in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving for Spirit of Daytona Racing, where he scored Pole Position for the 12 Hours of Sebring.

His GT Racing campaign for Mercedes-AMG saw him clinch the InterContinental GT Championship during the title-deciding race in WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Vautier is set to return to GT Racing and defend his IGTC title with Mercedes-AMG in 2019, alongside a full-time Imsa WeatherTech Series program with Team JDC-Miller MotorSports in a Cadillac Dpi.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Star Mazda Championship

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points
2010 Andersen Racing SEB
1
STP
9
LAG
15
IND
6
IOW
8
NJ1
6
NJ2
1
ACC1
23
ACC2
2
TRO
11
ROA
13
MOS
4
ATL
5
5th 400
2011 JDC MotorSports STP
3
BAR
1
IND
4
MIL
4
IOW
4
MOS
5
TRO1
1
TRO2
3
SON
1
BAL
1
LAG
5
1st 426

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2012 Sam Schmidt Motorsports STP
1
ALA
2
LBH
3
INDY
3
DET
5
MIL
1
IOW
4
TOR
11
EDM
6
TRO
1
BAL
1
FON
4
1st 461

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2013 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton HP Motorsports Dallara DW12 Honda STP
21
ALA
10
LBH
17
SAO
16
INDY
16
DET
11
DET
14
TXS
18
MIL
21
IOW
13
POC
19
TOR
19
TOR
16
MDO
21
SNM
12
BAL
11
HOU
22
HOU
11
FON
21
20th 266
2015 Dale Coyne Racing STP NLA LBH ALA IMS INDY
28
DET
17
DET
4
TXS
20
TOR
17
FON
17
MIL
16
IOW
12
MDO
6
POC
21
SNM
23
22nd 175
2017 STP LBH ALA PHX IMS INDY DET DET TXS
16
ROA IOW TOR MDO POC GTW WGL SNM 36th 15

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2013 Dallara Honda 28 16 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2015 Dallara Honda 32 28 Dale Coyne Racing

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points
2016 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Pro MIS
QR

7
MIS
CR

32
BRH
QR

9
BRH
CR

9
NÜR
QR

27
NÜR
CR

10
HUN
QR

2
HUN
CR

4
CAT
QR

3
CAT
CR

1
7th 51
2017 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Pro-Am MIS
QR
MIS
CR
BRH
QR
BRH
CR
ZOL
QR
ZOL
CR
HUN
QR
HUN
CR
NÜR
QR

27
NÜR
CR

24
7th 18
2018 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Pro-Am ZOL
1
ZOL
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
MIS
1
MIS
2
HUN
1

15
HUN
2

DNS
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
5th 16.5

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2018 Scott Taylor Motorsport
Team SunEnergy1 Racing
Kenny Habul
Raffaele Marciello
Jamie Whincup
Mercedes-AMG GT3 APP 271 2nd 2nd

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Year Team Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2014 SpeedSource P Mazda Prototype Mazda 2.2 L SKYACTIV-D (SH-VPTS) I4 Turbo (diesel) DAY
13
SEB
16
LBH LGA DET WGL
9
MOS IMS ELK COA PET
11
30th 59
2015 JDC-Miller MotorSports PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY
3†
SEB LGA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK COA PET 36th 1
2016 Stevenson Motorsports GTD Audi R8 LMS Audi 5.2 L V10 DAY
7
SEB LBH LGA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR COA PET 47th 25
2017 SunEnergy1 Racing GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 DAY
18
SEB
3
LBH
15
COA
3
DET
15
WGL
15
MOS
13
LIM
16
ELK
12
VIR
16
LGA
12
PET
16
19th 224
2018 Spirit of Daytona Racing P Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
20
SEB
12
LBH MDO DET
13
WGL
11
MOS ELK
LGA 24th 96
Mustang Sampling Racing PET
4
2019 JDC-Miller MotorSports DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5L V8 DAY
5
SEB
7
LBH
9
MDO
10
DET
5
WGL
10
MOS
9
ELK
8
LGA
8
PET
9
11th 230
2020 JDC-Miller MotorSports DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
5
DAY
7
SEB
8
ELK
7
ATL
4
MDO
8
PET
4
LGA
7
SEB
5
9th 226
2021 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
7
SEB
MDO
DET
WGL
MOS
ELK
LGA
LBH
PET
7th* 270*

Vautier did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points. * Season still in progress.

References

  1. "Career statistics at Driver Database". Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  2. "Tristan Vautier". Formula Palmer Audi. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  3. "Tristan Vautier to replace Edoardo Piscopo for Barcelona". FIA Formula Two Championship. 23 October 2009. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. O'Leary, Jamie (23 October 2009). "Vautier to make F2 debut in Spain". autosport.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. "Vautier Joins Schmidt for 2012 Firestone Indy Lights Season". Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. Lewandowski, Dave (24 March 2012). "Vautier wins from pole in series debut at St. Pete". IndyCar. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  7. Lewandowski, Dave (15 September 2012). "Vautier claims championship by 8 points over Guerrieri". IndyCar.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. Tristan Vautier makes the jump to IndyCar, Autoweek, 28 January 2013, Retrieved 29 January 2013
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Josef Newgarden
Indy Lights
Champion

2012
Succeeded by
Sage Karam
Preceded by
Conor Daly
Star Mazda Championship
Champion

2011
Succeeded by
Jack Hawksworth
Preceded by
Simon Pagenaud
IndyCar Series
Rookie of the Year

2013
Succeeded by
Carlos Muñoz
Preceded by
Markus Winkelhock
Intercontinental GT Challenge
Champion

2018
Succeeded by
Dennis Olsen
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