Patrick Friesacher

Former F1 driver
Name = Patrick Friesacher

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Caption = Friesacher at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Nationality = flagicon|AUT Austrian
Years = F1|2005
Team(s) = Minardi
Races = 11
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 3
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 2005 Australian Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 2005 British Grand Prix

Patrick Friesacher (born September 26, 1980) is an Austrian racing driver who drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.

Early career

Born in Wolfsberg, Friesacher began Kart racing at an early age. 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.

Formula One

In November 2004, Friesacher tested for Minardi at the Misano circuit in Italy, impressing team principal Paul Stoddart. On February 14, 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 Patrick had never looked like a potential F1 driver.

In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he picked up 3 Formula One Championship points despite finishing last; this is because he came 6th out of the 6 drivers who competed as 7 teams pulled out for tyre safety reasons.

On July 19th, 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. (It is common for poorer F1 teams to employ pay-drivers who contribute financially to the team via personal sponsorships.) 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 10th and 9th, scoring a total of 3 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 incident. [cite journal |last=Freeman |first=Glenn (ed.) |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2008 |month=August |title=First A1GP group test delayed after crash |journal=Autosport |volume=193 |issue=7 |pages=p.16]

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 will miss part of the season due to his back injury sustained in A1 GP testing.

Racing record

Complete Formula 3000 results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in "italics" indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

()

References

External links

* [http://www.patrickfriesacher.com Official website for Patrick Friesacher]
* [http://www.f1db.com/f1/page/Patrick_Friesacher Patrick Friesacher profile and statistics]