Yvan Muller
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Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a two-time and the reigning World Touring Car Champion.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Single-seaters
After competing in French Formula Renault and French Formula Three, he won the British Formula Two championship title in 1992 and competed in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship in 1993. His sister Cathy had previously contested four races in this category between 1986 and 1988[1][2]
[edit] Touring cars
Muller won the French Touring Car Championship in 1995, and has also raced in the German and Italian championships, as well as doing a one-off in the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC).
[edit] BTCC
For several years he primarily raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), initially for Audi before joining Vauxhall and taking his first win in 1999. He came sixth overall in 1999, and fourth in 2000.
When the regulations changed for 2001 Vauxhall had the best car, leading to five years of heavy success for Yvan. He won the 2003 title, and was runner-up in four other years – in 2001 (to team-mate Jason Plato), 2002 and 2004 (both to team-mate James Thompson), and 2005 (to Matt Neal in a Honda Integra).
[edit] V8 Supercar
Muller competed in the two Australian V8 Supercar endurance races each year for a number of years, taking victory at the 2005 Sandown 500 with local driver Craig Lowndes in their Betta Electrical Triple Eight BA Falcon. In the same year, he was also involved in one of the most memorable incidents at the Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 1000, where in the lead, Craig Lowndes clipped the wall at Reid Park, and after a watts link change, another incident saw a wheel part company from Paul Dumbrell's car and hit the windscreen of Lowndes. In 2006 and 2007, Muller has been unable to race in the two annual enduros due to a clash with WTCC.
[edit] WTCC
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On 12 November 2005 it was officially announced that he would be switching to the 2006 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), driving for SEAT Sport. A pair of 2nd places in the opening meeting in Monza showed that he was a likely frontrunner, his first win then coming in round 5 at Brands Hatch. He was classified 4th at the end of the season with 62pts.
He finished 2nd in the 2007 WTCC with 81pts, and he lost the title to Guernsey driver Andy Priaulx (BMW 320si) during the last race in Macau where his SEAT León TDI suffered a fuel pump failure when he was leading the first race with one lap to go, which put him out of race 2 at Macau.[3][4]
He opened 2008 with a victory at Curitiba, Brazil.[5] Yvan Muller was battling for the championship, primarily with team-mate Gabriele Tarquini during the season, and finally won the championship at the final round in Macau.[6]
In 2009, Yvan was beaten to the title by teammate Tarquini, taking four victories.
He moved to rival team Chevrolet in 2010.[7] He scored pole position and won his first race for the team in Brazil. He took further wins in Italy and the United Kingdom to become the 2010 World Touring Car Champion and the first driver to win the title for two teams.
[edit] Other racing categories
He primarily races in touring cars, but also participates in other categories. In particular, he has won the Andros Trophy Ice Racing Championship 10 times (a record), with 46 race victories (also a record). During the early years of his career, he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993 and 1996, but did not finish.
In 2007, he participated in the Dakar Rally. In 2009 (following the 2008 cancellation) he also participated in the Dakar Rally in South America, but he withdrew during the 5th stage.[8] He represented France in the 2007 Race of Champions, alongside Sébastien Bourdais. He participated in the Rallye de France–Alsace in a Citroën Xsara WRC, a round of the 2010 World Rally Championship. Yvan is the 2010 WTCC Champion after a season of great results with the RML Chevrolet team in the Cruze model.
[edit] Racing record
[edit] Statistics
| Season | Series | Team | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | WTCC | SEAT Sport France | 20 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 4 |
| 2007 | WTCC | SEAT Sport | 21 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 81 | 2 |
| 2008 | WTCC | SEAT Sport | 24 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 114 | 1 |
| 2009 | WTCC | SEAT Sport | 24 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 123 | 2 |
| 2010 | WTCC | Chevrolet | 22 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 331 | 1 |
| 2011 | WTCC | Chevrolet | 24 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 8 | 433 | 1 |
| Overall | 135 | 21 | 64 | 12 | 15 | 1144 |
[edit] Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded - 1998-2002 all races, 2003-present just in first race) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded - 2001-present all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point given - 1998-2002 just in feature race, 2003-present all races)
[edit] Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
[edit] Complete World Rally Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Petter Solberg World Rally Team | Citroën Xsara WRC | SWE | MEX | JOR | TUR | NZL | POR | BUL | FIN | DEU | JPN | FRA 42 |
ESP | GBR | NC | 0 |
| 2011 | Yvan Muller | Peugeot 207 S2000 | SWE | MEX | POR | JOR | ITA | ARG | GRE | FIN | DEU | AUS | FRA 31 |
ESP | GBR | NC | 0 |
[edit] References
- ^ Where are they now?
- ^ Where are they now?
- ^ "PRIAULX AND BMW WIN TITLES AGAIN". fiawtcc.com. 18 November 2007. http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/macau/2007/sport_sto1383705.shtml. Retrieved 19 November 2007.[dead link]
- ^ "THEY SAID, THEY SAID…". fiawtcc.com. 18 November 2007. http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/sport_sto1384149.shtml. Retrieved 19 November 2007.[dead link]
- ^ "Yvan Muller wins the season-opener". Autosport. 2 March 2008. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65429. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
- ^ "MENU WINS RACE 1, MULLER IS CHAMPION". fiawtcc.com. 16 November 2008. http://www.fiawtcc.com/fiawtcc/sport_sto1757415.shtml. Retrieved 16 November 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Yvan Muller inks Chevrolet deal
- ^ "Stage 5 Withdrawals Dakar 2009". Dakar.com. 9 January 2008. http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/LIVE/us/800/abandon/ABA.html. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yvan Muller |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul Warwick (British F3000) |
British Formula 2 Champion 1992 |
Succeeded by Philippe Adams |
| Preceded by Laurent Aïello |
French Touring Car Champion 1995 |
Succeeded by Eric Cayrolle |
| Preceded by JJ Lehto Tommi Mäkinen Kari Tiainen |
Race of Champions Nations' Cup 2000 with: Régis Laconi Gilles Panizzi |
Succeeded by Fernando Alonso Jesús Puras Rubén Xaus |
| Preceded by James Thompson |
British Touring Car Champion 2003 |
Succeeded by James Thompson |
| Preceded by Andy Priaulx |
World Touring Car Champion 2008 |
Succeeded by Gabriele Tarquini |
| Preceded by Gabriele Tarquini |
World Touring Car Champion 2010–2011 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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- 1969 births
- Living people
- People from Altkirch
- French racing drivers
- British Touring Car Championship drivers
- World Touring Car Championship drivers
- World Touring Car Champions
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- French Formula Three Championship drivers
- Off-road racing drivers
- International Formula 3000 drivers
- British Formula 3000 Championship drivers
- British Touring Car Championship Champions
- TC 2000 Championship drivers
