Thierry Boutsen

Thierry Boutsen

Boutsen during practice for the 1985 European Grand Prix
Born	(1957-07-13) 13 July 1957 Brussels, Belgium
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Belgian
Active years	1983–1993
Teams	Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan
Entries	164 (163 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podiums	15
Career points	132
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1983 Belgian Grand Prix
First win	1989 Canadian Grand Prix
Last win	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last entry	1993 Belgian Grand Prix

Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three races, achieving 15 podiums and scoring 132 career points. His best finish in the World Drivers' Championship was fourth in 1988 whilst driving for Benetton. He also twice finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar race (in 1993 in a Peugeot 905 and in 1996 in a Porsche 911 GT1).

Career

Junior formulae and sportscars

After winning the "Volant V" in 1977 at the André Pilette Racing School, Zolder, Boutsen entered the Belgian Formula Ford 1600 championship and won it in 1978 with 15 victories in 18 races. He also entered the 1978 Spa 24 Hours race, the last auto race on the old 14 km (8.7 mi) Spa-Francorchamps circuit- driving a Toyota Trueno. For 1979 he moved to Formula 3, winning three races in 1980 and second place in the European title race, behind Michele Alboreto. In 1981 he moved to Formula 2 and was again second in the European championship, including winning at the 14-mile Nürburgring- this time behind Geoff Lees.

He also entered the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race started at 3pm – one hour earlier than usual due to the Parliamentary elections held on the same weekend. At 4:06pm Boutsen suffered a massive accident just after the Hunaudières kink, some 400 metres (0.25 mi) before the Mulsanne bosse (the "hump") when his WM P81-Peugeot was travelling at some 350 km/h (217 mph). A suspension piece had failed and the car hit the guard-rail losing the entire rear end. Boutsen was untouched, but the debris field of hurled parts and bodywork was spread over 150 metres (490 ft). Three marshals were struck by the debris. One of them, Thierry Mabilat, was killed - struck in the chest by a detached piece of the guard rail. Two of his colleagues, Claude Hertault and Serge David (who lost an arm), were seriously injured.

In 1983 Boutsen drove in the European Touring Car Championship and in World Sportscar races, where he won the very first Group C race, the Monza 1000 km with Bob Wollek driving a Porsche 956. He also won the famous Daytona 24 hour race in 1985, co-driving the Porsche 956 from the Preston Henn Racing with Bob Wollek, AJ Foyt and Al Unser Sr.

Formula One

Arrows

Boutsen was considered a promising driver, testing for McLaren and Brabham. He was briefly attached to the Spirit Honda F1 project before losing out to his Formula Two teammate Stefan Johansson.

Boutsen driving for Arrows at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

In 1983 he paid $500,000 for a drive in Formula One and made his debut with Arrows at his home race, the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix at the shortened 7 km (4.3 mi) Spa. While he scored no points in 1983 his careful handling and close performance compared to experienced teammate Marc Surer. With backing from Barclay cigarettes he remained with the team for a further three seasons. The first saw Arrows struggle with their difficult first turbocharged car, with powerful BMW turbo engines but poor handling. Boutsen scored points twice in the old Cosworth DFV powered A6 and once in the turbo machine. His second season saw several notable results, including 2nd place at Imola. Boutsen crossed the line third, behind Alain Prost and Elio de Angelis but after the race, Prost was disqualified because his car was 2 kg underweight. Three more points scores saw him 11th overall in the standings. A final season with Arrows saw no points for Boutsen in an uncompetitive car, but in parallel to F1 he drove for the Walter Brun team in Group C and clinched the World Championship title with them in 1986, winning that year's Spa 1000 km.

Benetton

Boutsen driving for Benetton at the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.

Boutsen got his big chance when he switched to the works Ford F1 team, Benetton, for the 1987 season as teammate to Teo Fabi. While the package wasn't a race winner it did allow him to run regularly in the top 6. He scored points in six races, his best being awarded 3rd place in Adelaide after the disqualification of Ayrton Senna's Lotus and moved to 8th overall. At the Australian Grand Prix, Boutsen was furious with Fabi when the Italian refused to let his teammate lap him for a number of laps. When Boutsen confronted Fabi about this after the race, a frustrated Fabi (who had been unable to find an F1 drive for 1988), told the Belgian to "come back and see me when you have a pole position". Fabi scored no wins in his F1 career but did have 3 poles to his name while at that stage Boutsen could only boast his 2nd place at Imola in 1985.

1988 saw Boutsen with a new teammate, the fast, chain-smoking Italian Alessandro Nannini. When Cosworth stopped development of their turbocharged V6 engine, Benetton were forced to switch to normally aspirated Ford DFR V8 engines in anticipation of the banning of turbos in 1989. Boutsen's consistency, mechanical sympathy and speed in the Rory Byrne designed Benetton B188 saw him score points in 10 of the 16 races, including five 3rd-place finishes (all behind the all-conquering McLaren-Honda's), and place 4th overall as the best non-turbo driver in the field.

Williams

His reputation as a reliable, fast driver with good development skills saw Frank Williams sign him on a two-year contract to replace Nigel Mansell (who was off to Ferrari) and drive the new V10 Renault powered Williams FW12C. 1989 began with Boutsen on the back foot due to a heavy pre-season testing crash in Rio and because veteran teammate Riccardo Patrese had a major resurgence in form. However at the Canadian Grand Prix, Boutsen drove well in wet conditions and took his maiden victory after Senna suffered a late engine failure. Although it was a welcome win (Boutsen became the first new winner in F1 since former Arrows teammate Gerhard Berger had won the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix for Benetton. Between then only Senna, Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Berger had won a race), it was considered a lucky win for the Belgian as he had been last at one stage and had a full 360° spin, though luckily he managed to keep his car off the walls. He managed to catch and pass Patrese who was suffering with a loose undertray and took the lead 3 laps from the end when the Honda V10 engine in Senna's McLaren MP4/5 seized. Three more podium finishes came before Boutsen rounded the year off with a second victory at the rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix. Ironically Boutsen had been one of the drivers protesting about the conditions at the circuit before the race.

1990 saw more consistent points scoring drives, including his third and final Grand Prix victory - a lights-to-flag victory in Hungary where he took his first pole position and held off sustained pressure from Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) and Ayrton Senna (McLaren) to win. However, with Nigel Mansell available in 1991, Williams Renault felt they needed a 'star' driver to put together a championship bid. Despite Boutsen winning three races in two years to Patrese's one, the team felt that Patrese had been more consistent (and had worked well with Mansell in 1988) and decided to keep the Italian to drive alongside Mansell.

Ligier

Boutsen driving for Jordan at the 1993 British Grand Prix.

With no vacancies among the top teams Boutsen had to drop down to the Ligier team. Despite having a sizeable budget and Lamborghini V12 engines, the JS35 was an uncompetitive car and Boutsen was frequently unable to disguise his disgust with the machinery given to him. The arrival of Renault engines in 1992 improved matters a little and in his final race for the team he scored 5th place, his first points since leaving Williams.

Jordan

Initially he was unable to find a drive for 1993 but Barclay secured him a slot at Jordan, replacing Ivan Capelli. Boutsen was too tall for the car and largely outpaced by young teammate Rubens Barrichello, failing to score any points in ten races. With Eddie Jordan keen to bring in younger, well-sponsored drivers to the seat the decision was taken to turn Boutsen's home race into a farewell event, though he retired on the first lap.

Touring cars

For 1994, Boutsen was hired by Ford Motorsport to lead their works challenge on the newly created Super Tourenwagen Cup in Germany. Driving a factory prepared Ford Mondeo built by Eggenberger Motorsport, that first season was a learning year for both Boutsen and the team.

The following year, Boutsen was joined by his old Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese, but the season was a disaster. Attempting to follow Audi's lead by developing a four-wheel drive car, the Mondeo was totally uncompetitive.

Boutsen started in only the first four races in 1996 before leaving the team and turning his attention to sports car racing. After three years of limited success, Ford pulled the plug on the project at the end of that season to focus solely on the British series.

Sportscars

Boutsen then drove sports cars in the US, driving for Champion Racing in a Porsche 911 GT1, alongside Bill Adam and Hans Stuck. The trio finished 2nd in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1997, Boutsen won the GT-One US Championship with the Champion Racing in 1998. After a crash at Le Mans in 1999 at the wheel of a Toyota GT-One he retired from racing altogether.

Helmet

Boutsen's helmet on display at the Williams team's museum

Boutsen's helmet was black with a red, orange and yellow ribbon design surrounding the visor and the rear area. The colours used are the colours of the Belgian flag (except for orange).

Business

Today Boutsen runs his own company, Boutsen Aviation, in Monaco. Its business is the "Sale and Acquisition of Business Jets". He founded the company in 1997 with his wife Daniela and up to May 2011, the company had sold 205 aircraft, ranging from Airbus Corporate Jets to Cessna Citation. He is also co-owner of Boutsen Energy Racing alongside his brother-in-law Olivier Lainé and Georges Kaczka. The team competes in the Formula Le Mans class in the Le Mans Series. Boutsen also runs cars in Formula Renault and Eurocup Mégane Trophy.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1979	FIA European Formula 3	Roger Heavens Racing	10	0	0	0	0	6	13th
1980	FIA European Formula 3	Marlboro Racing for Zolder	14	3	2	3	6	54	2nd
1981	European Formula Two	Marlboro Racing for Zolder	12	2	5	2	5	37	2nd
	24 Hours of Le Mans	WM A.E.R.E.M.	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1982	European Formula Two	Marlboro Team Spirit	13	3	3	0	6	50	3rd
	World Sportscar Championship	Ford France	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1983	Formula One	Arrows Racing Team	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Sportscar Championship	Canon Racing	2	0	0	0	1	44	6th
		Sorga S.A.	1	1	0	0	1
		Ford France	1	0	0	0	0
		Matsuda Collection	1	0	0	0	0
		John Fitzpatrick Racing	1	0	0	0	0
1984	Formula One	Barclay Nordica Arrows BMW	15	0	0	0	0	5	15th
	World Sportscar Championship	Skoal Bandit Porsche Team	7	0	1	0	2	18	30th
1985	Formula One	Barclay Arrows BMW	16	0	0	0	1	11	11th
	World Sportscar Championship	Brun Motorsport	5	0	0	1	1	13	31st
1986	Formula One	Barclay Arrows BMW	16	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Sportscar Championship	Brun Motorsport	7	1	2	0	2	41	9th
1987	Formula One	Benetton Formula Ltd	16	0	0	0	1	16	8th
	World Touring Car Championship	Eggenberger Motorsport	1	0	1	0	0	0	NC
1988	Formula One	Benetton Formula Ltd	16	0	0	0	5	27	4th
1989	Formula One	Canon Williams Team	16	2	0	0	5	37	5th
1990	Formula One	Canon Williams Team Renault	16	1	1	1	3	34	6th
1991	Formula One	Ligier Gitanes	16	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1992	Formula One	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	16	0	0	0	0	2	14th
1993	Formula One	Sasol Jordan	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Talbot Sport	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
1994	Super Tourenwagen Cup	Eggenberger Motorsport	8	0	0	0	0	23	10th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Dauer Racing/Le Mans Porsche Team	1	0	0	1	1	N/A	3rd
1995	Super Tourenwagen Cup	Ford Mondeo Team Schübel	16	0	0	0	0	95	18th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Porsche Kremer Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
1996	Super Tourenwagen Cup	Ford Mondeo Team Schübel	4	0	0	0	0	21	30th
	BPR Global GT Series	Porsche AG	2	2	0	2	2	N/A	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
1997	FIA GT Championship	Porsche AG	10	0	0	0	0	18	15th
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1998	24 Hours of Le Mans	Toyota Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1999	24 Hours of Le Mans	Toyota Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos.	Pts
1981	Marlboro Racing for Zolder	March 812	BMW	SIL Ret	HOC Ret	THR Ret	NÜR 1	VAL 3	MUG Ret	PAU 2	PER 1	SPA 2	DON 12	MIS 8	MAN 4		2nd	37
1982	Marlboro Team Spirit	Spirit 201	Honda	SIL 12	HOC 2	THR 3	NÜR 1	MUG 4	VAL 6	PAU 2	SPA 1	HOC Ret	DON 9	MAN 4	PER 1	MIS 6	3rd	50

Complete Formula One results

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

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
1983	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A6	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL Ret	DET 7	CAN 7	GBR 15	GER 9	AUT 13	NED 14	ITA Ret	EUR 11	RSA 9		NC	0
1984	Barclay Nordica Arrows BMW	Arrows A6	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA 6	RSA 12		SMR 5													15th	5
		Arrows A7	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t			BEL Ret		FRA 11	MON DNQ	CAN Ret	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 5	NED Ret	ITA 10	EUR 9	POR Ret
1985	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows A8	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t	BRA 11	POR Ret	SMR 2	MON 9	CAN 9	DET 7	FRA 9	GBR Ret	GER 4	AUT 8	NED Ret	ITA 9	BEL 10	EUR 6	RSA 6	AUS Ret	11th	11
1986	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows A8	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t	BRA Ret	ESP 7	SMR 7	MON 8	BEL Ret	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA NC	GBR NC		HUN Ret		ITA 7	POR 10	MEX 7	AUS Ret	NC	0
		Arrows A9											GER Ret		AUT Ret
1987	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B187	Ford Cosworth GBA 1.5 V6t	BRA 5	SMR Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 7	GER Ret	HUN 4	AUT 4	ITA 5	POR 14	ESP 16	MEX Ret	JPN 5	AUS 3	8th	16
1988	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B188	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	BRA 7	SMR 4	MON 8	MEX 8	CAN 3	DET 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 6	HUN 3	BEL DSQ	ITA 6	POR 3	ESP 9	JPN 3	AUS 5	4th	27
1989	Canon Williams Team	Williams FW12C	Renault RS1 3.5 V10	BRA Ret	SMR 4	MON 10	MEX Ret	USA 6	CAN 1	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER Ret	HUN 3	BEL 4	ITA 3					5th	37
		Williams FW13														POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN 3	AUS 1
1990	Canon Williams Renault	Williams FW13B	Renault RS2 3.5 V10	USA 3	BRA 5	SMR Ret	MON 4	CAN Ret	MEX 5	FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER 6	HUN 1	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP 4	JPN 5	AUS 5	6th	34
1991	Ligier Gitanes	Ligier JS35	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12	USA Ret	BRA 10	SMR 7	MON 7	CAN Ret	MEX 8											NC	0
		Ligier JS35B								FRA 12	GBR Ret	GER 9	HUN 17	BEL 11	ITA Ret	POR 16	ESP Ret	JPN 9	AUS Ret
1992	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier JS37	Renault RS3C 3.5 V10	RSA Ret	MEX 10	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON 12	CAN 10	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER 7	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 8	JPN Ret	AUS 5	14th	2
1993	Sasol Jordan	Jordan 193	Hart 1035 3.5 V10	RSA	BRA	EUR Ret	SMR Ret	ESP 11	MON Ret	CAN 12	FRA 11	GBR Ret	GER 13	HUN 9	BEL Ret	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS	NC	0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1981	WM A.E.R.E.M.	Serge Saulnier Michel Pignard	WM P81- Peugeot	C	15	DNF	DNF
1983	Ford France	Henri Pescarolo	Rondeau M482-Ford Cosworth	C	174	DNF	DNF
1986	Brun Motorsport	Alain Ferté Didier Theys	Porsche 956	C1	89	DNF	DNF
1993	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Yannick Dalmas Teo Fabi	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	374	2nd	2nd
1994	Le Mans Porsche Team Joest Racing	Hans-Joachim Stuck Danny Sullivan	Dauer 962 Le Mans	GT1	343	3rd	2nd
1995	Porsche Kremer Racing	Hans-Joachim Stuck Christophe Bouchut	Kremer K8 Spyder	WSC	289	6th	2nd
1996	Porsche AG	Hans-Joachim Stuck Bob Wollek	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	353	2nd	1st
1997	Porsche AG	Hans-Joachim Stuck Bob Wollek	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	238	DNF	DNF
1998	Toyota Motorsport Toyota Team Europe	Ralf Kelleners Geoff Lees	Toyota GT-One	GT1	330	DNF	DNF
1999	Toyota Motorsport Toyota Team Europe	Ralf Kelleners Allan McNish	Toyota GT-One	LMGTP	173	DNF	DNF

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos.	Pts
1994	Eggenberger Motorsport	Ford Mondeo Ghia	AVU 4	WUN 11	ZOL 14	ZAN Ret	ÖST 7	SAL 6	SPA Ret	NÜR 8											10th	23
1995	Ford Mondeo Team Schübel	Ford Mondeo 4x4	ZOL 1 10	ZOL 2 Ret	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 NC	ÖST 1 22	ÖST 2 Ret	HOC 1 NC	HOC 2 12	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 15	SAL 1 14	SAL 2 Ret	AVU 1 14	AVU 2 10	NÜR 1 14	NÜR 2 10			18th	95
1996	Ford Mondeo Team Schübel	Ford Mondeo Ghia	ZOL 1 13	ZOL 2 Ret	ASS 1 18	ASS 2 16	HOC 1	HOC 2	SAC 1	SAC 2	WUN 1	WUN 2	ZWE 1	ZWE 2	SAL 1	SAL 2	AVU 1	AVU 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	30th	21

Complete FIA GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
1997	Porsche AG	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	HOC 4	SIL 5	HEL									15th	18
		Porsche 911 GT1 Evo					NÜR 10	SPA Ret	A1R 6	SUZ 5	DON 11	MUG 4	SEB 6	LAG 5

External links

• Boutsen Aviation official website