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David Besnard

David John Besnard (born 21 January 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian retired professional racing driver.

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David Besnard
Australian
(1977-01-21) 21 January 1977Sydney, Australia
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151
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David John Besnard (born 21 January 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian retired professional racing driver.

Starting in karts in 1991, Besnard quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title. He made a venture to the United States, with a small budget, and limited success. In 1998, he returned to win the U.S F2000 National Championship. 1999 saw Besnard enter the US Formula Atlantic Championship. After a heavy crash at Nazareth Speedway, the team had to buy a new chassis and ran out of budget halfway through the season. 2000 saw Besnard again in the United States, running various Sports Car races, until Stone Brothers Racing picked him up for the Konica V8 Supercar Series and the Bathurst 1000. From there he drove with Stone Brothers for several seasons, with the highlight being winning the 2002 Queensland 500 with Simon Wills. He raced with Ford Performance Racing for one season in 2003, and WPS Racing for three seasons following that.

In 2004, with his links with WPS, a drive in the Champ Car World Series came about at Surfers Paradise. His finishing position of seventh is still the highest finish for an Australian at that event (but bettered by Ryan Briscoe's 2008 IRL win after the CCWS collapsed). After being dropped by WPS in 2006, Besnard has been racing in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, picking up an endurance race co-driver role with Stone Brothers Racing in 2007, paired with James Courtney, which resulted in a second place at Bathurst.

SeasonSeriesPosition
CIK-FIA Karting European Championship - Junior A1st
FIA Karting World Championship - Junior A30th
FIA Karting World Championship - Formula A15th
World Cup Karting - Formula A8th
Andrea Margutti Trophy - ICA13th

Besnard placed eighth in the 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series driving a Ford Falcon AU. The car is pictured in 2018.

SeasonSeriesPositionCarTeam
Australian Formula Ford Championship26thVan Diemen RF90 – FordDavid Besnard
Australian Formula Ford Championship1stVan Diemen RF96 – FordDavid Besnard
United States Formula Ford 2000 Championship1stVan Diemen RF98 - FordVan Diemen USA
United States Formula Ford 2000 Oval Crown1st
GrandAm Sportscar Series43rdRiley & Scott - FordTransatlantic Racing
United States Formula Atlantic Series15thSwift 008.a - ToyotaHylton Motorsports
GrandAm Sportscar Series83rdRiley & Scott - LincolnDyson Racing
Konica V8 Lites Series5thFord EL FalconStone Brothers Racing
Shell Championship Series40thFord AU Falcon
Shell Championship Series23rdFord AU FalconStone Brothers Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series8thFord AU FalconStone Brothers Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series21stFord AU FalconFord BA FalconFord Performance Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series30thFord BA FalconWPS Racing
Champ Car World Series20thReynard 03i Ford CosworthWalker Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series25thFord BA FalconWPS Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series45thFord BA FalconWPS Racing
New Zealand Touring Car Championship4thFord BA Falcon
V8 Supercar Championship Series27thFord BF FalconStone Brothers Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series30thFord BF FalconStone Brothers Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series33rdHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series47thHolden VE CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series30thFord BF FalconPeters Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship76thFord FG FalconDick Johnson Racing
International V8 Supercars Championship49thHolden VE CommodoreBrad Jones Racing
YearTeamCarQualifyingMain race
2007Tatuus TT104ZZ - Toyota7th15th

(key)

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

YearCar#TeamCarCo-driverPositionLaps
9Stone Brothers RacingFord AU FalconTony LonghurstDNF151
9Stone Brothers RacingFord AU FalconMatthew WhiteDNF84
5Glenn Seton RacingFord AU FalconGlenn Seton Owen Kelly‡DNF102
9Stone Brothers RacingFord AU FalconWayne GardnerDNS
19Ford Performance RacingFord BA FalconOwen KellyDNF115
23WPS RacingFord BA FalconJohn McIntyreDNF99
48WPS RacingFord BA FalconCraig Baird8th158
8WPS RacingFord BA FalconMax Wilson14th160
4Stone Brothers RacingFord BF FalconJames Courtney2nd161
4Stone Brothers RacingFord BF FalconJames Courtney3rd161
33Garry Rogers MotorsportHolden VE CommodoreGreg Ritter9th161
33Garry Rogers MotorsportHolden VE CommodoreLee Holdsworth7th161
17Dick Johnson RacingFord FG FalconSteven JohnsonDNF112
14Brad Jones RacingHolden VE CommodoreFabian Coulthard23rd147

‡ Besnard replaced Kelly due to illness

  • Conrod V8 Profile & Stats

  • Speedsport Profile & stats Archived 28 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine

  • David Besnard career summary at DriverDB.com

  • David Besnard driver statistics at Racing-Reference

  • Official Web page

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