Гонщики, B | |
Boutsen, Thierry Курсивом отмечены гонщики, |
| Тьери БутсенBoutsen, Thierry |
 (c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000 Родился: 13.07.1957 Брюссель Сезонов в Ф1: Лет в Ф1: 11 Гран При: Старты: 163* *не стартовал: 3 Победы: - подряд: Подиумы: - подряд: 3 Поул-позиции: - подряд: Первый ряд: - подряд: Быстрые круги: - подряд: Лучший финиш: Лучший старт: 1 Дубли: Хет-трики: Лидирование старт/финиш: Большие шлемы: Круги: - лидирования: 164 Километры: - лидирования: |
Год | Команда | Шасси |
With no family racing background, Thierry went to the Pilette racing school where he soon became a star pupil and set out on a Formula Ford career. In 1978 the young Belgian raced a Crosslé in the Benelux countries, winning 15 of his 18 races, which brought him to the attention of his boyhood idol Jacky Ickx. With his help, Boutsen found a Formula 3 ride in 1979, but the season was fraught with troubles until a spectacular performance in the final round at Jarama, where he matched European champion Alain Prost. This one drive was enough to persuade the works Martini team to sign him in place of the little Frenchman, who was off to McLaren, and the new season began well, with three wins in the first four races, but when March launched their new wing car, a depressed Boutsen was powerless to prevent himself being overhauled by the determined Michele Alboreto.
Stepping up into Formula 2 with a works March in 1981, Boutsen was the surprise of the championship, winning races at the Nürburgring and Enna, and finishing runner-up once more, this time to Geoff Lees. Opting to race for Spirit in 1982 was something of a gamble which didn't quite come off, but his brilliant wins at the Nürburgring, Enna and especially Spa marked him down as an immediate Grand Prix prospect. Thierry's hopes of racing the Spirit F1 car in 1983 were dashed when Johansson got the nod but he managed to finance a ride with Arrows, with whom he was to stay for three more seasons, quietly but impressively getting on with the job in hand. The car was never really competitive, but Boutsen was always a contender for points, and when Benetton signed him it was a long-overdue promotion.
Results in his first season with Benetton, 1987, were a mite disappointing, with niggling mechanical problems restricting the team's progress, while in 1988 his position was somewhat eroded by the arrival of the gregarious Nannini, but Boutsen still finished third behind the dominant McLarens on four occasions.
Joining Williams with Renault power for 1989 offered Thierry his big chance, but though he did little wrong - indeed he took two brilliant wins in torrential rain at Montreal and Adelaide - it seemed that he didn't quite fit the bill at Didcot, rather unfairly being compared with Mansell. In 1990, already feeling under-appreciated at Williams, he scored an absolutely superb win in the Hungarian GP, proving he had nerves of steel by fending off Senna's late challenge, before he took the only feasible option open to him and signed a two-year deal with Ligier. Despite a massive budget, Ligier made a hash of things as usual, particularly in 1991 when Thierry just kept his head down hoping things would improve. In fact they did somewhat the following season, when Renault engines became available, but such was the strained atmosphere within the team that at the end of the year the Belgian was probably glad to be out of it. Without a drive for 1993, Thierry was soon called into the Jordan line-up, replacing the crestfallen Capelli. However, it was to be an undistinguished swansong, which came to a sad end when Boutsen retired from his farewell Formula 1 race at Spa on the first lap.
In 1994 and 1995, Thierry competed in the German Super Touring championship, but his Ford Mondeo was unable to challenge the dominance of Audi and BMW. On a wider stage, at Le Mans in 1995, he shared the sixth-place Kremer K8-Porsche with Hans Stuck and Christophe Bouchut. A return to sports cars and the sharp end of competition came in 1996 when Thierry was again paired with Stuck, in a works Porsche 911 GT1. After a second place at Le Mans, the experienced duo took end-of-season wins at Brands Hatch and Spa. Although eight top-six finishes were achieved the following year, no victories were forthcoming, and the seasoned campaigners were both dropped from the works squad.
Boutsen therefore headed over to the States to race a Porsche 911 GT1 in selected US GT championship events, also driving Toyota's latest Le Mans challenger, the GT-One. He returned in 1999 for another outing in one of the potent Japanese machines, but the race ended in near-disaster for the Belgian when his car was nudged into the barriers by a back-marker. Suffering from cracked vertebrae in his back, he decided it was time to call it a day and retired to spend more time with his second wife and young family, and concentrate on his aviation business.
(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000
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