Richard Westbrook (born 10 July 1975) is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended

St Joseph's College, Ipswich St Joseph's College is a co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils between the ages of 2 and 19 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. With usually 550-600 pupils on the roll, the College is located in South West Ipswich, surrounded ...

. He has won both the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

international championship (in 2006 & 2007) and the

Porsche Carrera Cup Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number of one-make racing by Porsche premier series competed with, initially Porsche 911 Carrera Cup, then later Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one- ...

in his native Britain (2004). At the end of the 2007 season, Richard signed a factory contract deal with the German marque Porsche, and the British ace proceeded to take on the world's best on the other side of the Atlantic. The next year (2009), Westbrook won the highly coveted FIA GT2 Championship, taking four victories in the process, establishing himself firmly on the World motor sport stage and in the upper echelons of elite sports car drivers. In 2011 Westbrook signed with Corvette as a factory driver, competing in both the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

and

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

. Notably, in 2013 Richard won the 12 Hours of Sebring. For the 2016

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

, he will join the Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the new

Ford GT The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...

. Outside of racing, Westbrook is a keen cook (he studied at Kingsway College, Vincent Square in London, UK) and has taken part in three London Marathons. He is married to Jessica and has a daughter.

Career history

Early Years (1986–1996)

Born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

, Westbrook began karting in 1986 and over the next five years began to amass wins and titles. In 1990 he won the British Karting Championship and also captained the British team in the World Championship at Le Mans. Following a successful Formula Vauxhall Winter Series campaign in 1993 (2nd place in the series, 1 win), he headed to Europe to compete in the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries. After a promising showing (4th place in the series, 1 win) in his debut year, he returned in 1995 and took three victories, narrowly missing out on third place in the series. In 1996 Westbrook moved up to Formula 3 and headed for the highly competitive German Formula 3 Series (with Tokmakidis Motorsport) and the Austrian Formula 3 Cup (Achletiner Motorsport). In German F3, he was up against a number of European drivers, including future F1 stars like

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...

and

Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...

and he took one win in a short campaign. In Austria, having missed the opening pair of races due to cutting a late deal, Westbrook saw off the challenge of German racer Tim Bergmeister and a host of local drivers to take two victories in 1996 before missing the final two rounds due to budgetary issues./ formel3guide.de
/ref>

Career Break (1997–2002)

Having been unable to secure the budget required to compete and advance his career, Westbrook was forced to take a lengthy six-year break from racing, before convincing a friend to loan him the money to buy a Porsche GT3 Cup Car for the 2002 season.

Porsche (2003–2010)

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB commenced in 2003 and Westbrook was immediately a front-runner. Between 2003 and 2005, he was dominant; taking the title in 2004 (7 wins, 17 podiums, 8 pole positions, 4 fastest laps) with Redline Racing and finishing as runner-up in 2003 (Team BCR), and 2005 (Redline Racing). Indeed, his 2005 totals for victories and pole positions (14 wins, 8 pole-positions) are both series records and he went on to take 16 podiums across the season. Having done a few Supercup races in 2002 with Kadach Racing Team and in 2003 with Porsche Cars Great Britain, he returned in 2005 in a Lechner Racing School Team prepared Porsche in rounds which did not clash with his UK commitments. He won the season opener in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and came 9th overall, adding a fastest lap to his tally too. In 2006 with RT Morellato PZ Essen (4 wins, 11 podiums, 4 pole positions, 3 fastest laps), he finished every Supercup race on the podium, wrapping up the title with two races to go, against drivers such as

Uwe Alzen Uwe Alzen (born 18 August 1967) is a German Auto racing, racing driver specialised in touring car racing and sports car racing. Biography He won the 1992 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, the 1994 Porsche Supercup and the 1995 Deutsche Tourenwage ...

, Alessandro Zampedri and

Patrick Huisman Patrick Huisman (born 23 August 1966) is a Dutch auto racing driver. He won the Porsche Supercup one-make sports car series four times between 1997 and 2000, and resulted second in 2005, third in 1996 and 2006, and fourth in 1995, 2003, 2006, 2007 ...

. He has also competed in several Carrera races in Germany (EMC Buchbinder ARAXA Racing – 1 win, 4 podiums, 2 fastest laps) and also back in the UK (Red Line Racing – 4 races, 3 wins, 2 fastest laps) where he alternated with

Danny Watts Danny Watts is a British professional racing driver. Career He was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racing in 1998 in the UK Formula First ch ...

. In 2007 with HISAQ Competition, he won his second Porsche Supercup title in a row, with wins in Spain and Hungary, along with five other podium finishes and fastest laps. He again competed in Carrera Cup Deutschland, finishing second in the championship for ARAXA Racing (5 wins, 1 pole position, 4 fastest laps). In the same year, he made his debut in the Le Mans Series in a GT2 Porsche for James Watt Automotive and in the

at Daytona and Watkins Glen with Synergy Racing in a Porsche GT3 Cup Car. 2008 – see next chapter 'Porsche Factory Driver'. In 2009 Westbrook drove for VICI Racing (T-Mobile VICI Racing) in the American Le Mans Series (including the Sebring 12h) and for Prospeed Competition in the FIA GT Championship. In his first ALMS race of the year he finished fourth at Long Beach, alongside Johannes Stuck. However, it was in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

where he would achieve his biggest success, winning the GT2 class overall after victories at Silverstone (UK), Adria (Italy), Hungaroring (Hungary) and Zolder (Belgium) backed up by second places in Algarve (Portugal) and Paul Ricard (France), in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997). In the same year he also made appearances in International GT Open, ADAC GT Masters,

(including the Daytona 24h – 15th), Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland,

, and Belgian GT. In 2010 he made his debut in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

in the GT2 class, driving a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR for

BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Scuderia Italia SpA (sometimes referred to as simply Scuderia Italia) is an Italian auto racing team founded by Italian steel magnate and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini in 1983. Initially named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS) the team bri ...

alongside

Marco Holzer Marco Holzer (born 30 July 1988) is a German professional racing driver. He has competed in sports car competitions such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, American Le Mans Series and Le Mans Series as a Porsche works driver. Care ...

and

Timo Scheider Timo Scheider (born 10 November 1978 in Lahnstein) is a German racing driver who competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for Münnich Motorsport. He won the DTM title in 2008 and 2009. Career Karting Like most other drivers, Scheider ...

; the trio finished 14th overall and third in class (GT2). He also competed in three further 'twice round the clock' events, the 24 Hours of Spa (Prospeed Competition), the 24 Hours of Nurburgring (Haribo Team Manthey), and the 24 Hours of Daytona where he finished third overall in the Crown Royal/NPN Racing BMW Riley alongside Ryan Hunter Reay,

Lucas Luhr Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Early career Born in Mülheim-Kärlich, Luhr ...

, and Scott Tucker. There were also outings for Westbrook in the Le Mans Series for Prospeed Competition, but it was his stand-out star performances in a Matech Ford GT1 during the final six rounds of the 2010

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand ...

that would turn heads, taking three podiums alongside Thomas Mutsch. He also took part in the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

in 2010 (3 podiums, 1 pole position, 1 fastest lap), helping Trackspeed team owner/racer David Ashburn to the title that year./ Britishgt.com
/ref>

Porsche Factory Driver (2008–2009)

After multiple successes in Porsches, Westbrook signed with the German marque to become the first British Porsche factory driver since Derek Bell in the 1980s. He competed in a global programme that included the

(Prospeed Competition),

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

(Farnbacher Racing) and

(Farnbacher Loles Motorsport). He was the only driver to win at least one race in all three categories. He also competed in three 24-hour races; Spa 24h (Prospeed Competition – GT2 – 6th), Daytona 24h (TRG – GT – 2nd) and the Dubai 24 Hours (Proton Competition – A6)

Corvette Factory Driver (2011–2015)

Following nine successful years racing predominantly in Porsches, in 2011 Westbrook joined

Corvette Racing Corvette Racing is an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt & Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing is an official racing program for General Motors and t ...

as the third driver in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Westbrook and his co-drivers

Jan Magnussen Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula O ...

and fellow Brit

Oliver Gavin Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972), is a British racing driver who joined Corvette Racing in 2002. He has won five American Le Mans Series class championships, five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins, five 12 Hours of Sebring class win ...

posted fourth-place finishes in 2011 in Sebring and Road Atlanta, and they were leading at Le Mans at the 16-hour mark when the car was involved in an accident and subsequently retired./ richardwestbrook.com
/ref> He had a second year in that role for 2012, teamed with young American driver Tommy Milner and again with Oliver Gavin in the major

endurance events: Sebring 12-hour, Le Mans 24 Hours, and 1000-mile Petit Le Mans. Also in 2012, he received a new challenge, a full-season in the

Spirit of Daytona Racing Spirit of Daytona Racing (known as VisitFlorida Racing from 2015 to 2018) was an auto racing team that competed last in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Class with the No. 90 Cadillac DPi-V.R, driven by Tristan Vautier, Matt M ...

's all new Corvette Coyote DP alongside Spaniard, Antonio García. The pair took three wins and one further podium, with Westbrook securing three pole-positions too. The 2013 season saw Westbrook take part in the final year of the

again with the

team in the Corvette Coyote DP. He drove alongside

Ricky Taylor Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...

and the pair were regulars in the top-five, taking a podium (third place) at The Barber Motorsports Park, round three. In addition he again was drafted into the

squad for the

and Le Mans 24 Hours, taking an impressive win in the 12 Hours of Sebring with the No. 4 Corvette also driven by

, and Tommy Milner. This was Corvette Racing's first Sebring class victory since 2009. It was a perfect way to celebrate Corvette's 60th Anniversary and pay tribute to their first Sebring class victory in 1956./ SuperChevy
/ref> In 2014, Westbrook clinched third in the inaugural

in the USA; his third season with the

team. Joining Westbrook and the team for 2014 was Canadian driver

Michael Valiante Michael Valiante (born November 11, 1979, in New Westminster, British Columbia) is a Canadian racing driver. Formula racing Valiante began racing in karting where his success earned him a full-season scholarship in the Skip Barber 2.0 Series. ...

, with DTM Champion and Le Mans Winner Mike Rockenfeller joining the pair for the longer races. At the first race of the year, the 2014 Rolex

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

racetheCheckeredFlag.co.uk
/ref> he, Valiante and Rockenfeller led, before being hit with technical issues in the Spirit of Daytona Corvette

Daytona Prototype A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specificall ...

, but the trio hung on to finish fourth on the road. He and Valiante took one win in 2014, at the Sahlen 6 Hours, at Watkins Glen International (28/29 June), but a mid-season hot-streak saw them rise up the standings and challenge for the overall title. Contact by a GTD Audi at the season finale,foxsports.com
/ref> ended his hopes of becoming the Vice-Champion in the series, but he, Mike and Michael finished seventh at the flag to secure third. In June 2014, Westbrook joined up with Corvette Racing in the new for 2014 no.74 Corvette C.7.R. to attempt to win the 2014

. Despite being an early class leader, technical issues ruled him and co-drivers Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin out of contention for the race win. The trio lost eight laps due to a slipped alternator belt and gearbox leak, but completed the race to take fourth in the GTE PRO category./ corvetteracing.com
/ref>

Ford Factory Driver (2016)

Westbrook will join Chip Ganassi Racing for the full

2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season The 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was the third season of the United SportsCar Championship and first to be under the name as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It ...

driving the new

with

Ryan Briscoe Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...

Joey Hand Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...

and Dirk Müller.

Other Series (2011–present)

While in his first year of Corvette duty in 2011, Westbrook also competed in the now defunct FIA GT1 championship with a Nissan GT-R GT1 prepared by JR Motorsports team, finishing ninth in championship (2 podiums, 1 pole position). He was chosen off the back of his strong performances in the Matech GT1 Ford the year before. In the same year, he also took part in the newly formed

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

in the final two races (Magny-Cours and Silverstone) for JR Motorsports in a Nissan GT-R GT3, and competed in the 24 Hours of Spa for Haribo Team Manthey in a Pro-AM Porsche 997 GT3-R. he also drove with his friend David Ashburn in the

when available, almost helping Ashburn successfully defend his title, taking 2 wins, 3 podiums, 2 pole positions, and 2 fastest laps along the way. At the end of 2011, Westbrook raced in Australia at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 in Queensland alongside local hero

Todd Kelly Todd Kelly (born 9 October 1979) is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former Bathurst 1000 winner, Rick Kelly. H ...

in the Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore. He finished both of the races in the unique 600-kilometre event, finishing thirteenth and ninth. Alongside his busy US commitments, in 2012 he again competed in several European series. Namely British GT (Trackspeed with David Ashburn – 1 win, 2 podiums, 2 pole positions, 1 fastest lap), the Blancpain Endurance Series (Monza and Nurburgring) for the Haribo Racing Team. He also competed in the Nürburgring 24h for the Haribo Racing Team. In 2013, Westbrook also combined his racing in the US with another part-season in

British GT The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

for Trackspeed with Gregor Fisken, taking a dominant win at Rockingham Motor Speedway and staging an impressive fightback after his teammates' opening stint to finish third at the season finale Donington Park – this saw him also awarded the Mobil Service Centre Driver of the Day award./ Westbrook storms to third at British GT 2013 finale Britishgt.com
/ref> In 2014, Westbrook was scheduled to again compete in the Nurburgring 24 Hours with Haribo Team Manthey, but an opportunity arose to join an all PRO line-up with Nicki Thiim, Marco Seefried and Alex Müller in the no.9 Prosperia-Abt Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3, a car he'd driven a few weeks prior in VLN 4.
/ref> Unfortunately the car failed to make the finish of the 24-hour race due to technical difficulties.

Racing record

Complete Porsche Supercup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 2 points awarded 2008 onwards in all races) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship

( key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

References

External links

Official site

Richard Westbrook at Driver Database

Article about Richard winning the Supercup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westbrook, Richard 1975 births English racing drivers British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers British GT Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Supercars Championship drivers People educated at St Joseph's College, Ipswich Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers Corvette Racing drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers JDC Motorsports drivers Multimatic Motorsports drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Rowe Racing drivers Kelly Racing drivers Phoenix Racing drivers