Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
.
Career
Born in
Liberec
Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...
, Enge started his career at the age of 16, entering a Ford Fiesta he bought with his own money in the Czechoslovakian Ford Fiesta Cup.

Enge participated in the final three races of the Formula One season, becoming the first, and to date only, driver from the Czech Republic to compete in Formula One. He made his debut at the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...
on 16 September, after being brought in by
Prost as a replacement for
Luciano Burti, who was recovering from his crash at the previous race in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. Enge left the Prost Grand Prix team before it folded for the 2002 season.
He obtained his Formula One break using the sponsorship from the local
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
subsidiary, which had also funded the
Nordic Racing F3000 team he raced for that year. He finished third in the 2001 standings despite missing the final race, and was stripped of the 2002 title due to a positive
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
test. He returned to Formula 3000 in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, and then headed to America for 2005, driving for
Panther Racing in the
IRL, with modest success, although almost winning the race at Sonoma. Among his 17 career IRL starts was his rookie start in the
2005 Indianapolis 500. He then drove for Team Czech Republic in the 2005-2006
A1GP season. Enge has also been a frequent driver for
Prodrive
Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury,
Oxfordshire.
History
Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards.
Prodrive sold its 51% s ...
's sportscar teams, driving both their
Ferrari 550 Maranellos and
Aston Martin DBR9s in the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
. In 2006 he was driver of the #007
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
Racing entry in the
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 racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
, but for 2007 switched to the Petersen/White Lightning
Ferrari F430.
On 31 March 2007, Enge was injured whilst driving his F430 at the ALMS
St. Petersburg race. The car crashed whilst leading the GT2 class, suffering heavy damage to the driver's side and a brief fire. Enge was removed under medical supervision and transported to the local medical centre. He was later revealed to have suffered a shattered elbow, cracked ribs, a partially collapsed lung and a potentially broken ankle, but not to be in any serious danger.
On 21 July 2007, Enge was released from his contract with Peterson Motorsports/White Lightning Racing due to a penalty incurred after crashing into
Mika Salo during the Acura Sports Car Challenge
ALMS
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving.
Etymology
The word ''alms'' come ...
race at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
In 2009 he drove for
Aston Martin Racing in the
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 ...
and won the championship alongside
Stefan Mücke and
Jan Charouz. He remained with Aston Martin, as he moved into the
FIA GT1 World Championship
The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. I ...
for the
2010 season, joining
Darren Turner at Young Driver AMR. The pairing finished fourth in the championship with three victories. Enge and Turner were split for the
2011 season; Turner was joined by
Stefan Mücke, while Enge was partnered by
Alex Müller. Enge and Müller achieved two victories as they finished fourth in the championship.
With Young Driver AMR pulling out of the championship to focus on other series, Enge moved to the
Reiter Engineering Lamborghini squad for the
2012 season, where he partnered socialite
Albert von Thurn und Taxis. The pairing were lying tenth in the championship after four rounds; their best result was a second-place finish at the
Slovakia Ring. On 19 June 2012, it was announced that Enge had tested positive for a
banned substance at the
Navarra round of the championship, and was suspended from racing. At the beginning of August, it was announced that Enge was to be suspended from racing for 18 months. Enge appealed the decision on the grounds that the positive test was caused by medication he is taking for a chronic cardiovascular condition. In April 2013 the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...
rejected Enge's appeal.
Racing record
Complete German Formula Three Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Complete American Le Mans Series results
Complete European Le Mans Series results
Rolex Sports Car Series career
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
24 Hours of Le Mans results
American Open-Wheel
(
key)
IndyCar Series
Complete A1 Grand Prix results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA GT Championship results
Complete GT1 World Championship results
Complete Blancpain Sprint Series results
Dakar Rally results
See also
*
24 Hours of Le Mans 2002,
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
,
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
*
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
References
External links
*
*
Biography of Tomáš Enge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enge, Tomas
1976 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Liberec
Czech sportspeople in doping cases
Czech racing drivers
Doping cases in auto racing
Czech Formula One drivers
IndyCar Series drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
A1 Team Czech Republic drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
Prost Formula One drivers
German Formula Three Championship drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
International Formula 3000 drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
FIA GT1 World Championship drivers
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
ADAC GT Masters drivers
International GT Open drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
Dakar Rally drivers
Arden International drivers
A1 Grand Prix drivers
Aston Martin Racing drivers
Starworks Motorsport drivers
G-Drive Racing drivers
Charouz Racing System drivers
FIA GT Championship drivers
Panther Racing drivers
Cheever Racing drivers
Opel Team BSR drivers
West Competition drivers
Ma-con Motorsport drivers
Nordic Racing drivers
Larbre Compétition drivers
ISR Racing drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
24H Series drivers
Czech rally drivers