Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

currently competing in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

for Glickenhaus Racing. His younger brother Jim is also a racing driver

Career

French Formula Campus and Formula Three

Born in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, Pla started his career in 2000 in French Formula Campus before moving on to French Formula Three Championship in 2001 with the Saulnier Racing team. He finished eighth in the series standings, taking nine points-scoring positions in eleven races, including a podium in the penultimate race of the season at Magny-Cours. In 2002, Pla stayed in the series but switched to the ASM team. He finished third, behind Renaud Derlot and

Tristan Gommendy Tristan Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Engineering. Racing career Early career Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his profess ...

, taking nine podium places from fourteen races, including wins at Croix-en-Ternois and

Bugatti Circuit The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

. In 2003, Pla joined the Formula 3 Euro Series with ASM. He finished third, behind Christian Klien and

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 ...

, taking nine podium places from twenty races.

World Series by Nissan

2004 saw Pla leave the Euroseries, joining the World Series by Nissan. He contested two rounds with RC Motorsport before joining

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 and ...

to replace Michael Keohane. He finished ninth, taking thirteen points-scoring positions in eighteen races, including a win at

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

GP2 Series

In 2005 he raced in the inaugural GP2 Series season for David Price Racing. In the early part of the season he stalled on the grid several times — some blamed the GP2 cars for the high number of stallings, while others noticed that the same drivers seemed to be affected regularly. In another race his team mate selected reverse instead of first gear and went backwards into Pla's car. However, he took advantage of the reverse grid system to finish eighth in Race One and thus take pole for Race Two twice (at Hockenheim and

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and ...

), winning both those races to finish 11th in the championship. He remained with DPR for 2006, but was dropped mid-season after running out of sponsorship, after a difficult period which saw him score no points and injure his hand in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. In 2007, he competed in the German Porsche Carrera Cup. However, he was recalled to DPR in the latter stages of the GP2 season to replace the injured

Christian Bakkerud Christian Bakkerud (3 November 1984 – 11 September 2011) was a Danish racing driver, who competed in the 2007 and 2008 GP2 Series seasons, albeit hindered by a recurrent back injury. Prior to GP2 he competed in British Formula 3 and Formula BM ...

. In 2008, he moved to sports car racing, driving a Lola

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were cr ...

in the Le Mans Series and

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 ...

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Pla joined Mazda Motorsports for part of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign and signed with Meyer Shank Racing for a full DPi season in 2021.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pla, Olivier GP2 Series drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers French racing drivers 1981 births Living people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Carlin racing drivers ART Grand Prix drivers OAK Racing drivers RC Motorsport drivers David Price Racing drivers G-Drive Racing drivers TDS Racing drivers Nismo drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers Racing Engineering drivers Extreme Speed Motorsports drivers Action Express Racing drivers Team Joest drivers Multimatic Motorsports drivers Formule Campus Renault Elf drivers McLaren Racing drivers