Laurent Redon (born 5 August 1973) is a former

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

driver from

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Redon began his professional racing career in the

French Formula Three Championship The French Formula Three Championship was a motor racing series for Formula Three cars held in France between 1964 and 2002. The series was merged with the German Formula Three Championship in 2003 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 ...

, winning it in 1995. He then moved to

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become to ...

where he finished 8th in the points for

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

in 1996 and 9th for

Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in International Formula 3000, Formula 3000/GP2 Series, GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. History Super Nova first entered racing in 1991. Super Nova was a new incarnation of the p ...

the following year. His best F3000 finish was a third place at A1-Ring in 1997. He was then a test driver for the

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 ...

teams

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

in 1998 and Benetton in 1999 and also competed for the top team in the

Sports Racing World Cup The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on two ...

JB Geisse Team Ferrari in 1999. In 2001 he drove in the

European 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 ...

and

FIA Sportscar Championship The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on tw ...

for

Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Sport was a motorsport team based in Le Mans, France, and founded in February 2000 by French racing driver Henri Pescarolo and his friend and partner, French publisher François Granet. They raced in the Le Mans Series and the 24 ...

, winning races in both series and finishing 13th in the

2001 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 2001. Background Preview The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th edition of the race and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe road racing ...

. After that he drove for Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

beginning with the final two races of the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

season. He returned to the team for a full year in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, including the 2002

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, with a best finish of 3rd at

California Speedway Auto Club Speedway (known as California Speedway before and after the 2008–2023 corporate sponsorship by the Automobile Club of Southern California) was a , D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, ne ...

. He finished 12th in points and won rookie of the year honors. He did not return to the series the following year and came back to France because of the birth of his daughter, becoming the first and only series rookie of the year to do so. He later operated a racing team that competed in the

Superleague Formula Superleague Formula was an Open wheel car, open wheel single seater Formula racing, motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It u ...

Racing career results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

IndyCar Series results

( key)

References

External links

* (Archived) * 1973 births Living people IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers French racing drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers {{France-autoracing-bio-stub Pescarolo Sport drivers DAMS drivers Super Nova Racing drivers Conquest Racing drivers OAK Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers