Paul Dumbrell
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Paul Dumbrell (born 1st September 1982), is an Australian V8 Supercar driver. He resides in Melbourne, Australia, and races for the Supercheap Auto Racing Team in the V8 Supercar series. He was educated at Xavier College in Kew, Melbourne.
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[edit] Racing history
His first race was in karts in 1996 and by the end of 1997 Dumbrell was looking to further his racing. He competed in the Australian Sprint Kart National Championships in April 1998 and then went to England to the Jim Russell International School of Racing. During the course Dumbrell had his first taste of a racing car, a Formula Vauxhall. At age 15 he was the youngest in the class and even though he was the fastest graduate from the school, he was ineligible for the final race, for which drivers had to be 16.
On returning to Australia he looked to do a couple of races in Formula Ford but broke his hip when hit by a car while training on his mountain bike. This injury prevented him from racing for 8 weeks and put an end to any chance of running a Formula Ford. At the end of 1998 he entered his first touring car race, the GT Production three-hour at Bathurst in a Subaru WRX, but luck was not on his side as his race ended with mechanical failure. For the 1999 season he drove a Formula Holden in the Australian Drivers Championship, and had his first taste of the V8 Supercar series in August 1999 at Symmons Plains, Tasmania.
After a full year's experience in a Formula Holden, Dumbrell had the chance to test a Formula 3000 car with Mark Webber for Paul Stoddart's Arrows Team, driving 20 laps in the car at Donington Park. When he returned back to Australia he took up a permanent driving spot in the Konica V8 Supercar Development Series.
2001 saw Dumbrell consistently at the front in the Konica Series with race wins, pole positions and the title well within his grasp - however he did not win the championship in 2001. He won the Konica V8 Supercar Development Series Championship in 2002.
2002 saw Dumbrell picked up by Castrol Perkins Racing's Team Owner Larry Perkins as his co-driver in the Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore at both the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. At Bathurst that year, Perkins and Dumbrell finished a surprise 5th position overall. That 5th placing helped Dumbrell secure a 2-year deal with the Castrol Perkins Motorsport Team for 2003 and 2004.
In 2005, Dumbrell achieved his best-ever round result at Symmons Plains, Tasmania - the home of his first ever V8 Supercar start - ending the round in 5th place. 2005 also saw his best ever Driver's Championship placing, finishing in 20th, after placing 29th in 2003 and 24th in 2004.
In 2006, Paul had an exemplary start to the season - driving the number 11 VZ Holden Commodore to his best ever championship finish. He finished 5th at Bathurst and was in reach of podium until mechanical problems and a mechnical black flag was shown to them after oil was starting to trickle out of the car.
[edit] Current standings
In 2007 it is all new for Dumbrell. In a shock announcement, he joined SuperCheap Auto Racing replacing Greg Murphy. Paul now drives SCAR's only VE Commodore but had a round to forget at the Clipsal 500, going off the track and spining team-mate Cameron McConville and retiring from race one with serve back ache.
[edit] Racing statistics
- TOTAL RACE STARTS: 47
- SHOOTOUT STARTS: Bathurst 1000 - 2004, Sandown 500 - 2004, Placemakers V8 International - 2005 and Tasmania - 2005
- BEST TOP 10 SHOOTOUT PLACING: 3rd - Bathurst 1000 - 2004
- BEST RACE PLACING: 5th Clipsal 500 - 2005, 5th with Larry Perkins - Bathurst 1000 - 2002
- BEST OVERALL PLACING: 5th Tasmania - 2005
- CHAMPIONSHIP WINS: Konica Series winner in 2002
NON V8 SUPERCAR ACHIEVEMENTS:
- 5th 2000 Tasman Cup (Formula Holden)
- 6th 1999, 2000 Australian Drivers Championship
- 5th 1997 FMK Victorian Karting Championship
[edit] External links
Teams contesting the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series | |||||||||
Toll HSV Dealer Team | Holden Racing Team | Tasman Motorsport | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Performance Racing | Jack Daniel's Racing | ||||
1 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander |
2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly |
3 Jason Richards 51 Greg Murphy |
4 James Courtney 9 Russell Ingall |
5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Steven Richards |
7 Shane Price 11 Jack Perkins |
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WPS Racing | Team BOC | Dick Johnson Racing | Supercheap Auto Racing | Team Kiwi Racing | Britek Motorsport | ||||
8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna |
12 Andrew Jones 14 Brad Jones |
17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison |
20 Paul Dumbrell 50 Cameron McConville |
021 Paul Radisich | 25 Jason Bright 26 Alan Gurr |
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Garry Rogers Motorsport | Team Sirromet Wines | Autobarn Racing | TeamVodafone | Paul Cruickshank Racing | |||||
33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto |
39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris |
55 Steve Owen | 88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes |
111 John Bowe |