Tristan Vautier

Tristan Vautier
Nationality	French
Born	(1989-08-22) August 22, 1989 Saint-Martin-d'Hères (France)
2014 IndyCar Series
Debut season	2013
Current team	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Car no.	55
Starts	19
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	20th in 2013
Previous series
2012 2010–2011 2009 2009 2008 2007–09 2007 2006	Firestone Indy Lights Star Mazda Championship FIA Formula Two Formula Palmer Audi Formula Renault 2.0 WEC Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 France Formula Renault Campus
Championship titles
2012 2011	Firestone Indy Lights Star Mazda Championship

Tristan Vautier (born August 22, 1989 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Isère) is a French racing driver.

Racing career

Formula Renault

Vautier began his career in the French Formula Renault Campus series in 2006, where he finished runner-up.^[1] He moved up to the main Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 series in 2007, finishing fourth, also competing in some events in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.^[1] In 2008 the French series was replaced by the West European Cup, in which Vautier finished sixth.^[1]

Formula Palmer Audi

Vautier moved to the Formula Palmer Audi series in 2009, where he finished fourth with six victories.^[2]

Formula Two

Vautier made his FIA Formula Two Championship debut at Circuit de Catalunya, in place of Edoardo Piscopo.^[3] Vautier excelled in the pre-race tests and in the first race, where he finished third behind Andy Soucek and Mikhail Aleshin. He also finished in the points in the second race, finishing sixth. Those two results were enough to place him thirteenth overall in the championship standings.

Star Mazda

2010 saw Vautier move to the American Star Mazda Championship driving for Andersen Racing. Vautier won the season-opener at Sebring Raceway and then in June at New Jersey Motorsports Park. However, inconsistency saw him achieve only fifth in the final standings despite being the only driver other than champion Conor Daly to win more than one race. He has returned to the series in 2011, this time driving for JDC Motorsports. He won four races and finished every race in the top five, winning the championship over Connor De Phillippi by 25 points. With the title he wins a scholarship to move to Firestone Indy Lights in 2012 through the Road to Indy program.

Indy Lights

Vautier has signed with Sam Schmidt Motorsports to race in Firestone Indy Lights in 2012.^[4] He won the pole in his first race on the Streets of St. Petersburg and took a flag-to-flag victory,^[5] duplicating his Star Mazda feat from two years before by winning on debut. Another win on the Milwaukee Mile came in the midst of a remarkable run of 20 consecutive Top 5 finishes (including the final 2 Star Mazda events of 2010, and his championship season of 2011) in his Road to Indy career. The streak ended at Toronto when a first-lap collision put him out of the race for the first time in an open wheel car in nearly two years.

Vautier clinched the 2012 Firestone Indy Lights championship by eight points over Esteban Guerrieri.^[6] Winning a partial scholarship to compete in the IndyCar Series in 2013 through the Road to Indy program.

IndyCar

Vautier signed to compete in the 2013 IndyCar Series season for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.^[7] He is the first driver to be champion of two rungs of the Road to Indy ladder and move onto the IndyCar Series. Vautier finished 20th in points with a best finish of tenth in the second race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. By virtue of being the only full-time rookie competitor, Vautier won rookie of the year honors. He finished sixteenth in his first Indianapolis 500 race.

Racing record

Complete Formula Two results

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

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Star Mazda Championship

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

* Season still in progress

Indianapolis 500

References

External links

• Official website
• Tristan Vautier at Driver Database