| Nicolas Minassian | |
| Nationality: |  French Armenianvia dual nationality |
| Birth Date: | 1973 2, df=yes |
| Years: | 1994, 2000, 2002–2016 |
| Team(S): | Roland Bassaler, Team Oreca, Pescarolo Sport, Creation Autosportif, Peugeot, SMP Racing. |
| Best Finish: | 2nd (2008) |
| Class Wins: | 0 |
Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent.
After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship where he finished runner-up to countryman Laurent Redon at his second attempt in 1995. He then moved to the British series for another two years in a successful partnership with Promatecme and Renault UK that yielded a 4th place in 1996 and 2nd place the following year.
He graduated to Formula 3000 with West Competition for 1998, but failed to impress whilst his teammate Nick Heidfeld mounted a strong challenge for overall honours. The following year, he moved to Kid Jensen Racing where he enjoyed more success, including an emphatic lights-to-flag triumph at Silverstone. He signed for the illustrious Super Nova Racing team in 2000 where he came a strong 2nd in the championship.
Unable to secure a Formula One drive, Minassian drove in 2001 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing with F3000 title adversary Bruno Junqueira in CART and competed in the Indianapolis 500 before being released by the team. In 2002 Minassian won the ASCAR Racing Series oval racing series for RML Group before returning to endurance racing including the 24 Hours of Le Mans for such teams as Creation Autosportif and Pescarolo Sport.
In 2007 he became a factory driver for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series.
In 2008 he drove the Peugeot 908 diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Peugeot 908.
In 2019 Nicolas Minassian founded a management company together with his former team-mate Jamie Campbell-Walter and María Catarineu, Bullet Sports Management,[1] which represents drivers including FIA WEC and ELMS driver Ferdinand Habsburg, ELMS and FRECA driver Franco Colapinto, FRECA driver Oliver Goethe, GT World Challenge Europe driver Benjamin Goethe, and ELMS drivers Rui Andrade and Diego Menchaca.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | DC | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Promatecme UK | Renault | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | THR | DON | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | OUL | DON | SIL | THR | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | PEM 1 | PEM 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | SIL | 4th | 139 | |
| 1997 | Promatecme UK | Renault | DON | SIL | THR | BRH | SIL | CRO | OUL | SIL | PEM 1 | PEM 2 | DON | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SPA | SIL | THR | 2nd | 183 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | West Competition | OSC | IML | CAT | SIL | MON | PAU | A1 | HOC | HUN | SPA | PER | NUR | 13th | 5 | |
| 1999 | Kid Jensen Racing | IMO | MON | CAT | MAG | SIL | A1R | HOC | HUN | SPA | NUR | 6th | 20 | |||
| 2000 | D2 Playlife Super Nova | IMO | SIL | CAT | NUR | MON | MAG | A1R | HOC | HUN | SPA | 2nd | 45 | |||
| 2003 | Brand Motorsport | IMO | CAT | A1R | MON | NUR | MAG | SIL | HOC | HUN | MNZ | NC | 0 |
(key)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | Final pos | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Team Dynamik | Holden VY Commodore | ADL | PHI | ECK | WIN | PTH | HDV | QLD | ORP | SAN | BAT | SUR | PUK | ECK | 44th | 152 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | SYM R3 | SYM R4 | HAM R5 | HAM R6 | PER R7 | PER R8 | PER R9 | PHI R10 | PHI R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | TOW R14 | TOW R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | SMP R18 | SMP R19 | SAN Q | SAN R20 | BAT R21 | SUR R22 | SUR R23 | YMC R24 | YMC R25 | YMC R26 | WIN R27 | WIN R28 | SYD R29 | SYD R30 | NC | 0 + |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Creation Autosportif | LMP1 | DBA 03S | Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8 | SEB | MID | LIM | SON | POR | MOS | AME | PET ovr:Ret cls:Ret | MON ovr:Ret cls:Ret | NC | 0 | ||||
| 2006 | Creation Autosportif | LMP1 | Creation CA06/H | Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 | SEB | TEX | MID | LIM | UTA | POR | AME | MOS | PET ovr:4 cls:4 | MON ovr:3 cls:3 | 19th | 16 | |||
| 2008 | Peugeot Sport Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot HDi 5.5 L V12 (Diesel) | SEB ovr:11 cls:4 | STP | LNB | UTA | LIM | MID | AME | MOS | DET | PET ovr:2 cls:2 | MON | 9th | 46 | ||
| 2009 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | SEB ovr:5 cls:4 | STP | LNB | UTA | LIM | MID | AME | MOS | PET ovr:2 cls:2 | MON | 15th | 46 | |||
| 2010 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | SEB ovr:2 cls:2 | LNB | MON | UTA | LIM | MID | AME | MOS | PET | NC | 0 |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Creation Autosportif | LMP1 | DBA 03S | Zytek 3.4 L V8 | MON ovr:Ret cls:Ret | NÜR ovr:3 cls:3 | SIL ovr:Ret cls:Ret | SPA ovr:3 cls:3 | 4th | 12 | ||||
| 2005 | Creation Autosportif | LMP1 | DBA 03S | Zytek 3.4 L V8 | SPA ovr:Ret cls:Ret | MON ovr:7 cls:5 | SIL ovr:2 cls:2 | NÜR ovr:3 cls:3 | IST ovr:3 cls:3 | 5th | 25 | |||
| 2006 | Creation Autosportif | LMP1 | Creation CA06/H | Judd 2.5 L V10 | IST ovr:Ret cls:Ret | SPA | NÜR | DON ovr:2 cls:2 | JAR ovr:4 cls:4 | 10th | 14 | |||
| 2007 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | MON ovr:1 cls:1 | Val ovr:Ret cls:Ret | NÜR ovr:2 cls:2 | SPA ovr:Ret cls:Ret | SIL ovr:1 cls:1 | MIL ovr:1 cls:1 | 4th | 33 | ||
| 2008 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | CAT ovr:1 cls:1 | MON ovr:5 cls:5 | SPA ovr:1 cls:1 | NÜR ovr:2 cls:2 | SIL ovr:Ret cls:Ret | 3rd | 32 | |||
| 2009 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | CAT | SPA ovr:1 cls:1 | ALG | NÜR | SIL | 19th | 11 | |||
| 2010 | Team Peugeot Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) | CAS | SPA | ALG | HUN | SIL ovr:1 cls:1 | 22nd | 15 | |||
| 2011 | Peugeot Sport Total | LMP1 | Peugeot 908 | Peugeot HDI 3.7 L Turbo V8 (Diesel) | CAS | SPA ovr:2 cls:2 | IMO | SIL | EST | NC | 0 | |||
| 2012 | Sébastien Loeb Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | CAS ovr:2 cls:2 | DON ovr:4 cls:4 | PET | 6th | 30 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | SMP Racing | P | BR Engineering BR01 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | DAY | 24th | 52 | |||||||||
| DragonSpeed | Oreca 05 | SEB | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | COA | PET |
Maurizio Mediani