Tomáš Enge Explained

Tomáš Enge

Nationality:

Czech

Birth Date:

11 September 1976

Birth Place:

Liberec, Czechoslovakia

Team(S):

Prost

Races:

Championships:

Wins:

Podiums:

Points:

Poles:

Fastest Laps:

First Race:

2001 Italian Grand Prix

Last Race:

2001 Japanese Grand Prix

Module:

Embed:	yes
Years:	–
Team(S):	Prodrive, Aston Martin Racing, Young Driver AMR
Best Finish:	4th
Class Wins:	1 (LMGTS)

Tomáš Enge (in Czech pronounced as /ˈtomaːʃ ˈɛŋɡɛ/; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.

Career

Born in Liberec, Enge started his career at the age of 16, entering a Ford Fiesta he bought with his own money in the Czechoslovakian Ford Fiesta Cup. Enge participated in the final three races of the Formula One season, becoming the first, and to date only, driver from the Czech Republic to compete in Formula One. He made his debut at the Italian Grand Prix on 16 September, after being brought in by Prost as a replacement for Luciano Burti, who was recovering from his crash at the previous race in Belgium.^[1] Enge left the Prost Grand Prix team before it folded for the 2002 season.^[2]

He obtained his Formula One break using the sponsorship from the local Coca-Cola subsidiary, which had also funded the Nordic Racing F3000 team he raced for that year. He finished third in the 2001 standings despite missing the final race, and was stripped of the 2002 title due to a positive marijuana test.^[3] He returned to Formula 3000 in 2004, and then headed to America for 2005, driving for Panther Racing in the IRL, with modest success, although almost winning the race at Sonoma. Among his 17 career IRL starts was his rookie start in the 2005 Indianapolis 500. He then drove for Team Czech Republic in the 2005-2006 A1GP season. Enge has also been a frequent driver for Prodrive's sportscar teams, driving both their Ferrari 550 Maranellos and Aston Martin DBR9s in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006 he was driver of the #007 Aston Martin Racing entry in the American Le Mans Series, but for 2007 switched to the Petersen/White Lightning Ferrari F430.

On 31 March 2007, Enge was injured whilst driving his F430 at the ALMS St. Petersburg race. The car crashed whilst leading the GT2 class, suffering heavy damage to the driver's side and a brief fire. Enge was removed under medical supervision and transported to the local medical centre.^[4] He was later revealed to have suffered a shattered elbow, cracked ribs, a partially collapsed lung and a potentially broken ankle, but not to be in any serious danger.^[5]

On 21 July 2007, Enge was released from his contract with Peterson Motorsports/White Lightning Racing due to a penalty incurred after crashing into Mika Salo during the Acura Sports Car Challenge ALMS race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.^[6]

In 2009 he drove for Aston Martin Racing in the Le Mans Series and won the championship alongside Stefan Mücke and Jan Charouz. He remained with Aston Martin, as he moved into the FIA GT1 World Championship for the 2010 season, joining Darren Turner at Young Driver AMR. The pairing finished fourth in the championship with three victories. Enge and Turner were split for the 2011 season; Turner was joined by Stefan Mücke, while Enge was partnered by Alex Müller. Enge and Müller achieved two victories as they finished fourth in the championship.

With Young Driver AMR pulling out of the championship to focus on other series, Enge moved to the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini squad for the 2012 season, where he partnered socialite Albert von Thurn und Taxis.^[7] The pairing were lying tenth in the championship after four rounds; their best result was a second-place finish at the Slovakia Ring. On 19 June 2012, it was announced that Enge had tested positive for a banned substance at the Navarra round of the championship, and was suspended from racing.^[8] At the beginning of August, it was announced that Enge was to be suspended from racing for 18 months. Enge appealed the decision on the grounds that the positive test was caused by medication he is taking for a chronic cardiovascular condition.^[9] In April 2013 the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Enge's appeal.^[10]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(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	Auto Sport Racing	OSC	IMO	CAT	SIL	MON	PAU	A1R	HOC	HUN	SPA	PER	NÜR	23rd	1
1999	WRT Fina	IMO	MON	CAT	MAG	SIL	A1R	HOC	HUN	SPA	NÜR			11th	6
2000	MySAP.com	IMO	SIL	CAT	NÜR	MON	MAG	A1R	HOC	HUN	SPA			6th	15
2001	Coca-Cola Nordic Racing	INT	IMO	CAT	A1R	MON	NÜR	MAG	SIL	HOC	HUN	SPA	MNZ	3rd	39
2002	Arden International	INT	IMO	CAT	*A1R*	MON	NÜR	*SIL*	*MAG*	HOC	HUN	SPA	MNZ	3rd	50
2004	Ma-Con Engineering	IMO	CAT	MON	NÜR	MAG	SIL	HOC	HUN	SPA	MNZ			4th	38

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points	Ref
1999	Team Rafanelli SRL	LMP	Riley & Scott Mk III	Judd GV4 4.0 L V10	SEB	ATL	MOS	SON	POR	PET	MON	LSV			64th	14	^[11]
2002	Prodrive	GTS	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	Ferrari 5.9 L V12	SEB	SON	MID	AME	WAS	TRO	MOS	MON	MIA	PET	13th	94	^[12]
2003	Veloqx Prodrive Racing	GTS	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	Ferrari 5.9 L V12	SEB	ATL	SON	TRO	MOS	AME	MON DSQ	MIA	PET		7th	97	^[13]
2005	Aston Martin Racing	GT1	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	SEB	ATL	MID	LIM	SON	POR	AME	MOS	PET	MON	14th	14	^[14]
2006	Aston Martin Racing	GT1	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0l V12	SEB	LST	LMO	NEN	UTA	POR	AME	MOS	PET	MON	3rd	159	^[15]

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Rank	Points
2001	Lanesra	LMP900	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S	Élan 6L8 6.0L V8	SEB	DON	JAR	EST	MOS	VAL	PLM	17th	21
2004	Larbre Compétition	GTS	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	Ferrari 5.9L V12	MNZ	NUR	SIL	SPA				10th	8
2005	MenX	GT1	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	Ferrari 5.9L V12	SPA	MNZ	SIL	NUR	IST			12th	8
2008	Team Modena	GT1	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	CAT	MNZ	SPA	NUR	SIL			3rd	36
2009	AMR Eastern Europe	LMP1	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	CAT	SPA	ALG	NUR	SIL			1st	39
2011	Young Driver AMR	GTE Pro	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	Aston Martin 4.5 L V8	PLR	SPA	IMO	SIL	EST			NC	0

Rolex Series career

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points	Ref
2007	SAMAX	R24	MEX	MIA	VIR	LAG	WG6	MDO	DAY	IOW	BAR	MON	WGI	SON	SLC	35th	93	^[16]
2008	Peter Baron	R24	MIA	MEX	VIR	LAG	WG6	MDO	DAY	BAR	MON	WGI	SON	NJ	SLC	NC	0	^[17]
2009	Alegra Motorsports	R24	VIR	NJ	LAG	WG6	MDO	DAY	BAR	WGI	MON	SLC	MIA			44th	35	^[18]
2011	Starworks Motorsport	R24	MIA	BAR	VIR	LIM	WG6	ROA	LAG	NJ	WGS	LAG	MON	MDO		NC	0	^[19]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps
Prodrive	Rickard Rydell Alain Menu	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	GTS	167	DNF	DNF
Veloqx Prodrive Racing	Peter Kox Jamie Davies	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	GTS	336	10th	1st
Prodrive Racing	Peter Kox Alain Menu	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	GTS	325	11th	4th
Aston Martin Racing	Peter Kox Pedro Lamy	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	327	DNF	DNF
Aston Martin Racing	Darren Turner Andrea Piccini	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	350	6th	2nd
Aston Martin Racing	Johnny Herbert Peter Kox	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	337	9th	4th
Charouz Racing System Aston Martin Racing	Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke	Lola B08/60-Aston Martin	LMP1	354	9th	9th
AMR Eastern Europe	Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	LMP1	373	4th	4th
Young Driver AMR	Christoffer Nygaard Peter Kox	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	311	22nd	3rd

American Open-Wheel

(key)

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points	Ref
2004	Patrick Racing	Dallara IR-04	20	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPIR	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2		27th	31	^[20]
2005	Panther Racing	Dallara IR-05	2	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS	PHX	STP	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPIR	SNM	CHI	WGL	FON	16th	261	^[21]
2006	Cheever Racing	Dallara IR-05	51	Honda HI6R V8	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI				32nd	12	^[22]

Complete A1 Grand Prix results