Peter Hardman
| Peter Hardman | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | English | ||||||||||
| Born |
7 September 1964 (age 52) Redditch, England |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Participating years | 1993 - 1994, 2008 - 2009 |
| Teams | Lotus Sport, Vitaphone Racing Team, Strakka Racing |
| Best finish | 21st (2009) |
| Class wins | 0 |
Peter Hardman (born 7 September 1964 in Redditch) is an English racing driver.
Hardman boasts an extensive motor racing history as a multiple race winner and one of Britain’s most experienced international drivers. He has achieved a huge amount of variety over an impressive career, spanning the divide across historic and modern day racing, and driving a wide array of cars including single-seater, touring and sportscars. While maintaining a highly successful racing career, Hardman successfully branched out into the domains of race team owner and driver manager.
Though a keen spectator of rallycross in his school days, Hardman did not look set to embark on a racing career until a visit to a Jim Russell driving course at the age of 17. Taking to Mallory Park in a Formula Ford, Hardman soon showed his potential by winning his second ever race with Jim Russell.
In 1980, Hardman began a season of Formula Ford 1600, but was forced out after just three races with a broken foot. He returned to racing in 1983, once again in Formula Ford, but was an immediate success, winning the championship outright. Over the following five years, Hardman fought the age-old problem of securing budget, but raced whenever he could in Formula Ford 2000 and British Formula Three, in which he raced four meetings during the 1986 and 1987 seasons.
Hardman was thrown a lifeline in 1988 when he secured the prestigious "Racing for Britain" scholarship and took a drive in Formula Vauxhall Lotus alongside such names as Mika Hakkinen, Allan McNish and David Brabham. He won two races, finished fourth in the championship, and was honoured with the "Cellnet Award" in 1989. In 1990 and 1991, Hardman raced for the Mansell Madgwick Formula 3000 team and following that decided to make the switch to sportscars and touring cars. And in 1991 achieved full membership of the British Racing Drivers Club, BRDC, for his national and international racing successes. The BRDC are the owners of Silverstone Circuit and run the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Becoming an unprecedented third-successive championship winner of the Pro-Sport 3000 (he secured series victories in 1992, 1993 and 1994), Hardman was awarded the BRDC Silver Star in ’94 to credit his unparalleled result in British sportscar history. In 1993 Hardman began to branch out into historic racing, and over the coming years he combined that with his modern car racing. In 1995 he added to his trophy cabinet by winning the Formula Classic and then competed in the Super Touring North American in 1996 with Honda. In the same year he became champion of the Ferrari Shell Historic, racing in the 330LMB.
...
Wikipedia