David Besnard

Career history

Starting in karts in 1991, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title. He made a venture to the United States, with a small budget,and limited success. In 1998, he returned to win the U.S F2000 National Championship. 1999, saw David enter the US Formula Atlantic Championship. After a heavy crash at Nazareth Speedway, the team had to buy a new chassis and ran out of budget halfway through the season. 2000 saw Besnard again in the United States, running various Sports Car races, until Stone Brothers Racing picked him up for the Konica V8 Supercar Series and the Bathurst 1000. From there he drove with Stone Brothers for several seasons, with the highlight being winning the 2002 Queensland 500 with Simon Wills. He raced with Ford Performance Racing for one season in 2003, and WPS Racing for a few seasons following that.

In 2004, with his links with WPS, a drive in the Champ Car World Series came about at Surfers Paradise. His finishing position of seventh is still the highest finish for an Australian at that event (but bettered by Ryan Briscoe's 2008 IRL win after the CCWS collapsed). After being dropped by WPS in 2006 Besnard has been racing in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, picking up an endurance race co-driver role with Stone Brothers Racing in 2007, paired with James Courtney, which resulted in a second place at Bathurst.

American Open-Wheel

(key)

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

‡ Besnard replaced Kelly due to illness