Fabian Coulthard was born in Burnley Lancashire in England on the 28th July 1982 but after making the move to New Zealand at a young age is now a proud New Zealander. For the 2010 season Coulthard joins Garth Tander, Will Davison and Andrew Thompson at Walkinshaw Racing, piloting one of organisation's Holden Commodores in the newly expanded Bundaberg Red Racing team. He began his racing career in karts at only six years of age and it wasn't long before he reached the pinnacle of the category, where he won seven New Zealand karting titles. He then graduated to the New Zealand Formula Vee Scholarship and finished runner up aged just 12. The natural progression was then to join Formula Ford which he did in 1999 when he was 16. He won the Championship in 2001 in dominant style, winning 14 of 17 races before he travelled to Malaysia to compete in The Asian Festival of Speed. He drove an AF2000 car to victory at the Sepang F1 circuit winning two races by over 14 seconds. His first competition on Australian soil was at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in 2002 and Coulthard clean swept the Formula Ford support races. In 2003 he went back to his home country, England, to try his hand at the British Formula Renault Championship where he competed against the likes of current F1 star Lewis Hamilton. But after 11 rounds of the 17 event series his budget had dried up and he was forced to return to New Zealand. It was then that his first big break in Australian Motorsport presented itself. In 2004 he was invited by Greg Murphy racing to test with the team's Carrera Cup squad. He teamed up alongside Alex Davison and Peter Hill in the one-make series which was then the main support category for V8 Supercars. Coulthard finished third in the Championship in his first year, he claimed the Michelin Driver to Europe Award for best driver under 30 and was awarded the Michelin Rookie of the Year Award. In the same year he had his first taste of V8 Supercars when he joined Tasman Motorsport mid year at Oran Park and then teamed with Jason Richards for the Sandown and Bathurst enduros. In 2005 Coulthard returned to the Carrera Cup Championship and was crowned Champion at the final event at Phillip Island. He re-joined Tasman Motorsport for the enduros again but this time teamed up with Tony D'Alberto. In 2006 he drove part time for Paul Morris Motorsport, sharing a car with Alan Gurr and Steve Ellery and alternating in a pattern that saw Coulthard compete in three rounds before scoring a drive with Paul Radisich in the Team Kiwi entry for Sandown and Bathurst. Coulthard remained with Paul Morris in 2007 driving the team's second car but he was hampered with an older model VZ Commodore and he decided to step out of the drive to focus on 2008. His first full time drive was looking more promising when fellow New Zealander Paul Cruickshank offered him a drive for the 2008 season. Driving for a single car team Coulthard showed speed and promise delivering six top ten finishes and a strong result in Hamilton in New Zealand. He remained with Cruickshank for the 2009 season where the team expanded to two cars. His first podium came at Tasmania's Symmons Plains and the V8 paddock started to recognise his rise through the ranks. He showed potential through the latter part of the season and was quickly recruited by Walkinshaw Racing to make the switch from Ford to Holden. He is now teamed up with young up-and-comer Andrew Thompson who also joins the Walkinshaw Racing fold. With strong backing from Bundaberg Red the two will form a powerful combination and will be one team to watch in 2010. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2012 Fabian Coulthard - All Rights Reserved