Soheil Ayari
Soheil Ayari | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 5, 1970 Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, France |
| Occupation(s) | Professional race driver, motorsport journalist |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Known for | Winning French Formula Ford (1994), French Formula Three (1996), Macau Grand Prix (1997), French Supertouring Championships (2002, 2004, 2005), French GT Championships (2006, 2007) |
Soheil Ayari (born 5 April 1970) is a professional race driver of French-Iranian descent hailing from Aix-les-Bains, Savoie. He secured the French Formula Ford title in 1994, followed by winning the Formula Three championship in 1996, and triumphed at the Macau Grand Prix in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, Ayari competed in Formula 3000, achieving two victories before moving on to the French Supertouring Championship where he earned championships in 2002, 2004, and 2005.
During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Ayari contested the GT Championship's GT1 division with Team Oreca driving a Saleen S7-R, capturing the French championship in both years as well as the European Le Mans Series crown in 2007 alongside Stephane Ortelli. In 2008 and 2009, he piloted a Corvette GT1 in the French GT3 Championship before joining the Audi ORECA Team for the 2010 season. The following year, he won two titles: the ILMC LMP2 with Signatech Nissan and the International Open GT driving a JMB Ferrari F458 GT2.
Ayari has taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans eleven times across GT1, LMP1, and LMP2 categories. His top results include fourth place overall in both 2004 (with Pescarolo) and 2010 (in an ORECA 01), fifth place in 2009 (ORECA), and second place in the LMP2 class in 2011 (Signatech Nissan).
He raced in the European Le Mans Series during 2014 and returned to compete in the French GT Championship from 2015 through 2016. In 2017, Ayari switched to the GT4 European Southern Cup before making a comeback to French GT racing in 2018. In addition to his driving career, he is also active as a motorsport journalist focusing on track testing and historic racing coverage.
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races shown in italics indicate fastest laps)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Team Astromega | SIL Ret |
PAU 6 |
HEL 1 |
NÜR 19 |
PER Ret |
HOC Ret |
A1R 10 |
SPA Ret |
MUG 6 |
JER Ret |
8th | 12 | ||
| 1998 | Durango Formula | OSC Ret |
IMO Ret |
CAT 5 |
SIL Ret |
MON DNQ |
PAU Ret |
A1R 1 |
HOC Ret |
HUN Ret |
SPA 3 |
PER 3 |
NÜR Ret |
5th | 20 |
American open–wheel racing results
(legend) (Entries in bold denote pole position)
Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final Standing | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Brian Stewart Racing | LBH 16 |
MIL | DET | POR | MIS | CHI | MOH | VAN | LS | STL | HOU | FON | 21st | 0 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Vehicle | Category | Completed Laps | Overall Position | Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Team Oreca (SRT Viper) | Tommy Archer / Marc Duez | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | GT2 | 76 | DNF | DNF |
| 1999 | Team Oreca (SRT Viper) | David Donohue / Jean-Philippe Belloc | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | GTS | 271 | DNF | DNF |
| 2003 | Pescarolo Sport | Éric Hélary / Nicolas Minassian | Courage C60-Peugeot | LMP900 | 352 | 9th | 7th |
| 2004 | Pescarolo Sport | Érik Comas / Benoît Tréluyer | Pescarolo C60-Judd | LMP1 | 361 | 4th | 4th |
| 2005 | Pescarolo Sport | Éric Hélary / Sébastien Loeb | Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | LMP1 | 288 | DNF | DNF |
| 2007 | Team Oreca | Stéphane Ortelli / Nicolas Lapierre | Saleen S7-R | GT1 | 318 | 16th | 9th |
| 2008 | Team Oreca-Matmut | Loïc Duval / Laurent Groppi | Courage Compétition#Courage-Oreca LC70 LC70-Judd | LMP1 | 357 | 8th | 8th |
| 2009 | Team Oreca-Matmut AIM | Olivier Panis /Nicolas Lapierre | Oreca 01-AIM | LMP1 | 370 | 5th | 5th |
| 2010 | AIM Team Oreca-Matmut | Didier André /Andy Meyrick | Oreca 01-AIM | LMP1 | 369 | 4th | 4th |
| 2011 | Signatech Nissan | Franck Mailleux /Lucas Ordóñez | Oreca 03-Nissan | LMP2 | 320 | 9th | style=background:#DFDFDF; 2nd |
| 2012 | PeCom Racing (AF Corse) | Luis Perez Companc /Pierre Kaffer | Oreca 03-Nissan | LMP2 | 352 | 9th | style=background:#FFDF9F; 3rd |
| 2014 | Team Sofrev ASP | Anthony Pons / Fabien Barthez | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | GTE Am | 325 | 29th | 9th |
Full World Touring Car Championship Results
(legend) (Races shown in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics signify fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Vehicle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final Position | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Peugeot Sport Denmark | Peugeot 407 | ITA 1 |
ITA 2 |
FRA 1 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 1 |
GBR 2 |
SMR 1 |
SMR 2 |
MEX 1 |
MEX 2 |
BEL 1 23rd |
BEL 2 Retired |
GER 1 |
GER 2 |
TUR 1 |
TUR 2 |
ESP 1 |
ESP 2 |
MAC 1 |
MAC 2 |
NC | 0 |
FIA GT Series Performance
| Year | Category | Team Name | Vehicle Model | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 | Round 11 | Round 12 | Overall Standing | Points Accumulated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Pro-Am Class | SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion | Ferrari | NOG Qualifying Retired |
NOG Race 19th |
ZOL Qualifying |
ZOL Race |
ZAN Qualifying |
ZAN Race |
SVK Qualifying |
SVK Race |
NAV Qualifying |
NAV Race |
BAK Qualifying |
BAK Race |
20th Overall | 4 Points |