Harold Primat

Last updated
Harold Primat
Harold Primat Le Mans drivers parade 2011 crop.jpg
Primat at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans driver parade
Nationality Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Swiss
Born (1975-06-12) 12 June 1975 (age 50)
Racing licence FIA Gold Driver.png FIA Gold (until 2014)
FIA Silver Driver.png FIA Silver (2015) [1]
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 2005–2012
TeamsRollcentre Racing, Swiss Spirit, Pescarolo Sport, Aston Martin Racing
Best finish6th (2010)

Harold Primat (born 12 June 1975) is a French-born Swiss racing driver who previously competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series and other long-distance events such as the Bathurst 12 Hour and Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Contents

Early career

The nephew of motorcycle racer Claude Vigreux, Primat began his career in karts before graduating to the Max Mygale and Winfield racing schools in France, as well as the Jim Russell Centre in the UK. [2]

Primat then moved to the US, where he competed in the Formula Ford 2000 championship. He then moved on to the British Formula Three Championship and later the F3 Euroseries, before concluding his single-seater career in World Series Lights with the Saulnier team. [3]

During 2003 and 2004, Primat combined his single-seater races with endurance racing. Debuting in 2003 with the Saulnier team, he competed in the V de V Endurance championship, leading his maiden race at Spa until a mechanical failure put him out of the race. Primat became vice-champion in his second season, narrowly missing out on the title after a prior World Series Lights commitment forced him to skip a race.[ citation needed ]

Top-flight endurance racing

Moving to the top level of endurance racing with Kruse Motorsport in 2005, Primat qualified third and finished second in class at the 12 Hours of Sebring event. Remaining with Kruse on the other side of the Atlantic, Primat began the European season at Spa but retired due to engine problems. He then switched to Rollcentre Racing, which allowed him to compete for overall honours in the LMP1 category, and went on to achieve three top-ten finishes in his debut year.[ citation needed ]

2005 also saw Primat make his maiden appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours. After qualifying in 13th, the Rollcentre Dallara-Nissan suffered technical problems in the early stages of the race, resulting in the team not being classified.[ citation needed ]

Primat switched teams for 2006, becoming part of an all-Swiss line-up in the new Swiss Spirit outfit, under his former boss Serge Saulnier, whose team ran the programme. Primat won top-three finishes at Spa and Jarama, finishing in joint-fourth place in the championship overall. However, he was again unable to complete the Le Mans 24 Hours after gearbox problems forced him into retirement on lap 132.[ citation needed ]

Primat again mixed his European schedule with some US-based races in 2006, finishing third at Laguna Seca and fourth at Petit Le Mans for the Creation Autosportif team. However, his debut at the blue riband Daytona 24 Hours was thwarted by an engine failure on his Spirit of Daytona Crawford-Pontiac.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, Primat signed for Henri Pescarolo's eponymous team. A podium finish at Spa was his best result in the face of increased competition from the works Peugeot squad, but Primat finished in the top six at four of the six races. The season also saw him finish Le Mans for the first time, finishing sixth in class and 13th overall despite losing 90 minutes in the pits to an oil leak.[ citation needed ]

Remaining with Pescarolo Sport for the 2008 Le Mans Series, Primat had a top-three finish at Monza, despite the addition of the factory Audi squad to the LMS field. Primat also took a best-yet seventh-place finish at Le Mans, which placed him first among the unofficial 'petrol' class, beaten only by the diesel machines of sportscar heavyweights Audi and Peugeot.[ citation needed ]

In January 2009, Primat was confirmed as an Aston Martin Racing factory driver for the brand's first return to top-class endurance racing since 1989. Partnering Darren Turner, he finished fourth in the Le Mans Series standings, including a second position at the Nürburgring. Primat was joined by Peter Kox and Stuart Hall for Le Mans, where a water leak curtailed the #009 Lola-Aston Martin's involvement after 252 laps. The highlight of Primat's season was victory alongside Stefan Mücke at the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series race at Okayama in late autumn.[ citation needed ]

2010 saw Primat again driving for Aston Martin Racing, recording three podium finishes in the ALMS and LMS. Sixth place overall at Le Mans itself also represented his best finish at the French race to date. A third season with AMR in 2011, this time alongside Turner and Mücke, produced two more top three finishes for Primat, including an outright ALMS victory at Laguna Seca. Aston Martin's new, open-top AMR-One proved unreliable however, prompting the team to withdraw from the LMP1 ranks at the end of the year.[ citation needed ]

Primat then moved to privateer LMP1 outfit Rebellion Racing for the newly revived FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012. With Audi and Toyota's factory entries winning all eight rounds between them, it was left to Rebellion to fight for the LMP1 Trophy against Strakka, JRM and OAK Racing. Two victories by Primat - at Silverstone and Shanghai - brought the trophy to Rebellion.[ citation needed ]

In 2013, Primat swapped sports-prototype for GT machinery as part of Phoenix Racing's Blancpain Endurance Series, VLN and Bathurst 12 Hour driver roster. Piloting an Audi R8 LMS ultra, Primat took fourth place at the Australian classic despite losing four laps to repairs, and achieved the same result at the blue riband 24 Hours of Spa. Racing alongside Oliver Jarvis and Christopher Hasse, the Belgian event saw the trio deliver a comeback drive that ranked among the highlights of the 24 hour contest. Primat also found success on the VLN scene, picking up several top-three finishes.[ citation needed ]

On 16 September 2015, Primat announced his retirement from racing, ending his seventeen year long career. Primat retired after the final round of the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series season, at the Nürburgring. He said that "now is the right time to begin a fresh chapter in life by focusing on other projects". [4]

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key)

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2003 Saulnier Racing Dallara F302/021 Sodemo HOC
1

22
HOC
2

22
ADR
1

Ret
ADR
2

25
PAU
1

18
PAU
2

Ret
NOR
1

15
NOR
2

18
LMS
1

28†
LMS
2

19
NÜR
1

21
NÜR
2

24†
A1R
1

24
A1R
2

22
ZAN
1

22
ZAN
2

22
HOC
1

21
HOC
2

Ret
MAG
1

24
MAG
2

Ret
34th0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
2005 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rollcentre Racing Flag of Germany.svg Michael Krumm
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Bobby Verdon-Roe
Dallara SP1-Nissan LMP1133DNFDNF
2006 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Swiss Spirit Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marcel Fässler
Flag of Austria.svg Philipp Peter
Courage LC70-Judd LMP1132DNFDNF
2007 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Sport Flag of France.svg Christophe Tinseau
Flag of France.svg Benoît Tréluyer
Pescarolo 01-Judd LMP132513th6th
2008 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Sport Flag of France.svg Christophe Tinseau
Flag of France.svg Benoît Tréluyer
Pescarolo 01-Judd LMP13627th7th
2009 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stuart Hall
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Peter Kox
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1252DNFDNF
2010 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin Racing Flag of Germany.svg Stefan Mücke
Flag of Mexico.svg Adrián Fernández
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP13656th5th
2011 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin Racing Flag of Mexico.svg Adrián Fernández
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Meyrick
Aston Martin AMR-One LMP12DNFDNF
2012 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Rebellion Racing Flag of Italy.svg Andrea Belicchi
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jeroen Bleekemolen
Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP135011th7th
Sources: [5] [6]

Complete Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearEntrantClassCarEngine123456Pos.Pts
2005 Kruse MotorsportLMP2 Courage C65 Judd XV675 3.4L V8 SPA
Ret
MNZ NC0
Rollcentre RacingLMP1 Dallara SP1 Judd GV4 4.0L V10 SIL
Ret
NÜR
9
IST
7
24th2
2006 Swiss SpiritLMP1 Courage LC70 Judd GV5 5.0L V10 IST
Ret
SPA
2
NÜR
6
DON
Ret
JAR
2
5th19
2007 Pescarolo Sport LMP1 Pescarolo 01 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10 MNZ
4
VAL
6
NÜR
Ret
SPA
3
SIL
Ret
INT
4
7th16.5
2008 Pescarolo Sport LMP1 Pescarolo 01 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10 CAT
6
MNZ
3
SPA
NC
NÜR
8
SIL
6
8th13
2009 Aston Martin Racing LMP1 Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin AM04 6.0 L V12 CAT
Ret
SPA
5
ALG
5
NÜR
2
SIL
4
4th21
2010 Aston Martin Racing LMP1 Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin AM04 6.0 L V12 CAS
2
SPA ALG HUN SIL
NC
10th28
2011 Aston Martin Racing LMP1 Aston Martin AMR-One Aston Martin 2.0 L Turbo I6 LEC
NC
SPA IMO SIL
9
EST NC†0

As Primat was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine12345678RankPoints
2012 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB
19
SPA
5
LMS
9
SIL
4
SÃO
6
BHR
5
FUJ
7
SHA
4
8th62.5
Source: [6]

Post-Racing Career

Since 2016 Primat invested in multiple Startups, amongst others in UK-based companies Playbrush and Busuu as well as Austrian-based Tractive. [7] [8]

References

  1. Dagys, John (3 December 2014). "FIA Releases Updated 2015 Global Driver Ratings List". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  2. Administrator. "racinginside.com >> Litespeed F3: 2009 Round 1, Oulton Park". www.racinginside.com.
  3. ":: Saulnier Racing". 11 December 2023.
  4. "Sportscar racer Harold Primat to end career after BES finale". Autosport.com. 16 September 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  5. "Harold Primat". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Harold Primat Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. "UCL start-up and Dragons Den finalists Playbrush find happiness with European investors". www.ucl.ac.uk. 28 February 2018.
  8. "START-UP - Schnelles Geld für schnelle Hunde". www.trend.at. 4 February 2016.