Nicolas Minassian

Last updated

Nicolas Minassian
Nicolas Minassian 2012 WEC Fuji.jpg
Minassian at the 2012 6 Hours of Fuji
Nationality Flag of France.svg French
Flag of Armenia.svg Armenian
via dual nationality
Born (1973-02-28) 28 February 1973 (age 50)
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1994, 2000, 2002–2016
TeamsRoland Bassaler, Team Oreca, Pescarolo Sport, Creation Autosportif, Peugeot, SMP Racing.
Best finish2nd (2008)
Class wins0

Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent.

Contents

After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship where he finished runner-up to countryman Laurent Redon at his second attempt in 1995. He then moved to the British series for another two years in a successful partnership with Promatecme and Renault UK that yielded a 4th place in 1996 and 2nd place the following year.

He graduated to Formula 3000 with West Competition for 1998, but failed to impress whilst his teammate Nick Heidfeld mounted a strong challenge for overall honours. The following year, he moved to Kid Jensen Racing where he enjoyed more success, including an emphatic lights-to-flag triumph at Silverstone. He signed for the illustrious Super Nova Racing team in 2000 where he came a strong 2nd in the championship.

Unable to secure a Formula One drive, Minassian drove in 2001 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing with F3000 title adversary Bruno Junqueira in CART and competed in the Indianapolis 500 before being released by the team. In 2002 Minassian won the ASCAR Racing Series oval racing series for RML Group before returning to endurance racing including the 24 Hours of Le Mans for such teams as Creation Autosportif and Pescarolo Sport.

In 2007 he became a factory driver for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series.

In 2008 he drove the Peugeot 908 diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Peugeot 908.

Outside racing

In 2019 Nicolas Minassian founded a management company together with his former team-mate Jamie Campbell-Walter and María Catarineu, Bullet Sports Management, [1] which represents drivers including FIA WEC and ELMS driver Ferdinand Habsburg, ELMS and FRECA driver Franco Colapinto, FRECA driver Oliver Goethe, GT World Challenge Europe driver Benjamin Goethe, and ELMS drivers Rui Andrade and Diego Menchaca.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-driversCarClassLapsPos.Class
pos.
1994 Flag of France.svg Roland Bassaler Flag of France.svg Patrick Bourdais
Flag of France.svg Olivier Couvreur
Alpa LM-Ford Cosworth LMP1
C90
64DNFDNF
2000 Flag of France.svg Mopar Team Oreca Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas
Flag of France.svg Jean-Philippe Belloc
Reynard 2KQ-LM-Mopar LMP9001DNFDNF
2002 Flag of France.svg PlayStation Team Oreca Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Dallara SP1-Judd LMP9003596th5th
2003 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Sport Flag of France.svg Éric Hélary
Flag of France.svg Soheil Ayari
Courage C60-Peugeot LMP9003529th7th
2004 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Sport Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais
Flag of France.svg Emmanuel Collard
Pescarolo C60-Judd LMP1282DNFDNF
2005 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Creation Autosportif Ltd. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jamie Campbell-Walter
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Wallace
DBA 03S-Judd LMP132214th7th
2006 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Sport Flag of France.svg Emmanuel Collard
Flag of France.svg Érik Comas
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP13525th4th
2007 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve
Flag of Spain.svg Marc Gené
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1338DNFDNF
2008 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve
Flag of Spain.svg Marc Gené
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP13812nd2nd
2009 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy
Flag of Austria.svg Christian Klien
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP13696th6th
2010 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1264DNFDNF
2011 Flag of France.svg Peugeot Sport Total Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Peugeot 908 LMP13533rd3rd
2012 Flag of France.svg Pescarolo Team Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais
Flag of Japan.svg Seiji Ara
Dome S102.5-Judd LMP1203NCNC
2013 Flag of Argentina.svg PeCom Racing Flag of Argentina.svg Luís Pérez Companc
Flag of Germany.svg Pierre Kaffer
Oreca 03-Nissan LMP232510th4th
2014 Flag of Russia.svg SMP Racing Flag of Russia.svg Kirill Ladygin
Flag of Italy.svg Maurizio Mediani
Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP29DNFDNF
2015 Flag of Russia.svg SMP Racing Flag of Russia.svg David Markozov
Flag of Italy.svg Maurizio Mediani
BR Engineering BR01-Nissan LMP234014th6th
2016 Flag of Russia.svg SMP Racing Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Aleshin
Flag of Italy.svg Maurizio Mediani
BR Engineering BR01-Nissan LMP234711th7th

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

YearEntrant123456789101112DCPoints
1998 West Competition OSC
Ret
IML
19
CAT
Ret
SIL
7
MON
9
PAU
7
A1
5
HOC
Ret
HUN
4
SPA
19
PER
19
NUR 13th5
1999 Kid Jensen Racing IMO
13
MON
Ret
CAT
8
MAG
14
SIL
1
A1R
3
HOC
Ret
HUN
5
SPA
3
NUR
Ret
6th20
2000 D2 Playlife Super Nova IMO
1
SIL
11
CAT
2
NUR
Ret
MON
5
MAG
1
A1R
1
HOC
7
HUN
4
SPA
3
2nd45
2003 Brand Motorsport IMO
11
CAT A1R MON NUR MAG SIL HOC HUN MNZ NC0

American Open-Wheel

(key)

CART

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021RankPointsRef
2001 Chip Ganassi Racing MTY
11
LBH
8
TXS
NH
NZR
18
MOT
15
MIL
19
DET
17
POR CLE TOR MIS CHI MDO ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LS SRF FON 27th7 [2]

IRL IndyCar Series

YearTeamChassisNo.Engine12345678910111213RankPointsRef
2001 Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force 49 Oldsmobile PHX
HOM
ATL
INDY
29
TEX
PIK
RIR
KAN
NSH
KTY
GAT
CHI
TEX
47th1 [3]

Indy 500 results

YearChassisEngineStartFinishTeam
2001 G-Force Oldsmobile 2229 Ganassi

Complete V8 Supercar results

YearTeamCar12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Final posPoints
2003 Team Dynamik Holden VY Commodore ADL PHI ECK WIN PTH HDV QLD ORP SAN
28
BAT
11
SUR PUK ECK 44th152
2012 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore ADE
R1
ADE
R2
SYM
R3
SYM
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
PER
R7
PER
R8
PER
R9
PHI
R10
PHI
R11
HDV
R12
HDV
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
SMP
R18
SMP
R19
SAN
Q
SAN
R20
BAT
R21
SUR
R22

Ret
SUR
R23

10
YMC
R24
YMC
R25
YMC
R26
WIN
R27
WIN
R28
SYD
R29
SYD
R30
NC0 +

+ Not Eligible for points

Bathurst 1000 results
YearTeamCarCo-driverPositionLaps
2003 Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen 11th158

Complete American Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngineTyres1234567891011RankPoints
2004 Creation Autosportif LMP1 DBA 03S Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8 D SEB MID LIM SON POR MOS AME PET
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
MON
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
NC0
2006 Creation Autosportif LMP1 Creation CA06/H Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 M SEB TEX MID LIM UTA POR AME MOS PET
ovr:4
cls:4
MON
ovr:3
cls:3
19th16
2008 Peugeot Sport Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L V12
(Diesel)
M SEB
ovr:11
cls:4
STP LNB UTA LIM MID AME MOS DET PET
ovr:2
cls:2
MON 9th46
2009 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
M SEB
ovr:5
cls:4
STP LNB UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET
ovr:2
cls:2
MON 15th46
2010 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
M SEB
ovr:2
cls:2
LNB MON UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET NC0

Complete Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngineTyres123456RankPoints
2004 Creation Autosportif LMP1 DBA 03S Zytek 3.4 L V8 D MON
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
NÜR
ovr:3
cls:3
SIL
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
SPA
ovr:3
cls:3
4th12
2005 Creation Autosportif LMP1 DBA 03S Zytek 3.4 L V8 M SPA
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
MON
ovr:7
cls:5
SIL
ovr:2
cls:2
NÜR
ovr:3
cls:3
IST
ovr:3
cls:3
5th25
2006 Creation Autosportif LMP1 Creation CA06/H Judd 2.5 L V10 M IST
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
SPA NÜR DON
ovr:2
cls:2
JAR
ovr:4
cls:4
10th14
2007 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) M MON
ovr:1
cls:1
Val
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
NÜR
ovr:2
cls:2
SPA
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
SIL
ovr:1
cls:1
MIL
ovr:1
cls:1
4th33
2008 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) M CAT
ovr:1
cls:1
MON
ovr:5
cls:5
SPA
ovr:1
cls:1
NÜR
ovr:2
cls:2
SIL
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
3rd32
2009 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) M CAT SPA
ovr:1
cls:1
ALG NÜR SIL 19th11
2010 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel) M CAS SPA ALG HUN SIL
ovr:1
cls:1
22nd15
2011 Peugeot Sport Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDI 3.7 L Turbo V8
(Diesel)
M CAS SPA
ovr:2
cls:2
IMO SIL EST NC0
2012 Sébastien Loeb Racing LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D CAS
ovr:2
cls:2
DON
ovr:4
cls:4
PET 6th30

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

YearEntrantClassMakeEngine12345678910RankPoints
2016 SMP Racing P BR Engineering BR01 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 DAY
9
24th52
DragonSpeed Oreca 05 SEB
4
LBH LGA DET WGL MOS ELK COA PET

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References

  1. "TEAM". Bullet Sports Management.
  2. "Nicolas Minassian – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  3. "Nicolas Minassian – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by ASCAR Champion
2002
Succeeded by