Vautier, Tristan

Early years

Like many racers of that time, Tristan began a racing career in karting : and in 1993 his father Eric gave him a children's card, and also arranged for him the first test races on the Laquais circuit, ^[1] in the construction of which he had participated shortly before. With the development of the career of the younger Vautier, this circuit will become one of its sponsors. By the age of nine, Tristan had outgrown the amateur level and, by agreement with his father, got his hands on more professional equipment: in the next five years, races more and more occupied his attention, outgrowing his hobby status. Twice in these terms he is subject to the karting championship of the Rhone-Alps region .

By the age of 13, the Votier family decides to move to big motorsport and, for starters, arranges tests for Tristana on a Formula Ford class car. For the time being, however, the Frenchman continues to participate in karting competitions and only in 2006, after successful tests in the Mygale program on the track near Montlery , finds sufficient funding to rent himself a place in the cockpit of one of the teams National Championship Formula Renault Campus . The debut season brought many victories and the fight for the title in the individual competition, which was ultimately lost to teammate Kevin Estre due to fewer victories.

The next three years, Vautier spends in various two-liter Formula Renault series, periodically holding bright races, but chasing not the strongest teams due to lack of funding. Also during this period, the Frenchman tries himself in GT racing, having spent several stages of the GT3 national championship (where in one of the races, on the wet asphalt in Nogaro , he helps his crew to win). In 2009, Tristan Vautier Events was created to search for additional financing for Tristan's career, organizing private races on the Laquais highway. During this period, the Frenchman's management is convinced of the futility of his formulaic career in Europe.

US Career

The funding collected in Europe is enough to buy a seat for the entire 2010 season at the Star Mazda Championship . During the stages of learning the track, Tristan in the first year wins a couple of races, as well as until the last fight for the title of the best rookie of the year, losing it due to several technical gatherings. A year later, already having experience setting up this technique and knowing all the championship tracks, Votier completes all eleven championship races in Top5, wins four victories and becomes the winner of the season with an advantage of 25 points. Mazda’s financial bonus for this title allows him to join Indy Lights in 2012 by signing a contract with Sam Schmidt’s team.

The experience of racing on North American tracks, obtained in two years at Star Mazda , combined with the clear work of the team, allows the Frenchman to immediately join the fight for victories in the new series: already in the first weekend of the championship, he wins the competition on the city track in the dominant style in St. Petersburg . The season is not without recessions and offensive fines (at the main stage of the year - Freedom 100 - Tristan loses a potential victory and five points in the championship for an overly aggressive ride), but by the end of the year Votier is at the top of the individual standings, having won the competition in stability with the experienced Argentinean Esteban Guerrieri and Colombians Gustavo Jacamana and Sebastian Saavedra .

In the offseason, Sam Schmidt brings the Frenchman to his team at IRL IndyCar , taking advantage of Tristan's small sponsorship money, as well as a bonus from the organizers for the title in Indy Lights . Another Frenchman, Simon Pazhno, becomes his partner.

PivotTable

Formula Racing

Indy Lights

Bold start from the pole position. Italics - the fastest lap in the race.

• Official site (English) (French)

• Profile (English) on Driver Database
• Profile (English) on the Racing Reference website
• Profile (German) on Speedsport magazine website