Sharp, Scott

Scott is not the first race car driver in the Sharp family. His father Bob was also involved in circuit races and won six different championships under the auspices of the SCCA .

Early years

Scott began his auto racing career when he was eight years old when he first got behind the wheel of a map . Over the next decade, he holds seventy-five races in various regional championships, winning two-thirds of them. The level of victories is not too high and the next part of his career is not connected with the races of formula championships, but with participation in regional semi-amateur body championships: in 1984-88, Sharp participated in the championships under the auspices of SCCA , having won first the National Championship Runoffs in the GT class 2, and then two years in a row becoming the strongest in the high class GT1. Having proved himself quite well at this level, the American moves into a more prestigious and well-known series: in 1988-92 he regularly starts in the Trans-Am championship, where by the fourth season he grows up to the fight for the championship title, finishing three in a row in the top two of the strongest personal pilots offset. In 1990, Scott first tried his hand at endurance racing by taking part in one of the stages of the IMSA GT North American Championship, and two years later he made the first and last start in the main NASCAR championships by taking part in the Winston Cup road stage on the Watkins-Glen circuit .

Formula Career

1993-97

The young pilot attracts the attention of some sponsors and team managers and in 1993 he was given the chance to go to the start of the CART IndyCar formula championship stage. Not the most successful debut on the Lagoon Sec , however, allows Scott to sign a full-fledged contract for the season-94. His team - PacWest Racing - was not one of the leaders of the peloton, with difficulty finding money for a full season, she was able to provide her pilot with equipment on which they only occasionally fought for positions in the top ten; Sharpe drove to such places at the finish line twice and scored fourteen points in the 21st position. His partner, Dominic Dobson , did not perform much better. This situation did not suit the leadership of the team and with Scott and Dominic did not extend the agreement, taking in their place many more experienced and skilled pilots. Sharpe found himself in 1995 only a place on the Indy 500 , where, not without difficulty qualifying the car, he did not drive half the race distance, breaking his Lola in the fourth corner.

However, even such a fleeting collaboration with Voith played a positive role: in 1996, the IRL IndyCar Championship was organized, where AJ Foyt Enterprises also went. Looking for riders for the new championship, AJ chose Scott as well. The first championship turned out to be very ambiguous - a small number of stages combined with the instability of the entire peloton and poorly prescribed regulations led to the fact that Sharpe only once having been on the podium for three races was at the head of the peloton along with Buzz Calkins . Opponent had a higher best finish, but according to the then rules, with equal points, both of them were recognized as champions. In the next season, Sharp is trying to prove the randomness of his title, but two serious accidents lead to missing half of the championship races (on the Indy 500, he is not fully recovered, does not qualify) and the contract is not renewed.

1998-2009

Having lost this place, Scott remained in the championship: car dealer Tom Kelly, on the eve of season 98, organized his own team with the support of Delphi Corporation in the Indy Racing League and offered the place of one of Sharpe's pilots. Not finding the best places, Scott signed a contract with Kelley Racing . The alliance drags on for seven seasons, for which Sharp wins four poles (including qualifying for the Indy 500 in 2007), wins seven victories and, although not fighting for the title, brings his organization places in the Top5 personal standings year after year for the season. Everything, however, once ends: at the end of 2004, Kelly was not up to IRL IndyCar and he closed the team. Delphi , however, remains with Sharpe, allowing him to sign a contract with Fernandez Racing .

In the team of Adrian Fernandez, the American spends two seasons, also confirming his high level from race to race. In August 1995, on the Kentucky Speedway, he brings the Mexican organization the only victory over the period of their cooperation. In the off-season 2005/06 at Fernandez Racing, due to a change in certain rules of the regulations, they are forced to switch to the chassis of another manufacturer, which affects the results: Sharpe will finish in fifth place only a couple of times a season. In the offseason, Scott leaves the organization, joining the team of Bobby Reyhol .

Sharpe spends one season at a new location, performing with stability close to his ideal level. Twice in a season he finishes at the podium positions and finishes the year in eighth place in the individual competition. In the Indy 500, he holds one of the best races of his career, finishing for the first time in sixth position.

In the offseason, citing the age and growth in the number of road-type tracks in the series calendar, he ends his regular career at IRL IndyCar . Scott will return to the races of the series one more time - in 2009, when, with the support of Panther Racing, he will perform in his fifteenth Indy 500 .

Other Series

Focusing on open-wheel car races, Sharp did not stop participating in other competitions: all this time, from time to time, he starts in various endurance races in both North America and Europe. In 1996, he, in partnership with Wayne Taylor and Jim Pace , wins Daytona's 24 hours and also makes his debut at Le Mans 24 hours . In 2002-04, Scott regularly participated in the IROC - in the North American multi-stage competition of the best pilots of various championships.

Having completed his career at IRL IndyCar, the American focuses on racing sport prototypes, signing a contract with the semi-factory team Honda : Highcroft Racing ALMS . Racing in the same carriage with David Brabham, Scott quickly allows the team to become one of the leading organizations in its class. The Australian-American duo wins in four of the eleven races of the championship and takes second place in the overall standings, losing only to the Porsche - Penske alliance. In the off-season, the composition of the series undergoes significant changes: the prototype class is significantly thinning, and the Japanese are transferring their teams from class P2 to class P1. As a result, in 2009 their two clients came together in the fight for the title: the team of Gilles de Ferrand opposed Highcroft. The Brazilian and his partner Simon Pajno won the races a little more often than the competitors, but in general they turned out to be less stable in the season and lost the title to the Daytona team with a difference of 17 points.

In the offseason, Sharpe’s career has undergone changes again: having agreed with the former title sponsor Highcroft Racing, he bought two Ferrari F430s and organized his own Extreme Speed ​​Motorsports team in the GT2 class. The organization gradually learned how to better prepare the equipment for the competition and at the end of the debut season finished on the podium in its class at Petit Le Mans . In 2012, podium finishes became more frequent, the first victory was won, and at the end of the season, Sharpe's crew took second place in the overall classification of the category, losing only to the first crew of Corvette Racing .

PivotTable

Formula Racing

CART

Bold start from the pole position. Italics - a race where the fastest lap is shown.

IRL IndyCar

Bold start from the pole position. Italics - a race where the fastest lap is shown.

Indy 500 Results

Champcar Race Summary Statistics

ALMS

Bold start from the pole position. Italics - a race where the fastest lap is shown.
The place in the class is indicated as the finishing position.

•   Wikimedia Commons has Scott Sharp related media files
• Profile (English) on Driver Database
• Profile (English) on the Racing Reference website
• Profile (German) on Speedsport magazine website
• Extreme Speed ​​Motorsport Team Website