Fenderman
Rooters Reporter
Allan Simonsen
Allan was born in Odense, Denmark. His death on the third lap cast a shadow over the 90th running of 24 Heures du Le Mans so it was fitting that Tom Kristensen the winners should dedicate their victories to his memory. Many of Allan's family were present at the event and backed the Aston Martin team in their decision to race on as a tribute. On the podium fellow Dane, Kristensen dedicated his team's victory to Allan's memory, reinforcing a message that in the face of tragedy life must go on.
All an Simonsen is probably better known to Australian motorsport fans but he was no stranger to European GT racing or Le Mans. This year was his seventh appearance at (arguably) the premier endurance motor race, having driven a total of 1,143 racing laps of the La Sarthe circuit. In 2007, with co-drivers Pierre Ehret and Lars-Erik Nielsen in the Farnbacher Racing Porsche 997GT3, he came home 3rd in the GT3 class. In 2010, alongside Dominik Farnbacher and Christian Monanari, he took the Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT2 to 12th place overall and 2nd in the GT2 class.
Allan began racing in karts, taking up car racing in 1999 winning that years' Danish Formula Ford Championship driving a Van Diemen RF99. In 2000 he competed in Formula Palmer Audi finishing 11th in the championship. After competing in the British GT championship driving a Ferrari 360 he went on to race one in the 2003 Australian Nations Championship, taking a creditable 8th place in the championship that year. From then he went on to race in several Oz series including GT, V8 Supercars and Utes championships, but his career got really busy as he competed in European championships as well.
In 2006 he campaigned Ferrari F430 GT3's in both the FIA GT3 European and FIA GT championships (GT2 class), jetting back and forth to Oz for the Australian GT Championship (driving a Ferrari 360) and V8 Supercar series (in a Ford Falcon). Winning the Australian GT Championship in 2007 and with his debut at Le Mans, Allan was building a reputation as one of the most versatile drivers of the modern era. The attached table of his career statistics is testimony that he did just that, with so much promise to achieve even more.
There is much more I could write but I'll leave it there other than to say that his passing at just 34 years of age is a tragedy and a great loss to motor sport.
R.I.P Allan Simonsen, 1978-2013
Allan was born in Odense, Denmark. His death on the third lap cast a shadow over the 90th running of 24 Heures du Le Mans so it was fitting that Tom Kristensen the winners should dedicate their victories to his memory. Many of Allan's family were present at the event and backed the Aston Martin team in their decision to race on as a tribute. On the podium fellow Dane, Kristensen dedicated his team's victory to Allan's memory, reinforcing a message that in the face of tragedy life must go on.
All an Simonsen is probably better known to Australian motorsport fans but he was no stranger to European GT racing or Le Mans. This year was his seventh appearance at (arguably) the premier endurance motor race, having driven a total of 1,143 racing laps of the La Sarthe circuit. In 2007, with co-drivers Pierre Ehret and Lars-Erik Nielsen in the Farnbacher Racing Porsche 997GT3, he came home 3rd in the GT3 class. In 2010, alongside Dominik Farnbacher and Christian Monanari, he took the Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT2 to 12th place overall and 2nd in the GT2 class.
Allan began racing in karts, taking up car racing in 1999 winning that years' Danish Formula Ford Championship driving a Van Diemen RF99. In 2000 he competed in Formula Palmer Audi finishing 11th in the championship. After competing in the British GT championship driving a Ferrari 360 he went on to race one in the 2003 Australian Nations Championship, taking a creditable 8th place in the championship that year. From then he went on to race in several Oz series including GT, V8 Supercars and Utes championships, but his career got really busy as he competed in European championships as well.
In 2006 he campaigned Ferrari F430 GT3's in both the FIA GT3 European and FIA GT championships (GT2 class), jetting back and forth to Oz for the Australian GT Championship (driving a Ferrari 360) and V8 Supercar series (in a Ford Falcon). Winning the Australian GT Championship in 2007 and with his debut at Le Mans, Allan was building a reputation as one of the most versatile drivers of the modern era. The attached table of his career statistics is testimony that he did just that, with so much promise to achieve even more.
There is much more I could write but I'll leave it there other than to say that his passing at just 34 years of age is a tragedy and a great loss to motor sport.
R.I.P Allan Simonsen, 1978-2013