Tomas Scheckter

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Tomas Scheckter
File:Tomas Scheckter 2006 Chicagoland.jpg
Scheckter in 2006
Nationality South Africa South African
Born (1980-09-21) 21 September 1980 (age 43)
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Related to Jody Scheckter, 1979 Formula One World Champion (father)
Ian Scheckter (uncle)
Toby Scheckter (brother)
Debut season 2002
Current team Team REDLINE Xtreme
Car no. 07
Former teams Conquest Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Luczo Dragon Racing
Vision Racing
Panther Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Cheever Racing
KV Racing
Starts 115
Wins 2
Poles 8
Best finish 7th in 2003

Tomas Scheckter (born 21 September 1980) is a South African former racing driver.

Early years

Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife Pamela. Scheckter started racing karts in South Africa at the age of 11 and it did not take long for the young driver to reach the podium. He had his first taste of a major championship as a teenager when he captured the South African Kart Championship in 1995. In 1996 he ventured on to the main circuit in the South African Formula Vee series and soon after he was in the South African Formula Ford Series where he posted two wins.

He had proven his speed in South African motorsports and was then off to Europe the following year where he entered the British Formula Vauxhall Junior series where he raced against the likes of Antônio Pizzonia and Takuma Sato. Scheckter earned third in the championship with one victory and one pole. He was also named series Rookie of the Year.

In 1999, Scheckter won the Formula Opel Euroseries championship with a record eight victories and eight poles, and in the process broke all the winning records previously set by Mika Häkkinen, Rubens Barrichello, and David Coulthard. That success landed him a drive that same year in the last two races of the Formula Nissan championship which Fernando Alonso had dominated that whole season. Even though Scheckter was with a new team for this brief stint in Formula Nissan, he captured a win, two poles and a second-place position.

Scheckter moved on to the Formula 3 Series in 2000, and in his rookie year, he was the runner-up in the British Formula 3 Championship with two victories and two pole positions, while contending again with drivers such as Takuma Sato, Antônio Pizzonia and Narain Karthikeyan. He also had time to race in the prestigious Marlboro Masters F3 race at Zandvoort where he took the third podium position. To complete his year, he competed in the final four races of the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second at Hockenheim behind future IRL teammate Tomáš Enge.[1] He also raced in the Open Telefónica by Nissan, finishing as championship runner-up.

Scheckter was signed as a test/reserve driver by Jaguar for the 2001 Formula One season, but was soon let go after being found "curb crawling."[2][3][4][5]

IndyCar Series

File:Scheckter video.JPG
Scheckter watches practice speeds while waiting for his turn to qualify for the 2007 Indy 500. Photo by Tim Wohlford.
File:TScheckterIndy.jpg
Scheckter during a practice session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
File:Tomas Scheckter 2010 Indy 500 Practice Day 1.JPG
Scheckter at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2010.

Scheckter was signed to drive for Eddie Cheever's Red Bull Cheever Racing in the IndyCar Series for the 2002 season. He was the Indianapolis 500 co-Rookie of the year (with 4th placed Alex Barron) after leading 85 laps of the race. However, Cheever soon grew tired of Scheckter's frequent crashes, and looked to replace him with Buddy Rice. At Michigan International Speedway, Cheever was forced to race Scheckter due to contractual obligations, but gave Rice the best equipment and crew. In a memorable race, Scheckter beat Rice by inches for his first IRL win, while team owner Cheever crashed out. However, he was soon gone from Cheever Racing.

In 2003 he moved to Target Ganassi Racing with mixed results, often being criticized for his inconsistency and frequency of crashing, finishing well behind title winning teammate Scott Dixon.

In 2004 he moved to Panther Racing to replace double champion Sam Hornish, Jr.. In 2004 and 2005 Scheckter and Panther were the dominant Chevrolet powered team, greatly outpacing other teams powered by what many considered the weakest engine in the series. Scheckter broke through a horrendous string of bad luck, defeating Hornish to win the Bombardier Learjet 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2005 for his second career victory.

In mid-2005, Scheckter was announced as one of the drivers for A1 Team South Africa in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series. He raced in the rounds at EuroSpeedway Lausitz and Estoril.

In 2006, Scheckter drove for Tony George and Patrick Dempsey's Vision Racing alongside teammate Ed Carpenter and finished 10th in points.

In 2007 Scheckter again raced for Vision Racing sponsored by Joost. The South African was one of the few drivers that year to challenge the Team Penske, Andretti Green Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers on a regular basis during races, on occasion leading the race. He ultimately finished 10th in points for the second season in a row with a best finish of 5th.

For the 2008 season, Scheckter was scheduled to race for Luczo Dragon Racing in 3 races: Kansas, Indianapolis and Infineon. Despite not finishing at Kansas or Indy, Scheckter's runs gave the team additional race time at Texas, Detroit, and Chicagoland. Scheckter failed to return any good results in the additional races despite qualifying well. He did not return to the team in 2009, as it became a full-time team with 2008 Indy Lights champion Raphael Matos. Scheckter was reported to be joining Beck Motorsports, now renamed Team 3G, starting at the 2009 Long Beach race, but the deal never materialized. Scheckter personally secured sponsorship from MonaVie which he shopped to a number of teams, ultimately signing with Dale Coyne Racing for a second week program. He qualified 26th and finished 12th. Later in the 2009 season he returned with the MonaVie sponsorship with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing sharing the #23 car with Milka Duno, who brought her own sponsorship, as well as driving a third car, the #43, in select races.

In 2010 Scheckter once again brought Mona-Vie to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to drive the #23 car in the Indianapolis 500. Scheckter had a great race, and was in the top for the majority of the race. In the last 20 laps a fuel mileage problem forced Scheckter to conserve fuel and he dropped back to finish 12th. Scheckter's teammate Mike Conway suffered a leg injury in a terrible crash at the Indianapolis 500 and Scheckter was hired to fill in for Conway at Texas and Iowa finished 15th and 19th at each. Later in the year he was hired to drive for Conquest Racing at Chicago and Kentucky. Scheckter finished 28th at Chicago, but after having a surprisingly quick time in practice and qualifying he was accidentally hit from behind by Alex Lloyd in the first ten laps and made contact with the wall that ended his day. At Kentucky Scheckter struggled getting the car up to speed and finished 14th.

For 2011 Scheckter joined KV-SH Racing and drive the #07 Team Redline Extreme car in the Indianapolis 500. For the season's final race in Las Vegas, Scheckter drove the #57 car for Sarah Fisher Racing with Angie's List as the primary sponsor, however this race was red flagged due to a multicar pile up early in the race.

Personal

He is the son of 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and the nephew of racer Ian Scheckter. He also has an older brother named Toby, and a younger brother Hugo, who often updates Tomas's fans through his Twitter page.[6]

Motorsports career results

Complete Euro Open by Nissan results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
1999 Vergani Racing ALB
1		 ALB
2		 JER
1		 JER
2		 JAR
1		 JAR
2		 MNZ
1		 MNZ
2		 JAR
1		 JAR
2		 DON
1		 DON
2		 BAR
1		 BAR
2		 VAL
1
1		 VAL
2
2		 12th 35
2001 Vergani Racing JAR
1
10		 JAR
2
3		 EST
1
1		 EST
2
1		 ALB
1
2		 ALB
2
2		 VAL
1
1		 VAL
2
2		 MNZ
1
3		 MNZ
2
2		 MAG
1
5		 MAG
2
2		 BAR
1
1		 BAR
2
Ret		 VAL
1
Ret		 VAL
2
9		 2nd 185

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2000 MySap.com IMO SIL CAT NÜR MON MAG A1R
18		 HOC
2		 HUN
21		 SPA
DNS		 13th 6
2001 European Minardi F3000 INT IMO CAT A1R MON NÜR MAG SIL HOC
Ret		 HUN SPA MNZ NC 0

Complete IndyCar Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2002 Team Cheever Dallara Infiniti HMS
6		 PHX
24		 FON
24		 NZR
21		 INDY
26		 TXS
17		 PPIR
16		 RIR
4		 KAN
15		 NSH
13		 MIS
1		 KTY
22		 STL CHI TX2 14th 210
2003 Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force Toyota HMS
8		 PHX
15		 MOT
16		 INDY
4		 TXS
18		 PPIR
8		 RIR
18		 KAN
9		 NSH
10		 MIS
3		 STL
4		 KTY
10		 NZR
19		 CHI
5		 FON
5		 TX2
15		 7th 356
2004 Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet HMS
5		 PHX
16		 MOT
13		 INDY
18		 TXS
20		 RIR
17		 KAN
15		 NSH
19		 MIL
21		 MIS
19		 KTY
22		 PPIR
17		 NZR
13		 CHI
19		 FON
15		 TX2
18		 19th 230
2005 Panther Racing Dallara Chevrolet HMS
11		 PHX
17		 STP
17		 MOT
10		 INDY
20		 TXS
1		 RIR
4		 KAN
5		 NSH
17		 MIL
3		 MIS
3		 KTY
21		 PPIR
14		 SNM
16		 CHI
4		 WGL
20		 FON
7		 9th 390
2006 Vision Racing Dallara Honda HMS
9		 STP
12		 MOT
13		 INDY
27		 WGL
10		 TXS
10		 RIR
7		 KAN
7		 NSH
15		 MIL
3		 MIS
5		 KTY
7		 SNM
17		 CHI
10		 10th 298
2007 Vision Racing Dallara Honda HMS
8		 STP
6		 MOT
9		 KAN
5		 INDY
7		 MIL
17		 TXS
14		 IOW
19		 RIR
7		 WGL
13		 NSH
11		 MDO
9		 MIS
11		 KTY
5		 SNM
8		 DET
13		 CHI
20		 10th 357
2008 Luczo Dragon Racing Dallara Honda HMS STP MOT1 LBH1 KAN
23		 INDY
24		 MIL TXS
25		 IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM
27		 DET
21		 CHI
26		 SRF2 31st 66
2009 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara Honda STP LBH KAN INDY
12		 20th 195
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing MIL
13		 TXS
13		 IOW
6		 RIR
11		 WGL TOR
16		 EDM
19		 KTY
22		 MDO SNM CHI
8		 MOT
23		 HMS
9
2010 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara Honda SAO STP ALA LBH KAN INDY
15		 TXS
13		 IOW WGL TOR
15		 EDM
19		 MDO SNM         29th 89
Conquest Racing                           CHI
28		 KTY
14		 MOT HMS
2011 SH Racing
KV Racing Technology		 Dallara Honda STP ALA LBH SAO INDY
8		 TXS TX2 MIL IOW TOR EDM MDO             32nd 52
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing                         NHM
23		 SNM
SH Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing		                         BAL
22		 MOT KTY
Sarah Fisher Racing                         LVS
C
1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)		 Top 10s
(Non-podium)		 Indianapolis 500
Wins		 Championships
10 8 117 8 2 4 38 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team Notes
2002 Dallara Infiniti 10 26 Team Cheever Led most laps, crashed in Turn 4
2003 G-Force Toyota 12 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Led the most laps
2004 Dallara Chevrolet 10 18 Panther Racing Running
2005 Dallara Chevrolet 11 20 Panther Racing Accident
2006 Dallara Honda 11 27 Vision Racing Accident
2007 Dallara Honda 10 7 Vision Racing Running
2008 Dallara Honda 11 24 Luczo Dragon Racing Mechanical failure
2009 Dallara Honda 26 12 Dale Coyne Racing Running
2010 Dallara Honda 20 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Led 5 laps
2011 Dallara Honda 21 8 SH Racing/KVRT Running

Scheckter started on the fourth row of the Indy 500 his first seven races until 2009, when he qualified 26th.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2005–06 A1 Team South Africa GBR
SPR		 GBR
FEA		 GER
SPR
12		 GER
FEA
Ret		 POR
SPR
10		 POR
FEA
Ret		 AUS
SPR		 AUS
FEA		 MYS
SPR		 MYS
FEA		 UAE
SPR		 UAE
FEA		 RSA
SPR		 RSA
FEA		 IDN
SPR		 IDN
FEA		 MEX
SPR		 MEX
FEA		 USA
SPR		 USA
FEA		 CHN
SPR		 CHN
FEA		 17th 20

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Tomas Scheckter fired as Jaguar test-driver, GrandPrix.com, 5 May 2001
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Indianapolis 500
Rookie of the Year
(with Alex Barron)
2002		 Succeeded by
Toranosuke Takagi
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