THIERRY BOUTSEN CLOSES THE FINAL LAP IN GOODWOOD

“I finally managed to end my pilot career with dignity”

Monaco, July 15, 2011 – For its 17^th consecutive year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which took place on June 30^th -July 3^rd 2011, has offered its 175 000 spectators a unique opportunity to re-discover the mighty Toyota GT One and one of its most emblematic driver, Thierry Boutsen. The Belgian driver was indeed the one who, when leading the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours race, suffered a major accident with the GT-One.

The invitation from Toyota and from the organizers of the Goodwood Festival of Speed to line up and take the GT-One to the famous hill race was the occasion for Boutsen to symbolically put an end to his motorsport driver’s career with dignity.

“The accident which forced me to abandon the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1999 also ended brutally my career, explained Thierry Boutsen after driving the GT-One in Goodwood on Sunday 3^rd, 2011. It was both frustrating and upsetting as I had the sour feeling that I could have raced to victory that year, and then quit racing. With the few laps I did with the GT-One this week end I managed to end my driver’s career with dignity”.

The Toyota GT-One was an endurance car developed by TTE (Toyota Team Europe) led by Ove Andersson in Cologne, Germany. The car, designed by André de Cortanze, was first introduced in the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours race. During that race, Thierry Boutsen, Ralf Kelleners and Geoff Lees, driving the car number 29, led the race during 23 hours 15’… retiring 45 minutes before the race end because of a gearbox failure.

 “The GT-One’s first Le Mans race in 1999 brought a mix of emotion, enthusiasm and frustration, remembers Thierry Boutsen. The car was performing extremely well both in terms of road handling and power. This gearbox failure has been one of my worst souvenir in motorsport”.

After these encouraging debuts, Toyota was back in 1999 with three cars and, again, scored impressive results during the qualification with the 1^st, 2^nd and 8^th position on the starting grid. The race however did kill Toyota’s hope to win the race after several problems. Toyota lost the first GT-One after 90 laps, with a double tire puncture that left the car unable to return to the pits.

The second car, while leading the race with Thierry Boutsen at its wheel, suffered a high speed crash when passing a much slower car just before the Dunlop chicane. The GT-One literally took-off before crashing into the tire wall. Thierry Boutsen was trapped in the car’s wreckage and had to be extracted by the rescue team. He was transported to a nearby hospital suffering from broken vertebras.  It took Boutsen about 2 year to fully recover. But the racing times were over. On Monday 14, June 1999, lying on his bed in the hospital, Boutsen announced his decision to retire from competition. “It was certainly not an easy decision to take, he recalls, but it was the only one I had”.

After his accident with the GT-One, Thierry Boutsen devoted his professional life to Boutsen Aviation, a company he had created with his wife Daniela in 1997. Based in Monaco, Boutsen Aviation’s main mission was initially trading corporate aircraft. Since then, Boutsen’s company has sold over 210 airplanes and helicopters and has gained a solid reputation of expertise, experience and knowledge of the global market. Boutsen Aviation has expanded its business activities and is now offering a complete support to potential corporate jet owners, ranging from technical and financial assessment, acquisition process and maintenance to the management and operation of the aircraft. Boutsen Aviation also offers cabin interior design and decoration, consultancy for cabin completion and refurbishing as well as technical aircraft upgrading.

Thierry Boutsen’s background

Thierry Boutsen made its Formula 1 debut in May 1983, driving for the Arrows GP team at his home race, the Belgian Grand Prix. During his 10 year-career in F1, Boutsen joined some of the finest team including Williams and Benetton. A close friend to Ayrton Senna, Thierry Boutsen won 3 Grand Prix and finished 4^th in the World Drivers’ Championship. In parallel to its career in Formula 1, Boutsen also participated to several endurance races including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. He won the famous Daytona 24 hour race in 1985, clinched the Endurance World Title in 1986 and the US GT Championship in 1998, all with Porsche. In addition to his strong involvement in aviation, Boutsen is still very active in motor racing, through the Boutsen Energy Racing team of his sister Olivia, and brother in law, Olivier Lainé. This racing team aims at promoting young talents in motorsport