Olivier_Pla
Olivier Pla
French racing driver
Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing.[1]
| Olivier Pla | |
|---|---|
Pla at the 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone | |
| Nationality | French |
| Born | (1981-10-22) 22 October 1981 (age 42) Toulouse (France) |
| Le Mans Series (LMP2) career | |
| Debut season | 2008 |
| Current team | Quifel ASM Team |
| Racing licence |  FIA Platinum |
| Starts | 10 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2009 |
| Previous series | |
| 2007 2005–07 2004 2003 2001–02 2000 | Porsche Cup Germany GP2 Series World Series by Nissan Formula 3 Euro Series French Formula Three Formula Campus |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2008–2016 |
| Teams | OAK Racing, Quifel ASM Team |
| Best finish | 8th (2013) |
French Formula Campus and Formula Three
Born in Toulouse, Pla started his career in 2000 in French Formula Campus before moving on to French Formula Three Championship in 2001 with the Saulnier Racing team. He finished eighth in the series standings, taking nine points-scoring positions in eleven races, including a podium in the penultimate race of the season at Magny-Cours.[2]
In 2002, Pla stayed in the series but switched to the ASM team. He finished third, behind Renaud Derlot and Tristan Gommendy, taking nine podium places from fourteen races, including wins at Croix-en-Ternois and Bugatti Circuit.[3]
In 2003, Pla joined the Formula 3 Euro Series with ASM. He finished third, behind Christian Klien and Ryan Briscoe, taking nine podium places from twenty races.[4]
World Series by Nissan
2004 saw Pla leave the Euroseries, joining the World Series by Nissan. He contested two rounds with RC Motorsport before joining Carlin Motorsport to replace Michael Keohane. He finished ninth, taking thirteen points-scoring positions in eighteen races, including a win at Estoril.[5]
GP2 Series
In 2005 he raced in the inaugural GP2 Series season for David Price Racing. In the early part of the season he stalled on the grid several times — some blamed the GP2 cars for the high number of stallings, while others noticed that the same drivers seemed to be affected regularly. In another race his team mate selected reverse instead of first gear and went backwards into Pla's car. However, he took advantage of the reverse grid system to finish eighth in Race One and thus take pole for Race Two twice (at Hockenheim and Silverstone), winning both those races to finish 11th in the championship. He remained with DPR for 2006, but was dropped mid-season after running out of sponsorship, after a difficult period which saw him score no points and injure his hand in Monaco.
In 2007, he competed in the German Porsche Carrera Cup. However, he was recalled to DPR in the latter stages of the GP2 season to replace the injured Christian Bakkerud. In 2008, he moved to sports car racing, driving a Lola Le Mans Prototype in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Pla joined Mazda Motorsports for part of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign and signed with Meyer Shank Racing for a full DPi season in 2021.[6]
Career summary
 | Parts of this article (those related to 2013) need to be updated. (December 2013) |
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Series 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 | 23 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | DPR | IMO FEA 9 |
IMO SPR 5 |
CAT FEA Ret |
CAT SPR Ret |
MON FEA 9 |
NÜR FEA Ret |
NÜR SPR 8 |
MAG FEA Ret |
MAG SPR 9 |
SIL FEA 8 |
SIL SPR 1 |
HOC FEA 8 |
HOC SPR 1 |
HUN FEA 7 |
HUN SPR Ret |
IST FEA 9 |
IST SPR 17 |
MNZ FEA Ret |
MNZ SPR Ret |
SPA FEA 11 |
SPA SPR 10 |
BHR FEA Ret |
BHR SPR DNS |
13th | 20 |
| 2006 | DPR Direxiv | VAL FEA 10 |
VAL SPR 15 |
IMO FEA Ret |
IMO SPR 20† |
NÜR FEA 15 |
NÜR SPR Ret |
CAT FEA DSQ |
CAT SPR 20 |
MON FEA Ret |
SIL FEA |
SIL SPR |
MAG FEA 16 |
MAG SPR 9 |
HOC FEA |
HOC SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
IST FEA |
IST SPR |
MNZ FEA |
MNZ SPR |
27th | 0 | ||
| 2007 | DPR | BHR FEA |
BHR SPR |
CAT FEA |
CAT SPR |
MON FEA |
MAG FEA |
MAG SPR |
SIL FEA |
SIL SPR |
NÜR FEA |
NÜR SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
IST FEA |
IST SPR |
MNZ FEA Ret |
MNZ SPR 13 |
SPA FEA |
SPA SPR |
VAL FEA |
VAL SPR |
35th | 0 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
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Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
- "SEASON 2022 SCG DRIVERS". glickenhausracing.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- "2001 French Formula 3 Championship". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
- "2002 French Formula 3 Championship". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
- "2003 Formula 3 Euro Series". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
- "2004 Formula Nissan V6 World Series". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
- Pruett, Marshall (October 16, 2020). "Pla confirmed for 2021 Meyer Shank Acura DPi seat". Racer. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- Official website
- Olivier Pla career summary at DriverDB.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Korea Super Prix Winner 2002 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Le Mans Series — LMP2 Champion 2009 With Miguel Amaral |
Succeeded by |