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Ryan John Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian–American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced
open-wheel An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...
and
sports cars A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1910s and ar ...
in Europe and America. In
IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...
he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third in the 2009 season, fifth in
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, and sixth in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
. In sports car racing, he has won the
2020 24 Hours of Daytona The 2020 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The event was held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road cour ...
and the 2020 Petit Le Mans, was runner-up at the
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
class, and won the
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...
LMP2 class, the
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
and
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...
LMP2 class, the
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...
GTLM class, and finished third overall at the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona.


Career biography


Early career

Like many racing drivers, he started his career in
karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...
, first racing in 1993. After winning Australian, North American and Italian championships, he moved to
Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to auto racing, motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before mov ...
in 2000. He won the
Italian Formula Renault Championship Formula Renault 2.0 Italia was a Formula Renault 2.0 racing series that is based in Italy. The series raced mostly on Italian races but it had regular races at Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and in Spain. Several Formula One drivers ra ...
in 2001 (winning 5 races) and finished 4th running a limited schedule in the Eurocup (with 2 wins in 6 races).


2002–04: Toyota F1 test driver

In 2002, he became test driver for the
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
team which made its debut that season. He started that year racing in the
Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championship ...
series, but struggled and left his ride after 7 races. He finished the year in the
German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...
, taking 3 podiums in the last 6 rounds. He also won the
Formula Three Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...
in 2003 (winning 8 races in the process). He became the Toyota F1 team's 'third' driver (i.e., drove the team's test car on Fridays at Grands Prix) for the last third of the 2004 season, after previous third driver
Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Luiz Zonta (; born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport. Early career Born in ...
was called up to replace
Cristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004. Biography Origins and early career ...
.


2005: Move to IndyCar with Ganassi

There were rumours that Briscoe was set to race for the
Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan and was based at Silverstone, England, but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the team ...
F1 team in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, due to the team's acquisition of
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
power. Instead, Briscoe moved to America and raced for Target
Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...
in the
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
, including a 10th-place finish in the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
. He also made his Rolex
Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...
début with Ganassi at the
24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...
. In the 2005 IndyCar Series, Briscoe took pole position at Sears Point, but struggled on the ovals and was involved in several crashes. On 11 September 2005 he was involved in a violent crash at
Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is an inactive tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is currently own ...
, breaking both
clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...
s among other injuries. His car climbed on top of the Cheever Racing entry driven by Alex Barron and went airborne into the catch fencing above the retaining wall and snapping in two. He was released from hospital on 19 September and following some initial treatment in the US, moved to the specialist Formula Medicine facility in
Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...
, Italy, for the bulk of his rehabilitation. It took 8 weeks for Briscoe to recover from the injuries he sustained in the crash. His official web site announced his return to the USA on 14 November 2005.


2006–07: Limited campaigns

Briscoe was dropped by Ganassi for 2006, replaced by 2005 IndyCar champion
Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...
. During the winter, he tested with fellow Australian and
Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...
owner
Kevin Kalkhoven Kevin Oscar Newton Kalkhoven (1944 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian venture capitalist and auto racing magnate based in California. He was CEO of JDS Uniphase and was an investor in Cosworth Group Holdings Limited, an automotive technolog ...
's PKV Racing team. Briscoe also tested for the
Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team based in Indianapolis, United States that currently competes in the Ferrari Challenge North America as well as the GTD Pro and GTD classes of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. They previously competed in ...
team. Briscoe competed in the
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...
with 2005 champions
Wayne Taylor Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for Su ...
, Max Angelelli and
Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
, but the team withdrew due to accident damage before Briscoe's turn to drive. In 2006, Briscoe was announced as an endurance driver for Holden Racing Team in the Australian
V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...
touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...
series. He partnered Jim Richards at the
Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...
and
Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...
, with Richards crashing the car before Briscoe could drive a race lap at Bathurst. Briscoe also drove in the
A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...
race at
Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...
in the US for A1 Team Australia, scoring three points. At the
Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
he was a surprise late driver of the No. 48 car for
A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...
Racing – the deal was so late he was still having his seat fitting with less than half an hour of Bump Day qualifying left, and he never got out on the track to attempt a qualifying run. He returned to the IRL the following week and drove the No. 5
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is an American automotive racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and Nitrocross. The team is owned by Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis BMW, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Mini (marque), MINI, and Subaru dealer D ...
Dallara to a third-place finish at
Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...
, a road course. He returned to the Dreyer & Reinbold team on a three race deal for the short speedways in the second half of the season, but recorded DNF's in 2 of his 3 races with the team. He then was tabbed to replace the injured
Cristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004. Biography Origins and early career ...
in the final two races of the
Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...
season for the RuSPORT team, including his home country's race at Surfers Paradise. Briscoe signed a deal to drive for
Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Da ...
's
Porsche RS Spyder The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's ...
LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
car in the
American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
. He took three wins in a full campaign driving with
Sascha Maassen Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in Aachen, Germany) is a veteran sports car driver. Early career Maassen began his career in karts, and moved to cars in 1989, in Formula Ford 1600. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German Formula 3 s ...
. Briscoe continued to drive the RS Spyder in a limited campaign in 2008. He scored his only class victory that year at
Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...
, winning with fellow IndyCar driver
Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...
. Briscoe's ties to Penske were also strengthened in 2007 when he was on loan to drive in the Indy 500 in a car owned by
Stephen J. Luczo Stephen J. "Steve" Luczo (born February 28, 1957) is the chairman of the board at Seagate. In January 2009, Luczo, Seagate's chairman, was appointed president and chief executive officer, returning him to the role he held at Seagate from 1998 ...
and
Jay Penske Jay Penske (born May 5, 1979) is an American businessman best known for creating the media company Penske Media Corporation. Early life and education Born in New York City, New York, Penske is the youngest son of Kathy, an English school teac ...
, with equipment leased from defending '500' champion Penske Racing. Driving the No. 12 Symantec Luczo-Dragon Racing machine, Briscoe qualified 7th with a four lap average speed of 224.410. In the race on 28 May 2007, he completed all 166 laps before the race was called due to inclement weather. Briscoe finished 5th among the 33 participants earning him $302,305 and 30 driver points.


2008–2012: Penske contender for the championship

Ryan Briscoe signed to drive for Penske's IndyCar team as a full-time race driver for the
2008 IndyCar Series season The 2008 IndyCar Series was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American Championship car racing, American open wheel racing. It began on March 29, 2008, and ended on September 7 after 17 point-s ...
, replacing
Sam Hornish Jr. Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017. Hornish began his top-ti ...
, who started racing full-time in Penske's NASCAR team in 2008. Briscoe knocked himself out of the 2008 Indianapolis 500 along with
Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...
when Briscoe came out of the pits and ran into Patrick tearing up her suspension and tearing the front end of Briscoe's car. Patrick and Briscoe were fined $100,000 and placed on probation at the end of the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
. Briscoe earned his first career win at the
Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...
just one week after Indy, holding off
Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a New Zealand racing driver who races the 9 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) Dallara DW12-Honda car in the IndyCar Series. He is a six-time drivers' champion of the IndyCar Series, having claimed the title in ...
and avoiding a late crash involving Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, and Vítor Meira. Briscoe became the sixth driver in IndyCar history to score his first win while driving for Penske, following
Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victory. Donohue is probably best kno ...
(in
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
),
Tom Sneva Thomas Edsol Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is an American former race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. A former math teacher and juni ...
(
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
),
Rick Mears Richard Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is an American former race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
(
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
),
Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian professional auto racing driver who participated in Champ Car World Series, the IndyCar Series, and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He started kart racing at age five and quick ...
(
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
), and teammate
Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...
(
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
). He followed up his first career win with a second victory, shortly after the halfway point of the season, at the Honda 200 on the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...
. Briscoe also became the first Australian to claim victory at their home event, the 2008 Nikon Indy 300, on 26 October 2008, after countryman and favourite
Will Power William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in ...
crashed out early in the race. The race, however, was not held for championship points and was the last major open-wheel event held at the
Surfers Paradise Street Circuit The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Surfers Paradise, in Queensland, Australia. The beach-side track has several fast sections and two chicanes, having been shortened from an origi ...
.
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
was Briscoe's best season in the championship, with 3 wins and 8 further podiums Briscoe led the championship for most of the season with him trading the lead with Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. He was leading the championship by 25 points before the penultimate round, the Indy Japan 300 at the
Twin Ring Motegi Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race ...
. Briscoe then hit the wall exiting accelerating from the pit exit and had to retire, dropping to third in the championship behind
Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti (born 19 May 1973) is a British motorsport commentator and retired motor racing driver from Scotland. Franchitti won the IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011; the Indianapolis 500 in ...
and Dixon. Briscoe remained in championship contention heading into the final event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, however in a three-way battle between the title contenders, Briscoe could only finish second behind Franchitti, who became champion. Briscoe won a single race at
Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, but could not recapture the heights of 2009 and did not win another race until
Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...
in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
. Briscoe did, however, take pole for the 2012 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Australian to do so. Briscoe matched his best finishing position of fifth in the race.


2013–14: ALMS and return to Ganassi

At the beginning of 2013, Briscoe was unable to secure an Indycar ride. Instead, he was hired by
Level 5 Motorsports Level 5 Motorsports was an American auto racing team founded in 2006 with illegally procured funds by racing driver, money lender and later convicted racketeer Scott Tucker, currently serving a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in federal prison. ...
to drive an HPD ARX-03b in the P2 class of the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring. Briscoe won his class with Scott Tucker and
Marino Franchitti Marino Alessandro Cesare Franchitti (born 7 July 1978) is a British racing driver, and the younger brother of Dario Franchitti. He has spent the majority of his career racing in sports cars and grand tourers, with a career highlight of winning t ...
, his first ALMS P2 class win since 2008. Later, just before the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...
in April, Level 5 announced it had signed Briscoe on as a full-season P2 driver with Tucker, going on to win six times across the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
. With the team Briscoe also made his debut in the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
but the entry was not classified. Meanwhile, just before the 2013 Grand Prix of Alabama in April, Chip Ganassi Racing announced they had signed Briscoe to return to the team for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 as a 3rd entry. Following the 500, in which Briscoe finished 12th,
Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was ...
announced that it had signed Briscoe to replace J. R. Hildebrand in the No. 4 National Guard car from
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
onwards. Following Dario Franchitti's retirement after a crash at the
Grand Prix of Houston The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers was an annual auto racing, auto race on the IndyCar Series circuit. It was held in a street circuit located in downtown Houston for four years, then retur ...
,
Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed "TK", is a Brazilian racing driver who is the team principal of Arrow McLaren. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, an ...
moved from a planned fourth Ganassi Racing car, and Briscoe took over the fourth No. 8 NTT Data car from Kanaan for the
2014 IndyCar Series The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 19th season of the IndyCar Series and the 103rd season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 98th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 25. Scott Dixon entered the season as the defen ...
. He finished 11th in the points and failed to finish on the podium. He parted ways with Ganassi at the end of the season, as the No. 8 car needed more funding to continue. Having returned to the V8 Supercars Bathurst 1000 in 2010, and competing as a mandated 'international driver' in the
Gold Coast 600 The Gold Coast 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Boost Mobile (Australia), Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Parad ...
between 2010 and 2012, Briscoe returned to Australia in 2013 to compete in the newly launched three-event series of two-driver races known as the Enduro Cup. The final race of this campaign, also at the Gold Coast 600, saw Briscoe take his first championship podium driving with
Russell Ingall Russell Peter Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 100 ...
.


2015: Corvette success and IndyCar substitution

For the 2015 IndyCar Series season Briscoe had been in negotiations to race for
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM). The team operates the N ...
, but that fell through when financial arrangements could not be made for the team to field a third car. However, the team then called Briscoe in as replacement driver for
James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship driving the No. 9 Lamborghini for Pfaff Motorsports. He is also a commentator for Fox Sports, FOX Sp ...
at the
2015 Indianapolis 500 The 2015 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 24, 2015. It was the premier event of the 2015 IndyCar Series season, 2015 season of the IndyCar Series, Verizon IndyCar Series. Juan Pabl ...
after Hinchcliffe suffered a severe injury after qualifying for the race. He returned to the team at Texas and joined as permanent replacement driver from
Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...
onwards. He collected four top-ten finishes in eight races in what were his final appearances in the championship. Meanwhile, Briscoe continued a relationship with
Corvette Racing Corvette Racing was an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing was originally the official racing program for General M ...
in the GTLM category that had commenced in 2014 with selected entries as a third driver in the endurance
United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association ( ...
(IMSA) events. In 2015, Briscoe won his class at the
2015 24 Hours of Daytona The 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona was an endurance sports car racing event held at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida from 22–25 January 2015. The 53rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona was also the first race for the 2 ...
and 2015 12 Hours of Sebring driving the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with Antonio García and
Jan Magnussen Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Champ Car, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA ...
. The team also entered the
2015 24 Hours of Le Mans Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...
but failed to make the start after a crash in qualifying.


2016–19: Ford GT with Ganassi

In 2016, Ford launched a return to endurance sports car racing with Chip Ganassi Racing running a
Ford GT The Ford GT is a Mid-engine design, mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company, Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second gene ...
across both the FIA World Endurance (WEC) and
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...
(IMSA) championships. Briscoe was selected to join the IMSA team which, alongside former IndyCar rival Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook, also made annual appearances in the WEC's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The trio scored a class podium at the
2016 24 Hours of Le Mans The 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans () was a 24-hour automobile endurance racing event held for teams of three drivers each fielding Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars from 15 to 19 June 2016 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, ...
and Briscoe claimed his 2nd 24 Hours of Daytona class win in 2018. In the IMSA championship, Westbrook and Briscoe contested full seasons with Dixon joining them for the endurance races. Westbrook and Briscoe finished second in the championship in both 2016 and 2018. The Ford works programme shut down at the end of the 2019 season.


2020: Wayne Taylor Racing

Briscoe switched to the Prototype class for the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Championship, partnering with Renger van der Zande as full-time driver at Wayne Taylor Racing. The duo won the
2020 24 Hours of Daytona The 2020 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The event was held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road cour ...
along with
Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a New Zealand racing driver who races the 9 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) Dallara DW12-Honda car in the IndyCar Series. He is a six-time drivers' champion of the IndyCar Series, having claimed the title in ...
and
Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver and motorsport executive, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, Toyota and in Super Formula for KC Motorgroup, KCMG. Kobayashi competed in Formula One from to . In end ...
. In October 2020, Briscoe, van der Zande and Dixon won the 2020 Petit Le Mans at
Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
.


Personal life

In addition to his native English, Briscoe speaks Italian and French. He attended Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill, Sydney, Australia, however he had left to compete in Europe before completing his education. He has been married to
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
anchor Nicole Briscoe (née Manske) since 2009 and the couple have two children. In April 2018, he became a naturalized American citizen and thus hold the Australian and American citizenships respectively. Briscoe is not related to
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
driver
Chase Briscoe Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry, Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also ...
.


Racing record


Career summary

As Briscoe was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.


Complete International Formula 3000 results

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


Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

( key)


Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) * Was entered as third driver, but did not run due to bad weather.


Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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


IndyCar results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) : ''1 Run on same day.'' : ''2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.'' : ''3 ''The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after
Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...
died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.'' : ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes. : *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.


Indianapolis 500


Champ Car results


Rolex Sports Car Series results

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


American Le Mans Series results

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


Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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


24 Hours of Daytona results


Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results


Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results


Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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


Supercars Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Not Eligible for points
* Season still in progress


Complete Bathurst 1000 results


References


External links


Ryan Briscoe's official website
* *
Motorsport.com – Articles & photo's

IndyCar Driver Page

Photograph of Ryan's huge crash in 2005

Photo sequence of infernal 2005 Chicagoland crash (from Paddocktalk).

IndyCar 11 in '11 video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Ryan 1981 births Living people Australian IndyCar Series drivers Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers International Formula 3000 drivers A1 Team Australia drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Formula 3 Euro Series champions Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Supercars Championship drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Karting World Championship drivers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Racing drivers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters IndyCar Series drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Nordic Racing drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers RuSPORT drivers Dragon Racing drivers Team Penske drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers Panther Racing drivers Arrow McLaren SP drivers Corvette Racing drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Multimatic Motorsports drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers Andretti Autosport drivers People educated at Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales) Racing drivers from New South Wales American racing drivers Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers Kolles Racing drivers 21st-century Australian sportsmen Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers