Allen Bernard Berg (born August 1, 1961) is a Canadian former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who raced for the

Osella Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team. They participated in 132 List of Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix between 1980 and 1990. They achieved two points finishes and scored five championship points. Early ...

team in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

Racing career

Berg was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. He began in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with 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 fu ...

in 1978 and switched to cars when he was 20, into

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club ...

. In 1982 he won the prestigious Tasman Formula Pacific Series in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and entered the British

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

series in 1983. However, his timing was bad since he had to compete against

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and wo ...

and

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 19 ...

. He won one race (one which Senna and Brundle opted out of to compete for European F3 points and outright race win) and ended up fifth in the series. The following year he was runner-up in the British F3 series to Johnny Dumfries with eight second places. In 1985 he returned to Canada to seek funding for Formula One. In 1986 he managed to buy a seat in the Osella F1 team midway through the season, taking the seat vacated by Christian Danner, who had left to join the Arrows team to replace Marc Surer – Surer having suffered career-ending injuries in the 1986 ADAC Hessen-Rallye between the Belgian and Canadian Grands Prix. Berg took part in nine races before his sponsorship ran out and he missed the Italian Grand Prix; further sponsorship did at least mean he was able to see out the season. He had opportunities to continue in F1 in 1987; however, with the cancellation of the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sp ...

that season, he could not raise enough sponsorship and was unable to secure a drive. Berg has remained involved in motor sport as a professional driver, team owner, series administrator, driving coach and instructor. He has competed in

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

and the

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includi ...

. He spent a season driving a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

BMW M3 in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with producti ...

in 1991, before enjoying success on the Mexican racing scene, winning the Mexican Formula 2 championship in 1993. He also won the

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progr ...

Panamericana title in 2001 as a driver-owner, before retiring from driving. He currently operates Allen Berg Racing Schools primarily in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

, based at

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

. Allen Berg Racing Schools provides a race driving experience in formula racing cars for people with little to no experience. The school also provides instructional programs for up-and-coming drivers to work their way into driving professionally. Multiple graduates of the school have gone on to drive race cars for a career.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Profile on F1 RejectsRichard's F1 interview with Allen BergAllen Berg Racing Schools
1961 births 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Canadian Formula One drivers Canadian people of Swedish descent Living people Osella Formula One drivers Racing drivers from British Columbia Sportspeople from Vancouver World Sportscar Championship drivers {{Canada-autoracing-bio-stub