Stephen Christopher Goodwin (10 March 1967) is a British
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...
driver. Currently he works as Expert High Performance Test Driver for Aston Martin. Additionally he manages the racing career of
Bruno Senna
Bruno Senna Lalli (, born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula One world champion. He is also the first man to win a race in every WEC class, and was the 2017 W ...
and continues to race in International GT Endurance events.
He was also TV commentator on F1 for ESPN Star Sports for nearly ten years and occasionally still appears on EPS&M and other networks such as ITV (GP2 coverage).
Racing career
His early racing was in single-seaters, starting in 1987 with the Formula First Championship. He was featured in the final episode of the 1987 series of
Top Gear in which he collided with another competitor. He was Champion of Brands Hatch and finished runner-up in the 1989 Formula Ford Junior Championship, and runner-up again in 1990 when he competed in
Formula Renault
Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...
. He competed in
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 ...
and Formula Vauxhall in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
In 1993 he drove in two rounds of the
British Touring Car Championship
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...
for the Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Team in a
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier was a large family car that was sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall from 1975 to 1995. It was based on a succession of Opel designs throughout its production life, during which it was built in three incarnations. The fir ...
. This included an impressive tenth place finish at the final round at Silverstone. He entered a Cavalier in 1994 as an independent entry for Roy Kennedy Racing, finishing third in the Cup for Privateers despite missing some rounds.
In 1995 and 1996 Chris drove for the factory Lotus GT team in International GT Endurance races.
He worked for
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
in 1997, competing in both the
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...
and Le Mans. In 1999 he raced the
British GT Championship
The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports ...
with a
McLaren F1 GTR
The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the na ...
. Two more years were spent in the British GTs in 1999 and 2000. In 2001 he raced in both the
European Le Mans Series
The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...
winning the GTS class and the ASCAR Championship. He returned to
Touring Cars
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move ...
in 2002 driving a
Nissan Primera
The is a large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to '' Nissan Prince Store'' locations. In North ...
in the
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...
.
In 2008, Chris was instrumental in establishing the SLR GT Trophy for the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren sportscar and finished second in 6 races.
Most recently, Chris has raced in the FIA GT3 Championship, the FIA GT Championship (best result 3rd in GT2 at the Spa 24 Hours) and in GT2 in the International GT Open Championship.
Goodwin, in his role as McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver, drove the 2008 title-winning
MP4-23 Formula One car at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June or e ...
on Friday 3 July 2009.
Goodwin was announced as Expert High Performance Test Driver for Aston Martin on 20 December 2017.
Racing record
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (ma ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete European Touring Car Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (ma ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete
24 Hours of Spa
The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies.
History
The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...
results
References
External links
BTCC Pages Profile.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Chris
1967 births
Living people
British Touring Car Championship drivers
British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
FIA GT Championship drivers
British Formula 3000 Championship drivers
McLaren people
Blancpain Endurance Series drivers
International GT Open drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
European Touring Car Championship drivers
British GT Championship drivers
Aston Martin Racing drivers
Ecurie Ecosse drivers
CRS Racing drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
McLaren Racing drivers
Le Mans Cup drivers