Christophe Raymond Jean Tinseau (born 18 December 1969) is a French racing driver from

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and 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 1991. In 1992 he moved to French Formula Three and in 1993 he placed 4th in that championship with 2 wins and finished 10th in the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

. In 1994 he was the championship runner-up in French F3 and in 1995 he moved up to

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 ...

where he finished 16th with 7 race starts. In 1996 he improved to 6th in F3000, winning the season-ending race at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

. In 1997 he raced in

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

but only managed an 11th place championship finish, ending up on the podium once at

Circuit Trois-Rivières The Circuit Trois-Rivières is a street circuit in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The circuit has been the home of the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the longest-running street race in North America, since 1967. The circuit is located o ...

. After the seeming decline in his open-wheel fortunes, Tinseau moved to sports cars for 1998 driving a Panoz Esperante GTR-1 for

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

, making his

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 ...

debut. In 1999, still with DAMS he piloted a Judd powered Lola B98/10 for and won two races in the

Sports Racing World Cup The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on two ...

. From 2000 to 2002 he drove the historic

Cadillac Northstar LMP The Cadillac Northstar LMP are a series of Le Mans Prototypes built by Cadillac for use in the American Le Mans Series as well as an attempt to return Cadillac to the 24 Hours of Le Mans since they first entered in . The Northstar LMPs were named ...

at Le Mans, finishing 5th in class in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. He competed part-time in various series from 2003 to 2005, but returned to full-time racing in 2006 when he finished 6th in

Porsche Carrera Cup France Porsche Carrera Cup France is a Spec racing, one make motor racing championship held in France. The cars are Porsche 911 GT3#Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991.2) with 4.0 liters, Flat-six engine, flat-6 naturally aspirated engines that pr ...

. He made 6

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 ...

starts and finished 6th at Le Mans for

Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Sport was a motorsport team based in Le Mans, France, and founded in February 2000 by French racing driver Henri Pescarolo and his friend and partner, French publisher François Granet. They raced in the Le Mans Series and the 24 ...

in 2007. He continued with the team in 2008 and finished 7th at Le Mans and 8th in LMS points and continued with the team in 2009, finishing second in Le Mans Series. In 2010 he competed in the

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series The NASCAR Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series, Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series, and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's four international-sanctioned s ...

, finishing eighth with one win. In 2011 he returned to Le Mans Series with Pescarolo and finished fourth in the championship. In 2012 he competed in a handful of major endurance races, and since then has been largely retired. He has founded a racing school for ice racing.Ice Driving by Tinseau
, Retrieved 2015-02-07

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete American Open Wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

Complete FIA GT Championship results

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

*
Official Website
1969 births French racing drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Indy Lights drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Sportspeople from Orléans Living people European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers {{France-autoracing-bio-stub DAMS drivers OAK Racing drivers TDS Racing drivers Pescarolo Sport drivers Conquest Racing drivers David Price Racing drivers 24H Series drivers Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers