Elton Julian (born August 16, 1974) is an American racecar driver and team owner. After driving at the

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become to ...

and the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

, he has entered

DragonSpeed DragonSpeed Racing is an American auto racing team that competes in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2019, the team entered the NTT IndyCar Series with a five race schedule, includin ...

at the FIA WEC,

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Personal life

Julian was born in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He grew up in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Dagys, John
ALMS: 10 Questions With Elton Julian
, ''Speed'', April 26, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-31 He speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

fluently.

Racing career

Single Seat Formula Cars

Early career

Julian began his racing career in Southern California at age 13, racing go karts before moving on to Formula Ford at the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 19 ...

where he won 36 races from 49 starts and four championships in 1990.

Formula Three

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, he raced in the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

for the

Alan Docking Racing Alan Docking Racing (ADR) is a motor racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom. The team was formed in 1975 by Australian Alan Docking. The team competed in the British Formula 3 series throughout most of its existence; however, it has ...

and

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship, GB4 Championship, and F4 British Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, ...

teams finishing 8th in the championship with one pole position and one win, becoming the youngest winner in series history. That same year he also competed in the

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 ...

series at

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and finished 8th. In 1993, he raced in the

French Formula Three Championship The French Formula Three Championship was a motor racing series for Formula Three cars held in France between 1964 and 2002. The series was merged with the German Formula Three Championship in 2003 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 ...

and finished third in the drivers championship for the Formula Project team.

Formula One

In 1994, Julian signed a multi-year test and reserve driver contract with the French

Larrousse Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, Antony, in the southern suburbs of Pa ...

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, completing several tests at

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has ...

in Le Castellet, France. In his first test he was over half a second faster than regular driver

Érik Comas Érik Gilbert Comas (; born 28 September 1963) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . In Japanese motorsport, Comas won the All-Japan GT Championship in 1998 and 1999 with Nismo. He won the French Formula ...

and Julian was considered a potential candidate for a race seat in 1995. However, the Larrousse team closed its doors for financial reasons just before the start of the 1995 season despite last minute attempts to save the squad by the F3000 racing team

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, ...

and other interested parties.

Formula 3000/Formula Atlantic/Formula Nippon

In preparation for his testing duties with Larrousse, Julian entered the FIA

series for three races in 1994 and made his debut at

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

in Belgium for the Omegaland team. He competed in the remaining races of the

1994 International Formula 3000 season The 1994 Formula 3000 International Championship was the tenth season of Formula 3000 in Europe. Jean-Christophe Boullion won the championship after eight rounds. Technical changes After a year out of Europe, Lola returned with an extensively d ...

and finished 13th in France at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

. He returned to Europe for the

1996 International Formula 3000 season The 1996 International Formula 3000 Championship was contested over ten rounds from 11 May to 12 October 1996. This was the first F3000 season in which every team had the same chassis, engine and tyres. Drivers and constructors Calendar ...

and competed full-time for

Nordic Racing Coca-Cola Nordic Racing (formerly Nordic Racing 1993-2000) was an auto racing team from United Kingdom. Nordic Racing was owned by Derek Mower. It was headquartered in Thetford, UK. The team achieved its best results came in 2001 International For ...

. The season was not particularly successful as the team failed to come to grips with the all new Lola chassis and Julian only broke into the points at the final race of the season at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

in Germany with a fifth-place result. He finished 14th in the championship. In 1997 he tested a

Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

car at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan and was offered a contract for the following season but a lack of funding kept him out of racing until 1999 when he made two

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

starts for the PDR team resulting in a fifth-place finish at Long Beach and a DNF in Montreal.

Sports Cars

When the Larrousse Formula One team shut down in 1995, Julian turned to sports cars and drove in two

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

races with

Euromotorsport EuroInternational is a racing organization (which includes Italian division EuroInternational Srl and American division EuroInternational Inc.) owned by Antonio Ferrari. History Originally known as Euromotorsport, the team made its CART debut in ...

in a Ferrari F333SP prototype finishing second in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona and setting a new lap record at the 12 Hours of Sebring. After the end of his single seater career and another long absence from racing which lasted from 1999 until 2005, he raced a DOME S101 LMP1 prototype in the

2005 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans () was a non-championship 24-hour endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race held from 18 to 19 June 2005, at the Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, for teams of three drivers each entering L ...

with Jan Lammers and the

Racing for Holland Racing for Holland is a Dutch motor racing team started by Jan Lammers in 1999. The team is initially specialised in endurance races such as 24 hours of Le Mans and FIA sportscars series. The team also participated in the A1 Grand Prix as the A1 ...

team. He finished fifth in the prototype class and seventh place overall, recorded the teams fastest race laps and was the highest finishing rookie in the race. He then drove a Courage C65 LMP2 prototype 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 ...

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 ...

for

Kruse Motorsport The surname Kruse may refer to: * Anine Kruse (born 1977), Norwegian music conductor * August von Kruse (1779–1848), German general during the Napoleonic Wars * Frank Kruse, German sound engineer * Frederik Vinding Kruse (1880–1963), ...

and finished fourth in class. In 2006, he drove in the LMP2 prototype class at the

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 ...

for Barazi Epsilon with another fourth-place finish in the LMP2 category. In 2010 with the introduction of the American Le Mans Series' new LMPC prototype class, Julian signed on to race the Oreca FLM09 chassis for Gunnar Racing. He finished the season third in the drivers championship, with seven podium finishes in eight starts and four wins (Long Beach, Lime Rock, Road America and Mosport). He ended the 2011 American Le Mans Series season fourth in the LMPC prototype class championship with five podium finishes in seven starts including a win from pole position at Lime Rock and a first-place finish at the six-hour Laguna Seca round. Julian also drove the

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French auto racing, racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives, AGS. Or ...

prototype in the FLM class of the

2011 Le Mans Series season The 2011 Le Mans Series was the eighth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. The series began on 3 April with the 6 Hours of Castellet and ended after five rounds on 25 September. It is a series for Le Mans Prototype and G ...

finishing 2nd at

in France, 2nd at

Spa Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hos ...

in Belgium and 4th at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. He finished the European Le Mans Series championship third in the drivers standings. For 2012, Julian signed with the

Greaves Motorsport Greaves Motorsport is a British auto racing, racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, Greaves Motorsport, founded and run by Tim Greaves, entered the Le Mans Series (LMS) for the fi ...

team to drive the

Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson and Brian Mason as Zytek Engineering in 1981. Ownership history In 1981 Gibson and Mason founded the Zytek Group wi ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Z11SN LMP2 prototype chassis in the eight round

2012 FIA World Endurance Championship season The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series replaced t ...

, which included the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He ended the inaugural FIA WEC season with eight points finishes from eight starts. His professional driving record in sports cars stands at 6 wins, 16 podiums (including the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona, 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps and Petit Le Mans), two pole positions, two fastest laps, one new lap record, and 29 finishes from 30 starts.

Team Principal

Starting in 2007 Julian began to focus on team ownership, founding

and entering cars in the American Le Mans Series, Rolex Grand-Am Series, Blancpain Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Pirelli World Challenge, Ferrari Challenge and Pirelli Drivers Cup Series. In 2011 Julian entered the DragonSpeed Ferrari F430 GT in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and acting as team owner/team manager, brought the Ferrari home to a 15th-place finish in the GT class, making the car the highest finishing F430 in the history of the event. As a result of the performance at Daytona, DragonSpeed and Julian were asked to provide technical support for the new Ferrari 458 Italia GA (Grand Am) development program which began testing in July 2011 at Daytona. In 2012 DragonSpeed ran an extensive test program with their new

Audi R8 LMS The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car i ...

ultra

FIA GT3 Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various au ...

in preparation for the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours endurance race, marking the international debut for the team. DragonSpeed had a successful run in Dubai under the direction of Julian, finishing 11th overall from 80 cars and 5th in the A6-Am class and followed that up with a 17th-place finish for the Audi R8 LMS Ultra at the 2013 12 Hours of Bathurst in Australia. Julian then brought the team back to the United States to contest the 2013 American Le Mans Series in the Prototype Challenge class with Mirco Schultis, Renger Van Der Zande and Pierre Kaffer sharing driver duties. For 2014 DragonSpeed raced in the Pirelli World Challenge series, running a Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia race car in the GT-A class for driver Henrik Hedman.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

American open-wheel racing results

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

Atlantic Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Julian, Elton 1974 births American Le Mans Series drivers International Formula 3000 drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Indy Lights drivers Living people European Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers IndyCar Series team owners Nordic Racing drivers Greaves Motorsport drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers DragonSpeed drivers EuroInternational drivers Racing drivers from Los Angeles Sportspeople from the Canary Islands