Vincent Radermecker (born 5 July 1967) is a Belgian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Racing career

Early years

After starting in racing through karting in his home land of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1986, he drove in the Benelux

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

Championship. He was champion in his second year in the series in 1991. In 1992 he raced in Great Britain, with a drive in the British Formula Ford Championship, finishing fourth on points. He finished as runner-up in the 1993 Formula Opel Euroseries, before returning to Britain with

Formula 3 Formula Three (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 drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

. He finished as runner-up again, moving to race a part season in the 1995 German Formula 3 Championship a year later. In 1997 he switched to saloon cars, racing in the Belgian ProCar Championship. He finished third on points driving a

Peugeot 406 The Peugeot 406 is a large family car that was produced by French automaker Peugeot between 1995 and 2004. Available in saloon, estate and coupé bodystyles with a choice of petrol or turbodiesel engines, the 406 replaced the Peugeot 405 in Peu ...

. In 1998 he changed his car to a

Peugeot 306 The Peugeot 306 is a small family car built by the French car manufacturer Peugeot from 1993 to 2002. It replaced the 309. Peugeot gave the 306 many updates and aesthetic changes to keep up with the competition, and it was replaced by the 307 i ...

, ending the season in fifth place.

BTCC

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

he got a drive in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

with the successful

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

works team in a

Volvo S40 The Volvo S40 is a series of subcompact executive cars marketed and produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1995 to 2012, offered as a more mainstream alternative to the compact executive Volvo 850 and later the Volvo S60 to com ...

. He replaced

Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He most recently competed in ...

in the team, who had a poor year in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, alongside defending champion

Rickard Rydell John Rickard Rydell (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car ...

. In a year of mixed fortunes including five podiums, he finished the championship in eighth place. With half the manufacturers leaving the BTCC in

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 ...

, including Volvo, Radermecker found himself with a seat in the

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

Team. It was not a good year for him, as the third driver in the team behind

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 wit ...

and

Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British auto racing, racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been List of BTCC champions, BTCC Champion, in 2001 British Touring ...

. He finished in tenth place, the lowest placed works driver. He was set to return to the BTCC during the 2001 Season in a Lexus IS200 but this never happened.https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/round-up-abg-targets-radermecker-5051311/5051311/

Return to Belgium

With the end of the

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a auto racing, motor racing touring car category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Form ...

era in the BTCC, he returned to the 2001 ProCar Championship in Belgium. He won the series driving an

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kade ...

. He finished second in the French Super Touring Championship in 2002. On return to Belgium in 2005, he won the Belgian Touring Car Championship.

Recent years

Since 2004 he has driven in selected races in 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 ...

, in various cars including a Nissan 350 Z, a Corvette C5R and a Mosler MT 900. In 2008 he drove a Ferrari 430 GT3 for Exagon Engineering, as well as a full season in the Belgian GT Championship. He has also done some Touring Car racing, winning the 2006 ADAC Procar Series in Germany, combined with selected rounds of the 2006

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

with

Maurer Motorsport Maurer Motorsport is a Swiss auto racing team based in Roggwil. For over ten years the team has been a regular competitor in the ADAC Procar Series. They won the drivers title in 2005 with Mathias Schläppi in a former BTCC works MG ZS with a ...

. He returned to the WTCC at the Zolder round in 2010.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded) ‡ Retired before second start of race

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (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 CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...
results

TCR Spa 500 results

References

External links

BTCC Pages Profile.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radermecker, Vincent 1967 births Living people Belgian racing drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers FIA GT Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers Porsche Supercup drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers European Touring Car Cup drivers 24H Series drivers Carlin racing drivers W Racing Team drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers 21st-century Belgian sportsmen TCR Europe Touring Car Series drivers Hyundai Motorsport drivers ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship drivers 20th-century Belgian sportsmen