Allan Simonsen

Allan Weel Simonsen (5 July 1978 – 22 June 2013) was a Danish racing driver, born in Odense. He died after a crash during the third lap of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career Simonsen driving an Aston Martin Vantage GTE at the test session prior to the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. After beginning his career in karting racing against the likes of future Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, Simonsen moved to cars in 1999, winning the Danish Formula Ford Championship. He raced in Formula Palmer Audi in 2000, before moving to German Formula 3 and Formula Renault 2.0 UK in 2001.

Simonsen moved to sports car racing for 2002, driving a Ferrari 360 for Veloqx Motorsport in the British GT Championship. He began racing in Australia in 2003 for Mark Coffey Racing, driving a Ferrari 360 Challenge to eighth place in the 2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship for GT style cars and second place in Group 2. He would then go on to finish in eighth place in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR. In the 2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship, he drove the 360 to third place in the Trophy Class while driving a V12 powered 550 Millennio in a limited campaign to seventh in the outright class.

While in Australia, Simonsen also drove in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar events. Simonsen's best Bathurst result came in 2011, when he finished third for Kelly Racing, driving alongside Greg Murphy in a Holden Commodore VE. Simonsen won the Australian GT Championship in 2007 (driving both a Ferrari 360 GT and a Ferrari F430) and finished second in 2008 driving a Ferrari F430 GT.

At the 2011 Sprint Bathurst event, Simonsen set a blistering time of 2:04.95 around the famous Mount Panorama circuit. This was a monumental effort at the time, as it was a full two seconds faster than any V8 Supercar lap time and comparable to the Formula 3 lap record set in the following year. Simonsen's time was so quick that the officials initially removed it from the timing screens, for they believed it to be an error. It wasn't until it was confirmed by the manual time keeper and the team's own data, however, that the time was reinstated.

Simonsen placed fourth in the 2007 Le Mans Series season, in a partial season driving a Porsche 911 GT3 for Virgo Motorsport, which included a GT2 class win in the Nürburgring 1000. He drove Ferraris for Team Farnbacher in both the Le Mans Series as well as various international series from 2008 through 2011. During that time, Simonson won the GT2 class at the 2009 1000 km of Okayama with Dominik Farnbacher and the SP7 class in the 2010 24 Hours Nürburgring with Farnbacher, Leh Keen, and Marco Seefried. He participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times between 2007 and 2013, finishing on the GT2 class podium twice: third in 2007 and second in 2010.

Death Simonsen in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE before crashing In the ninth minute of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, and on his third lap, Simonsen was leading the LMGTE Am field with his No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE. At the Tertre Rouge corner, Simonsen's car twitched as he accelerated through the right hand turn, the car veered left before impacting the crash barriers on the outside of the corner. before being taken to the on-site medical centre where he succumbed to his injuries. His death was the first in racing conditions during the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Jo Gartner died in a 1986 crash, while French driver Sébastien Enjolras died more recently in a pre-qualifying session accident in 1997.

Race officials raised a Danish flag at half mast over the circuit's podium during the race in honor of Simonsen. Fellow Danish driver Tom Kristensen won the race overall and dedicated his team's victory to the memory of Simonsen.

Memorials

The award for the fastest qualifier at the Bathurst 12 Hour, which Simonsen won in 2013, is named the Allan Simonsen Pole Position Trophy.

Year Pole winner Team Car Time 2014 Maro Engel Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 2m 03.8586 sec 2015 Laurens Vanthoor Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra 2m 02.5521 sec 2016 Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Autosports McLaren 650S GT3 2m 01.2860 sec 2017 Toni Vilander Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 2m 02.8610 sec 2018 Chaz Mostert Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 2m 01.9340 sec 2019 Raffaele Marciello Mercedes-AMG Team Mann Filter GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 2m 02.9348 sec 2020 Matt Campbell Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 2m 03.5554 sec 2021 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic 2022 Chaz Mostert CoinSpot Racing Team Audi R8 LMS Evo II 2m 02.4930 sec 2023 Maro Engel Mercedes-AMG GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 2m 00.8819 sec 2024 Sheldon van der Linde Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 2m 01.9810 sec 2025 Lucas Auer Mercedes-AMG GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 2m 01.2760 sec 2026 Cam Waters Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 2m 01.0790 sec

Career results Career summary Season Series Position Car Team 1999 Danish Formula Ford Championship 1st Van Diemen RF99 Ford 2000 Formula Palmer Audi 11th Van Diemen PA Audi Team Brask 2001 British Formula Renault Championship 26th Tatuus FR2000 Renault PBR Racing 2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship 8th Ferrari 360 Challenge Mark Coffey Racing Australian Nations Cup Championship Group 2 2nd V8 Supercar Championship Series 67th Holden Commodore VX Garry Rogers Motorsport 2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship 7th Ferrari 550 Millenio Mark Coffey Racing Australian Nations Cup Championship Trophy Cars 3rd V8 Supercar Championship Series 52nd Holden Commodore VY Garry Rogers Motorsport British GT Championship GT Cup Class 13th Ferrari 360 Modena Lester/Glenvarigill Racing 2005 V8 Utes Series 10th Ford BA Falcon XR8 Ute Coopers Pale Ale Racing Team V8 Supercar Championship Series 57th Holden Commodore VY Perkins Engineering 2006 FIA GT3 European Championship 15th Ferrari F430 GT3 JMB Racing FIA GT Championship GT2 Class 38th Ferrari F430 GT3 Scuderia Ecosse Australian GT Championship 11th Ferrari 360 GT Consolidated Chemical Racing Team V8 Supercar Championship Series 46th Ford BA Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering 2007 Australian GT Championship 1st Ferrari 360 GTFerrari F430 GT3 Consolidated Chemical Racing TeamMark Coffey Racing Australian Tourist Trophy 1st Ferrari F430 GT3 Maranello Motorsport Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 4th Virgo Motorsport British GT Championship GT3 Class 10th Christians in Motorsport V8 Supercar Championship Series 25th Ford BF Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering 2008 FIA GT Championship GT1 Class 11th Aston Martin DBR9 Gigawave Motorsport Australian GT Championship 2nd Ferrari F430 GT3 Maranello Motorsport Australian Tourist Trophy 1st British GT Championship GT3 Class 7th Christians in Motorsport American Le Mans Series GT2 Class 23rd Tafel Racing Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 17th Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Team Farnbacher 2009 Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 7th Ferrari F430 GT3 Team Farnbacher Asian Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 1st British GT Championship GT3 Class 4th Team Rosso Verde Australian GT Championship 20th Maranello Motorsport V8 Supercar Championship Series 58th Ford FG Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 106th Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Farnbacher-Loles Racing 2010 British GT Championship GT3 Class 5th Ferrari 430 Scuderia Team Rosso Verde Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class 17th Ferrari F430 GT3 Team Farnbacher V8 Supercar Championship Series 49th Holden Commodore VE Paul Morris Motorsport Le Mans Series LM GTE Pro Class 5th Ferrari 458 GTC Team Farnbacher 2011 British GT Championship GT3 Class 10th Ferrari 430 ScuderiaFerrari 458 GTC Team Rosso Verde International V8 Supercars Championship 32nd Holden Commodore VE Kelly RacingBrad Jones Racing 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship 52nd Ford FG Falcon Dick Johnson Racing Australian GT Championship 4th Ferrari 458 GT Maranello Motorsport British GT Championship GT3 Class 12th Ferrari 458 Italia Team Rosso Verde 2013 Australian GT Championship 17th Ferrari 458 GT3 Maranello Motorsport

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2007 Autorlando Sport Farnbacher Racing Pierre Ehret Lars-Erik Nielsen Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 309 21st 3rd 2008 Kruse Schiller Motorsport Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda Lola B05/40-Mazda LMP2 147 DNF DNF 2009 Hankook Team Farnbacher Dominik Farnbacher Christian Montanari Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 183 DNF DNF 2010 Hankook Team Farnbacher Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 336 12th 2nd 2011 Hankook Team Farnbacher Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen Ferrari 458 Italia GTC GTEPro 137 DNF DNF 2012 Aston Martin Racing Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 31 DNF DNF 2013 Aston Martin Racing Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEAm 2 DNF DNF

Bathurst 24 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2003 Mark Coffey Racing Paul Stokell Luke Youlden Peter Hackett Lamborghini Diablo GTR A 487 8th 6th

Bathurst 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2010 Action Racing Jason Bright Marcus Zukanovic Ford Mustang Shelby I 121 26th 1st 2011 Red Alert Laser Tag Hector Lester Luke Searle Ferrari 430 GT3 A 276 6th 5th 2012 Maranello Motorsport John Bowe Peter Edwards Dominik Farnbacher Ferrari 458 GT3 A 114 DNF DNF 2013 Maranello Motorsport John Bowe Peter Edwards Mika Salo Ferrari 458 GT3 A 111 DNF DNF

International V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercar results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Pts 2003 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VX ADER1 ADER1 PHIR3 EASR4 WINR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 HDVR11 QLDR12 ORAR13 SANR14 BATR15 SURR16 SURR17 PUKR18 PUKR19 PUKR20 EASR21 EASR22 69th 80 2004 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VY ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 PUKR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 QLDR13 WINR14 ORAR15 ORAR16 SANR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SYMR23 EASR24 EASR25 EASR26 51st 156 2005 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VY ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 EASR9 EASR10 SHAR11 SHAR12 SHAR13 HDVR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 SURR24 SYMR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 PHIR28 PHIR29 PHIR30 57th 128 2006 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 SANR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 SURR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 SYMR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 46th 210 2007 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon ADER1 ADER2 BARR3 BARR4 BARR5 PUKR6 PUKR7 PUKR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 EASR12 EASR13 EASR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 HDVR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 ORAR21 ORAR22 ORAR23 SANR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 SURR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 SYMR32 SYMR33 SYMR34 PHIR35 PHIR36 PHIR37 25th 63 2009 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon ADER1 ADER2 HAMR3 HAMR4 WINR5 WINR6 SYMR7 SYMR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 TOWR11 TOWR12 SANR13 SANR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 PHIQ PHIR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SURR21 SURR22 PHIR23 PHIR24 BARR25 BARR26 SYDR27 SYDR28 59th 91 2010 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore VE YMCR1 YMCR2 BHRR3 BHRR4 ADER5 ADER6 HAMR7 HAMR8 QLDR9 QLDR10 WINR11 WINR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 TOWR15 TOWR16 PHIQ PHIR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SANR23 SANR24 SYDR25 SYDR26 49th 204 2011 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE YMCR1 YMCR2 ADER3 ADER4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 WINR10 WINR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 PHIQ PHIR19 BATR20 32nd 509 Brad Jones Racing SURR21 SURR22 SYMR23 SYMR24 SANR25 SANR26 SYDR27 SYDR28 2012 Dick Johnson Racing Ford FG Falcon ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 SMPR18 SMPR19 SANQ SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 YMCR24 YMCR25 YMCR26 WINR27 WINR28 SYDR29 SYDR30 52nd 108

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps 2003 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VX Nathan Pretty DNF 42 2004 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VY Nathan Pretty 10th 160 2005 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VZ Alex Davison 20th 129 2006 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon BA Richard Lyons 12th 161 2007 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon BF Richard Lyons 5th 161 2009 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falcon FG James Thompson DNF 152 2010 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore VE Greg Murphy 6th 161 2011 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE Greg Murphy 3rd 161 2012 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon FG Steven Johnson 17th 161