Christophe Tinseau

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

Tinseau began racing professionally in French Formula Renault in 1991. In 1992, he moved to French Formula Three, and in 1993, he placed fourth in that championship with two wins and finished tenth in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1994, he was the championship runner-up in French F3, and in 1995, he moved up to Formula 3000 where he finished 16th with seven race starts. In 1996, he improved to sixth in F3000, winning the season-ending race at Hockenheim.

In 1997, Tinseau raced in Indy Lights, but only managed an 11th place championship finish, ending up on the podium once at Circuit Trois-Rivières.

After the seeming decline in his open-wheel fortunes, Tinseau moved to sports cars for 1998, driving a Panoz Esperante GTR-1 for DAMS, making his 24 Hours of Le Mans 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. From 2000 to 2002, he drove the historic Cadillac Northstar LMP at Le Mans, finishing fifth in class in 2001.

Tinseau competed part-time in various series from 2003 to 2005, but returned to full-time racing in 2006, when he finished sixth in Porsche Carrera Cup France. He made six Le Mans Series starts and finished sixth at Le Mans for Pescarolo Sport in 2007. He continued with the team in 2008 and finished seventh at Le Mans and eighth in LMS points and continued with the team in 2009, finishing second in Le Mans Series.

In 2010, Tinseau competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, finishing eighth with one win.

In 2011, Tinseau 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.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts 1995 Mythos Racing Reynard 95D Zytek-Judd SIL CAT PAU PER HOC SPA EST MAG 16th 1 1996 Apomatox Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd NÜR PAU PER HOC SIL SPA MAG EST MUG HOC 6th 18

Complete American Open Wheel racing results (key)

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points Ref 1997 Conquest Racing MIA LBHNAZSAVSTLMILDET POR TOR TRO VAN LAGFON11th49

Complete FIA GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)