Damien Faulkner

Damien Faulkner (born 15 February 1977) is an Irish race car driver from Moville County Donegal. Beginning his professional career in Formula Vauxhall Junior in 1995, he competed in the Formula Ford Festival in 1996 and finished eleventh. He finished in third place in Vauxhall Junior in 1997 and moved to Formula Palmer Audi in 1998 where he finished sixth and third in series points in his first two seasons. At the end of 1999, he had his first taste of F3000 when he tested for Arden as part of his prize for finishing third in Palmer Audi.

In 2000, Faulkner dominated the new European Formula Palmer Audi series taking six wins on his way to the title. His prize for winning the series assisted him in finding a seat in the American Champ Car feeder series Indy Lights for 2001. In the series' final season he drove for Dorricott Racing, capturing two wins on his way to third place in series points. A return home to Mondello Park during the season also saw him win his class in a one-off FIA Sportscar Championship race.

Faulkner returned to Europe in 2002 and competed in a partial season in the Formula Nissan World Series. With nothing on the horizon for 2003, Faulkner's career was rescued by a dominant performance as a guest driver in the BTCC supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB, again at his home circuit, Mondello Park. This drive led to a Porsche Supercup guest appearance and an invite to again compete at Mondello in 2004. A further strong drive secured a seat for the remainder of the season with Team SAS and Faulkner went on to take the team's first race win before the season's end. Two more years with the team brought two championship victories and a graduation in 2007 to the Porsche Supercup.

A successful debut Supercup season yielded two wins and second in the championship with the title fight going right down to the final race of the season. 2007's performances have put Faulkner firmly back on the map as he heads into a second season in the Supercup with Walter Lechner Racing and has also received invites to two of the biggest pre-season events on the calendar, the Dubai 24hrs and 24 Hours of Daytona.

Faulkner drove the Formula One medical car at the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix and the safety car at the 2002 United States Grand Prix.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results (key)

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref 2001 Dorricott RacingMTY LBH TXSMILPOR KANTORMOH GATATL LAGFON3rd141

Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 2 points awarded 2008 onwards in all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 DC Points 2002 Porsche AG Porsche 996 GT3 ITA ESP AUT MON GER GBR GER HUN BEL ITA USA USA NC‡ 0‡ 2006 Priority Racing Team Lechner Porsche 997 GT3 BHR ITA GER ESP MON GBR USA USA FRA GER HUN ITA NC‡ 0‡ 2007 Lechner Racing Bahrain Porsche 997 GT3 BHR BHR ESP MON FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL 2nd 163 2008 Lechner Racing Porsche 997 GT3 BHR BHR ESP TUR MON FRA GBR GER HUN ESP BEL25† ITA 2nd 121 2009 Walter Lechner Racing Porsche 997 GT3 BHR BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN ESP BEL ITA UAE UAE 6th 126 2010 Al Faisal Lechner Racing Porsche 997 GT3 BHR BHR ESP MON ESP GBR GER HUN BEL ITA NC‡ 0‡ † — Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

‡ — Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points Ref 2014 GB Autosport GTD Porsche 911 GT America Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS IND ELK VIR COA PET 17th 196 2015 GB Autosport GTD Porsche 911 GT America Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LGA BEL WGL LIM ELK VIR AUS ATL 43rd 26 2016 Riley Motorsports GTD Dodge Viper GT3-R Dodge 8.3 L V10 DAYSEB LGA BEL WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR AUS PET 38th 31

† Faulkner did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.