Luke Youlden

Luke Gerard Youlden (born 28 January 1978) is an Australian Supercars series racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden. Youlden currently drives for Kelly Grove Racing as a co-driver alongside David Reynolds in the No. 26 Ford Mustang GT. Outside racing, Youlden works at a performance driving school with fellow Supercars racer Dean Canto. He co-drove to victory with David Reynolds in the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Racing career Youlden's career started in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship in 1995 while he was completing Year 12. Due to a lack of funds, Youlden didn't progress to the national championship and remained in the Victorian series. At the same time, he joined Dugal McDougall Motorsport as an engineer and a driver. In 1999, Youlden was involved with Greg Ritter's Australian Formula Ford title win and with Ritter driving in the Bathurst 1000 that year, Youlden took his seat at the Bathurst support races. Youlden won both races and this, coupled with his victory in the Victorian series, allowed him to enter the national series in 2000. Youlden won the 2000 Australian Formula Ford Championship and also competed in the British Formula Ford Festival. He made his Bathurst debut the same year, driving for Perkins Motorsport alongside Christian Murchison. The pair were running inside the top five until a broken valve spring put them out of the race.

Youlden competed in the Australian GT Production Car Championship in 2001, winning Class E in a Holden Astra. He again competed for Perkins Motorsport in the V8 Supercar endurance races but was unable to secure a full-time drive for 2002. Youlden settled for what was then called the Konica Series, driving a Ford Falcon (AU) for Steven Ellery Racing, and would drive with Steven Ellery in the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. Youlden and Ellery finished ninth at Bathurst and Youlden finished the Konica Series in 13th place after a bad start to the season hurt his championship chances. Youlden continued to drive for Steven Ellery Racing in both the Konica Series and the endurance races in 2003 and 2004. Youlden and Ellery finished on the podium in both endurance races in 2003 and the following year Youlden finished second in the Konica Series. Youlden was actually tied on points with series champion Andrew Jones but lost the title on a countback of round wins.

With Steven Ellery Racing dropping out the V8 Supercar Championship Series in 2005, Youlden was hired by Stone Brothers Racing to drive alongside Russell Ingall in that year's endurance races. The pair finished inside the top-ten in both endurance races, helping Ingall to the 2005 title. Youlden remained with the team for 2006 and came perilously close to a second podium a Bathurst when he and Ingall finished in fourth place, just one one-hundredth of a second behind teammates James Courtney and Glenn Seton.

Youlden joined Ford Performance Racing for the 2008 endurance races, driving the team's second car with Dean Canto. The pair finished seventh at Bathurst and teamed together again in 2009, finishing ninth at the L&H 500 but failing to finish at Bathurst after Canto hit the wall at The Esses late in the race. 2010 saw the introduction of a rule stating that each team's regular drivers were not allowed to be paired together at the endurance races. This rule saw Youlden get paired up with Mark Winterbottom for the L&H 500 and the Bathurst 1000. Youlden and Winterbottom finished second at the L&H 500 and were on pole for Bathurst, however a delaminated tyre put Youlden into the wall in the middle of the race and this put them out of contention. Youlden was placed in the #6 car for 2011 alongside Will Davison and Youlden collected his first series pole position when the pair claimed the top grid spot at the L&H 500. After balance issues during the race, Youlden and Davison finished third behind the two Team Vodafone cars. Davison led the opening stint of the Bathurst 1000 but Youlden went off at Murray's Corner on the first safety car restart and hit the tyre wall. The pair recovered to finish on the lead lap, albeit in 18th place.

Youlden returned to Stone Brothers Racing in 2012 to partner Shane van Gisbergen. The pair scored pole position for the Sandown 500 before going on to finish fifth in the race. Van Gisbergen qualified the car in third for the Bathurst 1000 but the pair would only manage to finish the race in twelfth place. Youlden joined Brad Jones Racing for 2013 to drive alongside Fabian Coulthard in the new Endurance Cup. The duo finished in ninth place in the Endurance Cup standings, with a second-place finish in the second race of the Gold Coast 600.

In November 2021, Youlden would make his Supercars sprint debut when he was drafted by Kelly Grove Racing to drive the #26 Penrite Racing Mustang in place of David Reynolds. Reynolds was forced out of competition for Rounds 9-11 due to his COVID health exemption being overturned.

Career results Season Series Position Car Team 2000 Australian Formula Ford Championship 1st Mygale SJ2000 Dugal McDougal Motorsport 2001 Australian GT Production Car Championship (Class E) 1st Holden Astra SRi Luke Youlden V8 Supercar Championship Series 63rd Holden Commodore (VX) Perkins Motorsport 2002 V8 Supercar Development Series 13th Ford Falcon (AU) Steven Ellery Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th 2003 V8 Supercar Development Series 5th Ford Falcon (AU) Steven Ellery Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 35th Ford Falcon (BA) 2004 V8 Supercar Development Series 2nd Ford Falcon (AU) Steven Ellery Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th Ford Falcon (BA) 2005 Australian Carrera Cup Championship 4th Porsche 996 GT3 Cup VIP Pet Foods Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th Ford Falcon (BA) Stone Brothers Racing 2005–06 New Zealand V8s 5th Ford Falcon (BA) 2006 V8 Supercar Development Series 22nd Ford Falcon (AU)Ford Falcon (BA) Peters MotorsportDick Johnson Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 37th Ford Falcon (BA) Stone Brothers Racing Australian Carrera Cup Championship 16th Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Fitzgerald Racing 2006–07 New Zealand V8s 9th Ford Falcon (BA) 2007 V8 Supercar Development Series 5th Ford Falcon (BA)Ford Falcon (AU) A.N.T. RacingMcGill Motorsport V8 Supercar Championship Series 34th Ford Falcon (BF) Stone Brothers Racing 2007-08 New Zealand V8s 10th Ford Falcon (BA) 2008 V8 Supercar Development Series 29th Ford Falcon (BA) Howard Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 38th Ford Falcon (BF) Ford Performance Racing Kerrick Sports Sedan Series 5th Ford Mustang 2008–09 New Zealand V8s 21st Ford Falcon (BF) Autotek 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series 52nd Ford Falcon (FG) Ford Performance Racing 2010 V8 Supercar Development Series 40th Ford Falcon (BF) MW Motorsport V8 Supercar Championship Series 32nd Ford Falcon (FG) Ford Performance Racing Australian Mini Challenge 23rd Mini Cooper S JCW R56 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 37th Ford Falcon (FG) Ford Performance Racing 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series 5th Ford Falcon (BF) MW Motorsport International V8 Supercars Championship 36th Ford Falcon (FG) Stone Brothers Racing 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship 38th Holden Commodore (VF) Brad Jones Racing 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship 32nd Holden Commodore (VF) Brad Jones Racing 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship 33rd Holden Commodore (VF) Brad Jones Racing 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship 34th Ford FG X Falcon DJR Team Penske 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 38th Holden Commodore (VF) Erebus Motorsport 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 34th Holden Commodore (ZB) Erebus Motorsport 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 38th Holden Commodore (ZB) Erebus Motorsport 2021 Repco Supercars Championship 11th Ford Mustang GT (S550) Kelly Grove Racing

Super2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Supercars Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps 2000 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VT) Christian Murchison DNF 128 2001 Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) Adam Macrow DNF 85 2002 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Falcon (AU) Steven Ellery 9th 160 2003 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Falcon (BA) Steven Ellery 3rd 161 2004 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford Falcon (BA) Steven Ellery 16th 158 2005 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) Russell Ingall 5th 161 2006 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) Russell Ingall 4th 161 2007 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BF) Russell Ingall DNF 149 2008 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BF) Dean Canto 7th 161 2009 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (FG) Dean Canto DNF 139 2010 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (FG) Mark Winterbottom 9th 161 2011 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (FG) Will Davison 18th 161 2012 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (FG) Shane van Gisbergen 12th 161 2013 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (VF) Fabian Coulthard 16th 161 2014 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (VF) Fabian Coulthard 9th 161 2015 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore (VF) Fabian Coulthard 4th 161 2016 DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Fabian Coulthard 6th 161 2017 Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (VF) David Reynolds 1st 161 2018 Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore (ZB) David Reynolds 13th 161 2019 Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore ZB David Reynolds 5th 161 2021 Kelly Grove Racing Ford Mustang Mk.6 David Reynolds 11th 161

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