Raul Boesel

Raul de Mesquita Boesel (, born 4 December 1957) is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.

Boesel won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona.

Personal and early life Boesel was born on 4 December 1957 in Curitiba, Brazil as the son of Jorny and Elizadea de Mesquita Boesel. Boesel had a brief career in equestrian show jumping winning state championships and other competitions.

Since 1988, Boesel resides in Key Biscayne, Florida with his wife Vera and children Raul Boesel Jr and Gabriela. He owns a Cigarette 38 Top Gun boat.

Career A March 821, formerly driven by Boesel in the 1982 season, being demonstrated at Mont-Tremblant in 2010. Boesel studied engineering, gave up his degree and went on to motor racing. He entered into the first ever season of the Brazilian Stock Car championship in 1979.

Boesel moved to Britain in 1980 to race in Formula Ford 1600 and in 1981 entered Formula 3 and finished third in the championship. In November 1981, he tested for McLaren and entered the March team, only to switch in 1983 to Ligier. At the end of the year he went to the United States to race in CART.

In 1987, Boesel switched to World Sportscar Championship with Jaguar and won the title with five victories. In 1988. he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Jaguar XJR-9, along with Martin Brundle and John Nielsen. That year he also returned to CART and finished third at Indianapolis in 1989. In 1991, he finished second in Le Mans 24 Hours with Jaguar and returned to CART, finishing fifth in the 1993 series, although never winning a race. He raced in CART until 1998, when he went to Indy Racing League. Because of this, he has multiple starts in the Indy 500. His last race in CART was at the 1999 Marlboro 500 at Fontana.

Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba, a racing circuit in Curitiba, is officially nicknamed "Circuito Raul Boesel" (Raul Boesel circuit) in honour of his success in Europe.

Boesel ended his professional racing career in 2005 after returning to Stock Car Brasil, although he still competed in some races after his retirement.

Afterwards, Boesel often commented about various racing categories. In 2007, he started a career as a disc jockey.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1982 March Grand Prix Team March 821 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA NC 0 Rothmans March Grand Prix Team BRA USW SMR BEL MON DET CAN NED GBR FRA GER AUT SUI ITA CPL 1983 Équipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS21 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA USW FRA SMR MON BEL DET CAN GBR GER AUT NED ITA EUR RSA NC 0

American open-wheel racing (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

CART

Indy Racing League

Indianapolis 500

Complete World Sportscar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts 1982 Dome Co. Ltd. C Dome RC82 Cosworth DFL 3.3 V8 MNZ SIL NÜR LMS SPA MUG FUJ BRH NC 0 1987 Silk Cut Jaguar C1 Jaguar XJR-8 Jaguar 7.0 V12 JAR JER MNZ SIL NOR BRH NÜR SPA FUJ 1st 127 Jaguar 6.9 V12 LMS 1988 Silk Cut Jaguar C1 Jaguar XJR-9 Jaguar 7.0 V12 JER JAR MNZ SIL LMS BRN BRH NÜR SPA FUJ SAN NC 0 1990 Konrad Motorsport C Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935 3.0 F6t SUZ MNZ SIL SPA DIJ NÜR DON CGV MEX NC 0 1991 Silk Cut Jaguar C2 Jaguar XJR-12 Jaguar 7.4 V12 SUZ MNZ SIL LMS NÜR MAG MEX AUT 21st 15

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Partial Stock Car Brasil results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points 1979 Valvoline Team Chevrolet Opala RIO CUR INT LON MOU INT RIO GUA BRA CUR LON INT CUR CUR 4th 141 2001 Sprint RC Chevrolet Vectra RIO CUR INT LON MOU INT RIO GUA BRA CUR LON INT 10th 43 2002 Sprint RC Chevrolet Vectra RIO CUR INT LON MOU INT RIO GUA BRA CUR LON INT 23rd 7 2003 Repsol-Boettger Chevrolet Vectra CUR MOU INT RIO LON INT CUR MOU RIO BRA CUR INT 7th 101 2004 Repsol-Boettger Chevrolet Astra CUR INT TAR LON RIO INT CUR LON RIO BRA MOU INT 6th 88 2005 RR/Embratel Motorsport Chevrolet Astra INT CUR RIO INT CUR LON BRA SCZ TAR ARG RIO INT 27th 19 2006 WB Motorsport Volkswagen Bora INT CUR MOU INT LON CUR SCZ BRA TAR ARG RIO INT NC 0

Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts 2007 Dener Motorsport GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 MNZ VAL NÜR SPA SIL INT 40th 4