Tomáš Enge

Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.

Career Born in Liberec, Enge started his career at the age of sixteen, entering a Ford Fiesta he bought with his own money in the Czechoslovak Ford Fiesta Cup. Enge driving for Prost at the 2001 United States Grand Prix. Enge participated in the final three races of the Formula One season, becoming the first, and to date only, driver from the Czech Republic to compete in Formula One. He made his debut at the Italian Grand Prix on 16 September, after being brought in by cash-strapped Prost as a replacement for Luciano Burti, who was recovering from his crash at the previous race in Belgium. Enge left the Prost Grand Prix team before it folded for the 2002 season.

Enge obtained his Formula One break using the sponsorship from the local Coca-Cola subsidiary, which had also funded the Nordic Racing F3000 team he raced for that year. He finished third in the 2001 standings despite missing the final race, and was stripped of the 2002 title due to a positive marijuana test. He returned to Formula 3000 in 2004, and then headed to America for 2005, driving for Panther Racing in the IRL, with modest success, although almost winning the race at Sonoma. Among his seventeen career IRL starts was his rookie start in the 2005 Indianapolis 500. He then drove for Team Czech Republic in the 2005-2006 A1GP season. Enge has also been a frequent driver for Prodrive's sportscar teams, driving both their Ferrari 550 Maranellos and Aston Martin DBR9s in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, he was driver of the No. 007 Aston Martin Racing entry in the American Le Mans Series, but for 2007, switched to the Petersen/White Lightning Ferrari F430.

On 31 March 2007, Enge was injured whilst driving his F430 at the ALMS St. Petersburg race. The car crashed whilst leading the GT2 class, suffering heavy damage to the driver's side and a brief fire. Enge was removed under medical supervision and transported to the local medical centre. He was later revealed to have suffered a shattered elbow, cracked ribs, a partially collapsed lung and a potentially broken ankle, but not to be in any serious danger.

On 21 July 2007, Enge was released from his contract with Peterson Motorsports/White Lightning Racing due to a penalty incurred after crashing into Mika Salo during the Acura Sports Car Challenge ALMS race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In 2009, Enge drove for Aston Martin Racing in the Le Mans Series and won the championship alongside Stefan Mücke and Jan Charouz. He remained with Aston Martin, as he moved into the FIA GT1 World Championship for the 2010 season, joining Darren Turner at Young Driver AMR. The pairing finished fourth in the championship with three victories. Enge and Turner were split for the 2011 season; Turner was joined by Stefan Mücke, while Enge was partnered by Alex Müller. Enge and Müller achieved two victories as they finished fourth in the championship.

With Young Driver AMR pulling out of the championship to focus on other series, Enge moved to the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini squad for the 2012 season, where he partnered socialite Albert von Thurn und Taxis. The pairing were lying tenth in the championship after four rounds; their best result was a second-place finish at the Slovakia Ring. On 19 June 2012, it was announced that Enge had tested positive for a banned substance at the Navarra round of the championship, and was suspended from racing. At the beginning of August, it was announced that Enge was to be suspended from racing for eighteen months. Enge appealed the decision on the grounds that the positive test was caused by medication he is taking for a chronic cardiovascular condition. In April 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Enge's appeal.

Return to motorsport and Asian GT campaigns (2014–2019)

Following the expiration of his 18-month FIA suspension in early 2014, Enge was retained by Reiter Engineering as an official test, vehicle development, and customer support driver, focusing heavily on their Chevrolet Camaro GT3, Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX, and KTM X-Bow GT4 programs. As part of Reiter's technical expansion into Southeast Asia, Enge was permanently assigned to the Thai outfit Vattana Motorsport to spearhead their multi-car campaigns in the Thailand Super Series.

In his comeback 2014 season, Enge piloted a Reiter-prepared Camaro GT3 in the premier Supercar Class 1 category, winning both feature races at the season-ending Bangsaen Grand Prix to finish as runner-up in the championship. Enge continued racing in the Thailand Super Series through the 2019 season, capturing further sprint race victories at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia before the COVID-19 pandemic halted international travel and paused his Asian racing commitments.

Off-road racing, Dakar Rally, and team management (2020–present)

In 2020, Enge drastically pivoted his competitive focus away from circuit racing towards off-road endurance events. He signed with the Buggyra Zero Mileage Racing team to compete in cross-country rallying. In January 2021, Enge made his official debut in the prestigious Dakar Rally held in Saudi Arabia, competing in the Lightweight Prototype (T3) category driving a Can-Am DV21 chassis. Despite dealing with mechanical setbacks typical of debutants in the marathon event, Enge completed the grueling event, finishing 10th in his respective vehicle classification stage standings.

Racing record Complete German Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points Prost Acer Prost AP04 Acer V10 AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 24th 0

Complete American Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points Ref 1999 Team Rafanelli SRL LMP Riley & Scott Mk III Judd GV4 4.0 L V10 SEB ATL MOS SON POR PET MON LSV 64th 14 2002 Prodrive GTS Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Ferrari 5.9 L V12 SEB SON MID AME WAS TRO MOS MON MIA PET 13th 94 2003 Veloqx Prodrive Racing GTS Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Ferrari 5.9 L V12 SEB ATL SON TRO MOS AME MONDSQ MIA PET 7th 97 2005 Aston Martin Racing GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 SEB ATL MID LIM SON POR AME MOS PET MON 14th 14 2006 Aston Martin Racing GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 Aston Martin 6.0l V12 SEB LST LMO NEN UTA POR AME MOS PET MON 3rd 159

Complete European Le Mans Series results

American Open-Wheel (key)

IndyCar Series

Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points Ref 2005–06 Czech Republic GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA12th56 2006–07 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA BEISPR BEIFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 12th 27 2007–08 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA ZHUSPR ZHUFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 19th 10 center|small|Source: