Chris Goodwin
Encyclopedia
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
driver. Presently he works as Chief Test Driver for Mclaren Automotive. Additionally he manages the racing career of Bruno Senna and continues to race in International GT Endurance events.
He was also TV commentator on F1 for ESPN Star Sports for nearly ten years and occasionally still appears on ESPN or other networks such as ITV (GP2 coverage).
Racing career
His early racing was in single-seaters, starting in 1987 with the Formula First Championship. He was Champion of Brands Hatch and finished runner-up in the 1989 Formula Ford Junior Championship, and runner-up again in 1990 when he competed in Formula RenaultFormula Renault
Formula Renault is a class of formula racing founded in 1971. It is popular in Europe and other countries. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it is a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to Formula Three, World Series by Renault, GP2 or...
. He competed in Formula 3000
Formula 3000
The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter the Formula One championship...
and Formula Vauxhall in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
In 1993 he drove in two rounds of the British Touring Car Championship
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
for the Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Team in a Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
. This included an impressive tenth place finish at the final round at Silverstone. He entered a Cavalier in 1994 as an independent entry for Roy Kennedy Racing, finishing third in the Cup for Privateers despite missing some rounds.
In 1995 and 1996 Chris drove for the factory Lotus GT team in International GT Endurance races.
He worked for McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
in 1997, competing in both the FIA GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...
and Le Mans. In 1999 he raced the British GT Championship
British GT Championship
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is a sports car racing series currently based in the United Kingdom, although they have had select races outside of Britain in the past few years. The series was created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and for its first two seasons was called the...
with a McLaren F1
McLaren F1
The McLaren F1 is a supercar designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. Originally a concept conceived by Gordon Murray, he convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and engaged Peter Stevens to design the exterior of the car...
. Two more years were spent in the British GTs in 1999 and 2000. In 2001 he raced in both the European Le Mans Series
European Le Mans Series
The European Le Mans Series was a sports car endurance series based around the 24 Hours of Le Mans that was created in 2000 and ran its only season in 2001 before being cancelled. It was created by Don Panoz as an expansion on his successful American Le Mans Series run by IMSA...
winning the GTS class and the ASCAR Championship. He returned to Touring Cars in 2002 driving a Nissan Primera
Nissan Primera
The Nissan Primera is a medium sized family car produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan for the Japanese domestic and European markets.-Nissan Primera P10 :...
in the European Touring Car Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
.
In 2008, Chris was instrumental in establishing the SLR GT Trophy for the Mercedes Benz SLR Mclaren sportscar and finished second in 6 races.
Most recently, Chris has raced in the FIA GT3 Championship, the FIA GT Championship (best result 3rd in GT2 at the Spa 24 Hours) and in GT2 in the International GT Open Championship.
Goodwin, in his role as McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver, drove the 2008 title-winning MP4-23 Formula One car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as simply the Festival of Speed, is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England.Typically held in late June or...
on Friday 3rd July 2009.