# David Besnard

David John Besnard (born 21 January 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is a retired professional racing driver.

## Career history

Starting in karts in 1991, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title. He made a venture to the United States, with a small budget, and limited success. In 1998, he returned to win the U.S F2000 National Championship. 1999, saw David enter the US Formula Atlantic Championship. After a heavy crash at Nazareth Speedway, the team had to buy a new chassis and ran out of budget halfway through the season. 2000 saw Besnard again in the United States, running various Sports Car races, until Stone Brothers Racing picked him up for the Konica V8 Supercar Series and the Bathurst 1000. From there he drove with Stone Brothers for several seasons, with the highlight being winning the 2002 Queensland 500 with Simon Wills. He raced with Ford Performance Racing for one season in 2003, and WPS Racing for three seasons following that.
In 2004, with his links with WPS, a drive in the Champ Car World Series came about at Surfers Paradise. His finishing position of seventh is still the highest finish for an Australian at that event (but bettered by Ryan Briscoe's 2008 IRL win after the CCWS collapsed). After being dropped by WPS in 2006 Besnard has been racing in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, picking up an endurance race co-driver role with Stone Brothers Racing in 2007, paired with James Courtney, which resulted in a second place at Bathurst.

## Motorsports career results
### Karting career summary

| Season | Series | Position |
| 1992 | CIK-FIA Karting European Championship - Junior A | 1st |
| 1992 | FIA Karting World Championship - Junior A | 30th |
| 1993 | FIA Karting World Championship - Formula A | 15th |
| 1993 | World Cup Karting - Formula A | 8th |
| 1993 | 4th Tropeo Andrea Margutti - ICA | 13th |

### Career summary

| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
| 1995 | Australian Formula Ford Championship | 26th | Van Diemen RF90 – Ford | David Besnard |
| 1996 | Australian Formula Ford Championship | 1st | Van Diemen RF96 – Ford | David Besnard |
| 1998 | United States Formula Ford 2000 Championship | 1st | Van Diemen RF98 - Ford | Van Diemen USA |
| 1998 | United States Formula Ford 2000 Oval Crown | 1st | Van Diemen RF98 - Ford | Van Diemen USA |
| 1998 | GrandAm Sportscar Series | 43rd | Riley & Scott - Ford | Transatlantic Racing |
| 1999 | United States Formula Atlantic Series | 15th | Swift 008.a - Toyota | Hylton Motorsports |
| 2000 | GrandAm Sportscar Series | 83rd | Riley & Scott - Lincoln | Dyson Racing |
| 2000 | Konica V8 Lites Series | 5th | Ford EL Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2000 | Shell Championship Series | 40th | Ford AU Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2001 | Shell Championship Series | 23rd | Ford AU Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2002 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 8th | Ford AU Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2003 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 21st | Ford AU Falcon Ford BA Falcon | Ford Performance Racing |
| 2004 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 30th | Ford BA Falcon | WPS Racing |
| 2004 | Champ Car World Series | 20th | Reynard 03i Ford Cosworth | Walker Racing |
| 2005 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 25th | Ford BA Falcon | WPS Racing |
| 2006 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 45th | Ford BA Falcon | WPS Racing |
| 2006/07 | New Zealand Touring Car Championship | 4th | Ford BA Falcon | |
| 2007 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 27th | Ford BF Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2008 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 30th | Ford BF Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2009 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 33rd | Holden VE Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2010 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 47th | Holden VE Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2010 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | 30th | Ford BF Falcon | Peters Motorsport |
| 2011 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 76th | Ford FG Falcon | Dick Johnson Racing |
| 2012 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 49th | Holden VE Commodore | Brad Jones Racing |

### GrandAm Championship

| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
| 1998 | Transatlantic Racing | Riley & Scott - Ford | CA | D24 | HOM | MID | MIN | WGL 5 | | | | | 43rd | 26 |
| 2000 | Dyson Racing | Riley & Scott - Lincoln | SA | D24 | PHX | HOM 9 | LRK | MID | DAY | RAM | CTR | WGL | 83rd | 22 |

### Complete American open-wheel racing results

(key)

#### Atlantic Championship

| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points | Ref |
| 1999 | Hylton Motorsports | LBH 7 | NAZ 11 | GAT | MIL | MTL 7 | ROA | TRR | MDO | CHI | VAN | LS | HOU | 15th | 16 | |

#### Champ Car World Series

| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points | Ref |
| 2004 | Walker Racing | Reynard 02i | Ford XFE V8t | LBH | MTY | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | VAN | ROA | DEN | MTL | LS | LVS | SRF 7 | MXC | 20th | 18 | |

### Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Supercars results :
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | Position | Points |
| 2000 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | PHI R1 | PHI R2 | BAR R3 | BAR R4 | BAR R5 | ADE R6 | ADE R7 | EAS R8 | EAS R9 | EAS R10 | HDV R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | CAN R14 | CAN R15 | CAN R16 | QLD R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | WIN R20 | WIN R21 | WIN R22 | ORA R23 | ORA R24 | ORA R25 | CAL R26 | CAL R27 | CAL R28 | QLD R29 8 | SAN R30 | SAN R31 | SAN R32 | BAT R33 Ret | | | | | | 40th | 96 |
| 2001 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | PHI R1 29 | PHI R2 18 | ADE R3 Ret | ADE R4 Ret | EAS R5 19 | EAS R6 Ret | HDV R7 7 | HDV R8 5 | HDV R9 7 | CAN R10 15 | CAN R11 Ret | CAN R12 Ret | BAR R13 20 | BAR R14 28 | BAR R15 22 | CAL R16 7 | CAL R17 16 | CAL R18 26 | ORA R19 3 | ORA R20 2 | QLD R21 Ret | WIN R22 24 | WIN R23 14 | BAT R24 Ret | PUK R25 22 | PUK R26 Ret | PUK R27 21 | SAN R28 14 | SAN R29 14 | SAN R30 15 | | | | | | | | | 23rd | 1153 |
| 2002 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | ADE R1 Ret | ADE R2 22 | PHI R3 5 | PHI R4 23 | EAS R5 7 | EAS R6 18 | EAS R7 15 | HDV R8 9 | HDV R9 5 | HDV R10 7 | CAN R11 5 | CAN R12 15 | CAN R13 5 | BAR R14 7 | BAR R15 7 | BAR R16 2 | ORA R17 19 | ORA R18 6 | WIN R19 11 | WIN R20 8 | QLD R21 1 | BAT R22 Ret | SUR R23 Ret | SUR R24 9 | PUK R25 13 | PUK R26 23 | PUK R27 Ret | SAN R28 3 | SAN R29 7 | | | | | | | | | | 8th | 988 |
| 2003 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford AU Falcon | ADE R1 Ret | ADE R1 Ret | PHI R3 Ret | EAS R4 13 | WIN R5 24 | BAR R6 20 | BAR R7 20 | BAR R8 Ret | HDV R9 24 | HDV R10 18 | HDV R11 28 | QLD R12 11 | ORA R13 13 | SAN R14 8 | BAT R15 Ret | SUR R16 7 | SUR R17 Ret | PUK R18 25 | PUK R19 15 | PUK R20 Ret | EAS R21 28 | EAS R22 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 1059 |
| 2004 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | ADE R1 18 | ADE R2 14 | EAS R3 17 | PUK R4 23 | PUK R5 23 | PUK R6 25 | HDV R7 19 | HDV R8 28 | HDV R9 Ret | BAR R10 Ret | BAR R11 Ret | BAR R12 22 | QLD R13 19 | WIN R14 Ret | ORA R15 26 | ORA R16 30 | SAN R17 16 | BAT R18 Ret | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 8 | SYM R22 29 | SYM R23 1 | EAS R24 4 | EAS R25 20 | EAS R26 21 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 30th | 790 |
| 2005 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | ADE R1 18 | ADE R2 23 | PUK R3 29 | PUK R4 27 | PUK R5 Ret | BAR R6 17 | BAR R7 12 | BAR R8 20 | EAS R9 30 | EAS R10 24 | SHA R11 Ret | SHA R12 Ret | SHA R13 Ret | HDV R14 Ret | HDV R15 29 | HDV R16 25 | QLD R17 13 | ORA R18 19 | ORA R19 16 | SAN R20 19 | BAT R21 8 | SUR R22 12 | SUR R23 30 | SUR R24 21 | SYM R25 24 | SYM R26 25 | SYM R27 31 | PHI R28 Ret | PHI R29 25 | PHI R30 20 | | | | | | | | | 25th | 904 |
| 2006 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | PUK R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | WIN R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | HDV R14 | QLD R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | ORA R18 | ORA R19 | ORA R20 | SAN R21 11 | BAT R22 14 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | SUR R25 | SYM R26 | SYM R27 | SYM R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | PHI R32 | PHI R33 | PHI R34 | | | | | 45th | 220 |
| 2007 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford BF Falcon | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | BAR R3 | BAR R4 | BAR R5 | PUK R6 | PUK R7 | PUK R8 | WIN R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | EAS R12 | EAS R13 | EAS R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | HDV R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | QLD R20 | ORA R21 | ORA R22 | ORA R23 | SAN R24 16 | BAT R25 2 | SUR R26 | SUR R27 | SUR R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | SYM R32 | SYM R33 | SYM R34 | PHI R35 | PHI R36 | PHI R37 | | 27th | 60 |
| 2008 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford BF Falcon | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | EAS R3 | EAS R4 | EAS R5 | HAM R6 | HAM R7 | HAM R8 | BAR R9 | BAR R10 | BAR R11 | SAN R12 | SAN R13 | SAN R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | HDV R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | QLD R20 | WIN R21 | WIN R22 | WIN R23 | PHI Q 13 | PHI R24 6 | BAT R25 3 | SUR R26 | SUR R27 | SUR R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | SYM R32 | SYM R33 | SYM R34 | ORA R35 | ORA R36 | ORA R37 | 30th | 459 |
| 2009 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | HAM R3 | HAM R4 | WIN R5 | WIN R6 | SYM R7 | SYM R8 | HDV R9 | HDV R10 | TOW R11 | TOW R12 | SAN R13 | SAN R14 | QLD R15 | QLD R16 | PHI Q 5 | PHI R17 13 | BAT R18 9 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SUR R21 | SUR R22 | PHI R23 | PHI R24 | BAR R25 | BAR R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | | 33rd | 306 |
| 2010 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VE Commodore | YMC R1 | YMC R2 | BHR R3 | BHR R4 | ADE R5 | ADE R6 | HAM R7 | HAM R8 | QLD R9 | QLD R10 | WIN R11 | WIN R12 | HDV R13 | HDV R14 | TOW R15 | TOW R16 | PHI R17 Ret | BAT R18 7 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 | SYM R22 | SAN R23 | SAN R24 | SYD R25 | SYD R26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 47th | 233 |
| 2011 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford FG Falcon | YMC R1 | YMC R2 | ADE R3 | ADE R4 | HAM R5 | HAM R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | BAR R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | HID R12 | HID R13 | TOW R14 | TOW R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | QLD R18 | PHI R19 26 | BAT R20 Ret | SUR R21 | SUR R22 | SYM R23 | SYM R24 | SAN R25 | SAN R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | | | 76th | 66 |
| 2012 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | SYM R3 | SYM R4 | HAM R5 | HAM R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | BAR R9 | PHI R10 | PHI R11 | HID R12 | HID R13 | TOW R14 | TOW R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | SMP R18 | SMP R19 | SAN QR 23 | SAN R20 15 | BAT R21 23 | SUR R22 | SUR R23 | YMC R24 | YMC R25 | YMC R26 | WIN R27 | WIN R28 | SYD R29 | SYD R30 | | | | | | | | 49th | 181 |

### Complete Bathurst 1000 results

| Year | Car# | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
| 2000 | 9 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | Tony Longhurst | DNF | 151 |
| 2001 | 9 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | Matthew White | DNF | 84 |
| 2002 | 5 | Glenn Seton Racing | Ford AU Falcon | Glenn Seton Owen Kelly‡ | DNF | 102 |
| 2002 | 9 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | Wayne Gardner | DNS | |
| 2003 | 19 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford BA Falcon | Owen Kelly | DNF | 115 |
| 2004 | 23 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | John McIntyre | DNF | 99 |
| 2005 | 48 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | Craig Baird | 8th | 158 |
| 2006 | 8 | WPS Racing | Ford BA Falcon | Max Wilson | 14th | 160 |
| 2007 | 4 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford BF Falcon | James Courtney | 2nd | 161 |
| 2008 | 4 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford BF Falcon | James Courtney | 3rd | 161 |
| 2009 | 33 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VE Commodore | Greg Ritter | 9th | 161 |
| 2010 | 33 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VE Commodore | Lee Holdsworth | 7th | 161 |
| 2011 | 17 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford FG Falcon | Steven Johnson | DNF | 112 |
| 2012 | 14 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | Fabian Coulthard | 23rd | 147 |
‡ Besnard replaced Kelly due to illness