# Allan Simonsen (racing driver)

Allan Weel Simonsen (5 July 1978 – 22 June 2013) was a Danish racing driver, born in Odense. He died after a crash during the third lap of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

## Career

After beginning his career in karting racing against the likes of future Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, Simonsen moved to cars in 1999, winning the Danish Formula Ford Championship. He raced in Formula Palmer Audi in 2000, before moving to German Formula 3 and Formula Renault 2.0 UK in 2001.
Simonsen moved to sports car racing for 2002, driving a Ferrari 360 for Veloqx Motorsport in the British GT Championship. He began racing in Australia in 2003 for Mark Coffey Racing, driving a Ferrari 360 Challenge to 8th place in the 2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship for GT style cars and 2nd place in Group 2. He would then go on to finish in 8th place in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR. In the 2004 Australian Nations Cup Championship, he drove the 360 to 3rd place in the Trophy Class while driving a Ferrari 550 GT2 in a limited campaign to 7th in the outright class.
While in Australia, Simonsen also drove in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar events. Simonsen's best Bathurst result came in 2011, when he finished third for Kelly Racing, driving alongside Greg Murphy in a Holden VE Commodore. Simonsen won the Australian GT Championship in 2007 (driving both a Ferrari 360 GT and a Ferrari F430) and finished second in 2008 driving a Ferrari F430 GT.
At the 2011 Sprint Bathurst event, he set a blistering time of 2:04.95 around the famous Mount Panorama circuit. This was a monumental effort at the time, as it was a full 2 seconds faster than any V8 Supercar lap time and comparable to the Formula 3 lap record set in the following year. Simonsen's time was so quick that the officials initially removed it from the timing screens, for they believed it to be an error. It wasn't until it was confirmed by the manual time keeper and the team's own data, however, that the time was reinstated.
Simonsen placed fourth in the 2007 Le Mans Series season, in a partial season driving a Porsche 911 GT3 for Virgo Motorsport, which included a GT2 class win in the Nürburgring 1000. He drove Ferraris for Team Farnbacher in both the Le Mans Series as well as various international series from 2008 through 2011. During that time, Simonson won the GT2 class at the 2009 1000 km of Okayama with Dominik Farnbacher and the SP7 class in the 2010 24 Hours Nürburgring with Farnbacher, Leh Keen, and Marco Seefried. He participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times between 2007 and 2013, finishing on the GT2 class podium twice: third in 2007 and second in 2010.

## Death

In the 9th minute of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, and on his third lap, Simonsen was leading the LMGTE Am field with his No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE. At the Tertre Rouge corner, Simonsen's car twitched as he accelerated through the right hand turn, and when he attempted to correct, the car veered left before impacting the crash barriers on the outside of the corner. He was extricated from the car, reportedly conscious, before being taken to the on-site medical centre where he succumbed to his injuries. His death was the first in racing conditions during the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Jo Gartner died in a 1986 crash, while French driver Sébastien Enjolras died more recently in a pre-qualifying session accident in 1997.
Race officials raised a Danish flag at half mast over the circuit's podium during the race in honor of Simonsen. Fellow Danish driver Tom Kristensen won the race overall and dedicated his team's victory to the memory of Simonsen.

## Memorials

The award for the fastest qualifier at the Bathurst 12 Hour, which Simonsen won in 2013, is named the Allan Simonsen Pole Position Trophy.

## Career results
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
| 1999 | Danish Formula Ford Championship | 1st | Van Diemen RF99 Ford | |
| 2000 | Formula Palmer Audi | 11th | Van Diemen PA Audi | Team Brask |
| 2001 | British Formula Renault Championship | 26th | Tatuus FR2000 Renault | PBR Racing |
| 2003 | Australian Nations Cup Championship | 8th | Ferrari 360 Challenge | Mark Coffey Racing |
| 2003 | Australian Nations Cup Championship Group 2 | 2nd | Ferrari 360 Challenge | Mark Coffey Racing |
| 2003 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 67th | Holden VX Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2004 | Australian Nations Cup Championship | 7th | Ferrari 550 Millenio | Mark Coffey Racing |
| 2004 | Australian Nations Cup Championship Trophy Cars | 3rd | Ferrari 550 Millenio | Mark Coffey Racing |
| 2004 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 52nd | Holden VY Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2004 | British GT Championship GT Cup Class | 13th | Ferrari 360 Modena | Lester/Glenvarigill Racing |
| 2005 | V8 Utes Series | 10th | Ford BA Falcon XR8 Ute | Coopers Pale Ale Racing Team |
| 2005 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 57th | Holden VY Commodore | Perkins Engineering |
| 2006 | FIA GT3 European Championship | 15th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | JMB Racing |
| 2006 | FIA GT Championship GT2 Class | 38th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Scuderia Ecosse |
| 2006 | Australian GT Championship | 11th | Ferrari 360 GT | Consolidated Chemical Racing Team |
| 2006 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 46th | Ford BA Falcon | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2007 | Australian GT Championship | 1st | Ferrari 360 GT Ferrari F430 GT3 | Consolidated Chemical Racing Team Mark Coffey Racing |
| 2007 | Australian Tourist Trophy | 1st | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2007 | Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 4th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Virgo Motorsport |
| 2007 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 10th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Christians in Motorsport |
| 2007 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 25th | Ford BF Falcon | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2008 | FIA GT Championship GT1 Class | 11th | Aston Martin DBR9 | Gigawave Motorsport |
| 2008 | Australian GT Championship | 2nd | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2008 | Australian Tourist Trophy | 1st | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2008 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 7th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Christians in Motorsport |
| 2008 | American Le Mans Series GT2 Class | 23rd | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Tafel Racing |
| 2008 | Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 17th | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Team Farnbacher |
| 2009 | Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 7th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Team Farnbacher |
| 2009 | Asian Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 1st | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Team Farnbacher |
| 2009 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 4th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Team Rosso Verde |
| 2009 | Australian GT Championship | 20th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2009 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 58th | Ford FG Falcon | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2009 | Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 106th | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Farnbacher-Loles Racing |
| 2010 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 5th | Ferrari 430 Scuderia | Team Rosso Verde |
| 2010 | Le Mans Series LM GT2 Class | 17th | Ferrari F430 GT3 | Team Farnbacher |
| 2010 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 49th | Holden VE Commodore | Paul Morris Motorsport |
| 2010 | Le Mans Series LM GTE Pro Class | 5th | Ferrari 458 GTC | Team Farnbacher |
| 2011 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 10th | Ferrari 430 Scuderia Ferrari 458 GTC | Team Rosso Verde |
| 2011 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 32nd | Holden VE Commodore | Kelly Racing Brad Jones Racing |
| 2012 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 52nd | Ford FG Falcon | Dick Johnson Racing |
| 2012 | Australian GT Championship | 4th | Ferrari 458 GT | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2012 | British GT Championship GT3 Class | 12th | Ferrari 458 Italia | Team Rosso Verde |
| 2013 | Australian GT Championship | 17th | Ferrari 458 GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
| 2007 | Autorlando Sport Farnbacher Racing | Pierre Ehret Lars-Erik Nielsen | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | GT2 | 309 | 21st | 3rd |
| 2008 | Kruse Schiller Motorsport | Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda | Lola B05/40-Mazda | LMP2 | 147 | DNF | DNF |
| 2009 | Hankook Team Farnbacher | Dominik Farnbacher Christian Montanari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 183 | DNF | DNF |
| 2010 | Hankook Team Farnbacher | Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen | Ferrari F430 GT2 | GT2 | 336 | 12th | 2nd |
| 2011 | Hankook Team Farnbacher | Dominik Farnbacher Leh Keen | Ferrari 458 Italia GTC | GTE Pro | 137 | DNF | DNF |
| 2012 | Aston Martin Racing | Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | GTE Am | 31 | DNF | DNF |
| 2013 | Aston Martin Racing | Christoffer Nygaard Kristian Poulsen | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | GTE Am | 2 | DNF | DNF |

### Bathurst 24 Hour results

| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
| 2003 | Mark Coffey Racing | Paul Stokell Luke Youlden Peter Hackett | Lamborghini Diablo GTR | A | 487 | 8th | 6th |

### Bathurst 12 Hour results

| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
| 2010 | Action Racing | Jason Bright Marcus Zukanovic | Ford Mustang Shelby | I | 121 | 26th | 1st |
| 2011 | Red Alert Laser Tag | Hector Lester Luke Searle | Ferrari 430 GT3 | A | 276 | 6th | 5th |
| 2012 | Maranello Motorsport | John Bowe Peter Edwards Dominik Farnbacher | Ferrari 458 GT3 | A | 114 | DNF | DNF |
| 2013 | Maranello Motorsport | John Bowe Peter Edwards Mika Salo | Ferrari 458 GT3 | A | 111 | DNF | DNF |

### International V8 Supercars Championship

V8 Supercar 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 | Pos. | Pts |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VX Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R1 | PHI R3 | EAS R4 | WIN R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | HDV R9 | HDV R10 | HDV R11 | QLD R12 | ORA R13 | SAN R14 29 | BAT R15 Ret | SUR R16 | SUR R17 | PUK R18 | PUK R19 | PUK R20 | EAS R21 | EAS R22 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 69th | 80 |
| 2004 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VY Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | EAS R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | PUK R6 | HDV R7 | HDV R8 | HDV R9 | BAR R10 | BAR R11 | BAR R12 | QLD R13 | WIN R14 | ORA R15 | ORA R16 | SAN R17 Ret | BAT R18 10 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 | SYM R22 | SYM R23 | EAS R24 | EAS R25 | EAS R26 | | | | | | | | | | | | 51st | 156 |
| 2005 | Perkins Engineering | Holden VY Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | PUK R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | EAS R9 | EAS R10 | SHA R11 | SHA R12 | SHA R13 | HDV R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | QLD R17 | ORA R18 | ORA R19 | SAN R20 17 | BAT R21 20 | SUR R22 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | SYM R25 | SYM R26 | SYM R27 | PHI R28 | PHI R29 | PHI R30 | | | | | | | | 57th | 128 |
| 2006 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 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 17 | BAT R22 12 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | SUR R25 | SYM R26 | SYM R27 | SYM R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | PHI R32 | PHI R33 | PHI R34 | | | | 46th | 210 |
| 2007 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 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 10 | BAT R25 5 | SUR R26 | SUR R27 | SUR R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | SYM R32 | SYM R33 | SYM R34 | PHI R35 | PHI R36 | PHI R37 | 25th | 63 |
| 2009 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford FG Falcon | 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 10 | PHI R17 21 | BAT R18 Ret | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SUR R21 | SUR R22 | PHI R23 | PHI R24 | BAR R25 | BAR R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | 59th | 91 |
| 2010 | Paul Morris 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 Q | PHI R17 | BAT R18 6 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 | SYM R22 | SAN R23 | SAN R24 | SYD R25 | SYD R26 | | | | | | | | | | | 49th | 204 |
| 2011 | Kelly Racing | Holden VE Commodore | 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 Q 23 | PHI R19 13 | BAT R20 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 32nd | 509 |
| 2011 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SUR R21 17 | SUR R22 17 | SYM R23 | SYM R24 | SAN R25 | SAN R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | | | 32nd | 509 |
| 2012 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford FG Falcon | 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 Q 26 | SAN R20 21 | BAT R21 17 | SUR R22 | SUR R23 | YMC R24 | YMC R25 | YMC R26 | WIN R27 | WIN R28 | SYD R29 | SYD R30 | | | | | | | 52nd | 108 |

### Complete Bathurst 1000 results

| Year | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VX | Nathan Pretty | DNF | 42 |
| 2004 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VY | Nathan Pretty | 10th | 160 |
| 2005 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VZ | Alex Davison | 20th | 129 |
| 2006 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Falcon BA | Richard Lyons | 12th | 161 |
| 2007 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Falcon BF | Richard Lyons | 5th | 161 |
| 2009 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Ford Falcon FG | James Thompson | DNF | 152 |
| 2010 | Paul Morris Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Greg Murphy | 6th | 161 |
| 2011 | Kelly Racing | Holden Commodore VE | Greg Murphy | 3rd | 161 |
| 2012 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Falcon FG | Steven Johnson | 17th | 161 |