Franck Montagny (born 5 January 1978) is a French former racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006.
Early career Born in Feurs, Loire, Montagny started racing karts there in 1988, winning the cadet class in the French Karting Championship in 1992, and the National 1 class the following year.
Montagny made his debut in cars in 1994, aged sixteen, promptly winning the French Renault Campus championship. The next two years were spent in Formula Renault, with finishes in fourth (the highest-finishing rookie that year) and sixth (despite missing half the season with multiple fractures obtained in an accident at Le Mans) respectively, before transferring up to French Formula Three in 1997 with the La Filière Martini team, debuting with another fourth place championship finish.
Formula Three breakthrough
Montagny had a breakthrough year in Formula Three in 1998, including a pole position at the Spa-Francorchamps race ahead of much more experienced drivers including Mark Webber, Luciano Burti, Enrique Bernoldi and Peter Dumbreck. He repeated the feat in the Zandvoort Masters in the Netherlands later that year, beating then German Formula Three champion Nick Heidfeld. He consistently outpaced long-time teammate Sébastien Bourdais and ended the season with ten wins from 22 races, including twelve pole positions, finishing the championship as runner-up behind David Saelens.
Formula 3000 and sports cars
Montagny moved up to Formula 3000 in 1999, driving for the DAMS team which was falling from its peak by then. One podium finish at the Hungaroring was his main success; he totalled only 6 points and tenth place that season. He however ended the year with success in the Elf Masters Karting at Paris-Bercy.
A repeat of his unsuccessful year in Formula 3000 prompted a move to World Series by Nissan in 2001, signing for the Epsilon by Graff team. Montagny won eight races out of a possible sixteen, and beat Tomas Scheckter to the championship. He changed teams for 2002 to Racing Engineering, but was beaten into second place in the championship by Ricardo Zonta. He supplemented this with a sixth-place finish for Oreca at the Le Mans 24 hours.
Formula One
Renault and Jordan Montagny returned to the World Series by Nissan in 2003 with Gabord Competicion, and secured his second championship title with nine victories, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. This performance earned him a test with the Renault Formula One team, in which he impressed sufficiently to earn a contract as a test driver in 2003, moving up to become third driver during the 2004 & 2005 seasons. He did an impressive one-off for Jordan as third driver on the Friday of the 2005 European Grand Prix, clocking a quicker time than Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro, the official Jordan drivers.
In mid-2004, as part of his Renault F1 testing duties, Montagny became the chief test and development driver for the new GP2 Series, which would be powered by Renault engines. Montagny was the first driver to take the wheel of the car, and along with former F1 driver and ex-Renault F1 tester and Friday driver Allan McNish, divided testing duties between them, before the GP2 Series was officially launched in 2005. Much of the success of the championship and the drivability of the car has been placed on the development skills of Montagny. This was further evidenced at the start of the 2006 GP2 Series season, when Montagny was called in to test for the newly created FMS International team, to aid them and their drivers in understanding the complexities of the car, at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain, where Montagny had put in hundreds of testing laps in his time with Renault F1.
Super Aguri
For 2006, Super Aguri took Montagny on as third driver; however, he was promoted to full race driver in May after it was announced that Yuji Ide was to drop back into testing; Ide was demoted at the behest of the governing body who considered him insufficiently experienced for Formula One. Montagny hence competed in his first Grand Prix, the 2006 European Grand Prix on 7 May, qualifying last and retiring with a hydraulics problem. He did not finish his second race 2006 Spanish Grand Prix: after a great start, enabling him to gain three positions, he retired on lap 10 with a mechanical failure. It was third time lucky for him at the Monaco Grand Prix, when he finished the 78-lap race in sixteenth place, three laps behind the leader.
During the break between the British Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix, Montagny was able to participate in the Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing second for Pescarolo Sport behind only the dominating Audi factory R10s. He was the first active Formula One driver to also participate at Le Mans in the same year since Mark Blundell in 1995.
On 12 July, Super Aguri announced that Sakon Yamamoto would replace Montagny from the German Grand Prix onwards. Montagny did not appear in his role as third driver for the next two weekends as only two Super Aguri SA06s were available but a third chassis was prepared during the summer break enabling him to reprise this role at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Toyota
Montagny tested for Toyota F1 in September 2006 at Silverstone. A month later, Toyota confirmed that he would join the team as test driver for the 2007 season, as Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta were leaving the team. After spending 2007 as a test driver, Montagny left the team after a test at the Circuit de Catalunya in November. He was still interested in gaining a drive in F1, and had been linked with the Renault F1 team for the 2010 season,Montagny confirms Renault Talks F1-Live.com 21/10/2009 but Renault signed Vitaly Petrov.
After Formula One
Montagny competed in the final Champ Car World Series race, held at the Long Beach circuit on April 20, 2008. He finished second in his first appearance in a race in the United States, five seconds behind Australian Will Power. In June, he drove the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP at the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished in the third place with Ricardo Zonta and Christian Klien.
Montagny made his debut in the American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green Racing at the 2008 Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in July 2008, driving an Acura ARX-01B.ALMS News: ANDRETTI, MONTAGNY IN AGR ACURA AT LIME ROCK
Montagny made his IndyCar Series debut in 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway with Andretti Green Racing.
Superleague Formula Montagny has signed up to drive the Girondins de Bordeaux entry in the Superleague Formula for the 2010 season.
Formula E In May 2014, Andretti Autosport announced that Montagny would race for them in the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship in 2014–15. He raced for the team in Beijing and Putrajaya, scoring a podium in Beijing and scoring eighteen points overall in the two races. However, he was replaced in Punta del Este by Jean-Éric Vergne. It was not immediately known why, but Montagny later admitted that he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine derivative after the Putrajaya ePrix. In March 2015, Montagny was given a two-year ban from racing, and was also disqualified from the Putrajaya race, in which he initially placed fifteenth.
Current life Montagny now works as a pit lane summariser and expert for French television.
Racing record
Career summary Season Series Team name Races Poles Wins Points Position 1994 Formula Renault Campus France ? ? ? 3 284 1st 1995 Formula Renault France La Filière 14 0 1 70 4th 1996 Formula Renault France La Filière 8 0 2 74 6th 1997 French Formula 3 ChampionshipLa Filière 17 1 4 129 4th British Formula 3 Championship 1 0 0 12 18th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 N/A DNF Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 N/A 14th 1998 French Formula Three La Filière 22 12 10 226 2nd Le Mans 24 Hours - LMP1 1 0 0 N/A 5th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 N/A DNF Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 N/A 6th 1999 International Formula 3000 DAMS 10 0 0 6 12th American Le Mans Series - LMP 1 0 0 0 NC Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A DNF 2000 International Formula 3000 DAMS 10 0 0 5 15th Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A 19th 2001 Open Telefónica by Nissan Epsilon by Graff 18 8 7 221 1st Le Mans 24 Hours Viper Team Oreca 1 0 0 N/A DNF 2002 World Series by Nissan Racing Engineering 18 3 4 222 2nd FIA Sportscar Championship - SR1 Team Oreca 1 0 0 15 15th Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A 6th 2003 World Series by Nissan Gabord Competición 17 4 9 241 1st 2004 Formula One Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Test driver 2005 Formula One Mild Seven Renault F1 Team Test driver Jordan Grand Prix Le Mans 24 Hours Audi PlayStation Team Oreca 1 0 0 N/A 4th 2006 Formula One Super Aguri F1 7 0 0 0 27th Le Mans 24 Hours Pescarolo Sport 1 0 0 N/A 2nd 2007 Formula One Panasonic Toyota Racing Test driver 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix France 4 0 0 118** 4th** 2008 Champ Car World Series Forsythe/Pettit Racing 1 0 0 N/A† N/A† American Le Mans Series - LMP2 Andretti Green Racing 7 1 2 90 11th Le Mans 24 Hours Team Peugeot Total 1 0 0 N/A 3rd 2009 IndyCar Series Andretti Green Racing 1 0 0 12 38th American Le Mans Series Team Peugeot Total 2 0 1 56 9th Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A 2nd 2010 American Le Mans Series - LMP1 Team Peugeot Total 1 0 1 N/A NC Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A NC Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 2 0 2 N/A NC Superleague Formula Girondins de Bordeaux 12 0 1 372** 11th** 2011 American Le Mans Series - LMP1 Peugeot Sport Total 2 0 1 N/A NC Le Mans 24 Hours 1 0 0 N/A 3rd 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship Kelly Racing 2 0 0 0 NC‡ Le Mans 24 Hours OAK Racing 1 0 1 N/A DNF 2014 IndyCar Series Andretti Autosport 1 0 0 8 36th 2014–15 Formula E Andretti Autosport Formula E Team 2 0 0 18 16th ** Team standings † Championship merged into the IndyCar Series after one race. ‡ Not Eligible for points
Sportscar racing
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Courage Compétition Henri Pescarolo Olivier Grouillard Courage C36-Porsche LMP1 304 15th 4th Team DAMS Christophe Tinseau David Terrien Lola B98/10-Judd LMP 77 DNF DNF Team DAMS Éric Bernard Emmanuel Collard Cadillac Northstar LMP LMP900 300 19th 9th Viper Team Oreca Yannick Dalmas Stéphane Sarrazin Chrysler LMP LMP900 126 DNF DNF PlayStation Team Oreca Stéphane Sarrazin Nicolas Minassian Dallara SP1-Judd LMP900 359 6th 5th Audi PlayStation Team Oreca Jean-Marc Gounon Stéphane Ortelli Audi R8 LMP1 362 4th 4th Pescarolo Sport Sébastien Loeb Éric Hélary Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 376 2nd 2nd Peugeot Sport Total Ricardo Zonta Christian Klien Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 379 3rd 3rd Team Peugeot Total Sébastien Bourdais Stéphane Sarrazin Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 381 2nd 2nd Team Peugeot Total Nicolas Minassian Stéphane Sarrazin Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 264 DNF DNF Peugeot Sport Total Stéphane Sarrazin Nicolas Minassian Peugeot 908 LMP1 353 3rd 3rd OAK Racing Dominik Kraihamer Bertrand Baguette OAK Pescarolo 01 Evo-Judd LMP1 219 DNF DNF
Complete American Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref 1999 DAMS LMP Lola B98/10 Judd GV4 4.0 L V10 SEB ATL MOS SON POR PET MON LSV NC 0 2000 Motorola DAMS LMP Cadillac Northstar LMP Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8 SEB CHA SIL NÜR SON MOS TEX ROS PET MON LSV ADE 40th 20 2008 Andretti Green Racing LMP2 Acura ARX-01b Acura 3.4L V8 SEB STP LNB UTA LIM MID AME MOS DET PET MON 11th 90 2009 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) SEB STP LNB UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET MON 9th 56 2010 Team Peugeot Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) SEB LNB MON UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET NC – 2011 Peugeot Sport Total LMP1 Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDi 3.7 L Turbo V8(Diesel) SEB LNB LIM MOS MID AME BAL MON PET NC – 2012 Level 5 Motorsports P2 HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6SEBLNBMONLIMMOSMIDAMEBALVIRPET NC –
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key)