Harold Primat

Harold Primat is a French born (June 12th, 1975), Swiss racing driver currently racing in the Le Mans Series (LMS) and the Le Mans 24 Hour race.

Early career

Like many young racing drivers, Primat started his career racing go-karts as a schoolboy, before graduating to the famous Max Mygale and Winfield racing schools in France, as well as the Jim Russell racing school in the UK. One could say that racing was in Primat's blood, as his uncle was the famed motorcycle racer Claude Vigreux [ [http://www.racinginside.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69:interview-met-harold-primat&catid=35:interviews-nl&Itemid=53 racinginside.com - Interview met Harold Primat ] ] .

His next move was to the USA, where he chose to compete in the Formula Ford 2000 championship before continuing to climb the motorsport ladder, first in the British Formula Three Championship, then in the European based Formula 3 Euroseries before ending his single seater career in World Series Lights with the Saulnier Racing team [ [http://www.saulnierracing.com/index.php?p=palmares :: Saulnier Racing ] ] .

During 2003 and 2004, Primat dovetailed his single seater career with a new interest in endurance racing - a type of racing that rewards consitency and car management over outright speed. He made his debut in 2003, again with Saulnier Racing, in the French V de V Endurance championship and was instantly competitive, leading his first race at Spa before suffering from a mechanical failure. Ending up vice-champion in only his second season (missing out on the title due to missing a race because of prior World Series Lights engagement), Harold had clearly been bitten by the endurance bug.

Top flight endurance racing on both sides of the Atlantic

Finally graduating to top level endurance racing in 2005, Primat made an instant impact by qualifying third and finishing second in the P2 class of the American Le Mans Series, driving for Kruse Motorsport.

Still with Kruse, Primat started the European season at Spa but retired due to an engine problem. He then switched teams to Rollcentre Racing which allowed him to fight for overall honours in the LMP1 category, scoring three top-ten finishes in his debut year.

2005 was also the year of Primat's first visit to Le Mans. After qualifying an excellent 13th, the Rollcentre Racing Dallara Nissan suffered from technical problems in the early stages of the race, leading to the team not being classified.

For 2006, Primat changed teams again, this time becoming a part of the all Swiss line-up in the new Swiss Spirit team. Here, he would rejoin his old team boss, Serge Saulnier, whose Saulnier Racing team [ [http://www.saulnierracing.com/index.php?p=photos&galerie=7 :: Saulnier Racing ] ] ran the programme. Podiums at Spa and Jarama soon followed netting Primat joint fourth place in the championship, but again he was unable to complete the Le Mans 24 Hours, suffering from a gearbox problem after 132 laps.

Once more, Primat dovetailed his European programme with a selection of US-based races finishing third at Laguna Seca and fourth at Petit Le Mans - this time for the Creation Autosportif team. His debut at the Daytona 24 Hours was thwarted after an engine failure in his Spirit of Daytona Crawford Pontiac.

In 2007, Primat changed teams again, signing for the double (and reigning) Le Mans Series champions Pescarolo Sport, owned by Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo. A podium at Spa was his best result in the face of increased competition in the form of the works Peugeot Sport team, but again Primat showed amazing consistency to finish in the top six of four of the six races that year - being forced to retire in the other two races with technical problems.

At Le Mans, Primat finished sixth in class and 13th overall despite losing 90 minutes in the pits due to an oil leak.

For 2008, Primat has stayed with the Pescarolo Sport team in the Le Mans Series, so far gaining a third position at Monza as his best result. In the Le Mans 24 Hours, he finished a to-date best of seventh and first of the unoffical 'petrol' class [ [http://www.pescarolo.com/news.asp?news=79 Pescarolo Sport ] ] , being beaten only by the diesel works Audis and works Peugeots.

References

External links

* [http://www.haroldprimat.com Official Harold Primat website]