Hunter Abbott

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Hunter Abbott is a British racing driver (born in Liverpool, 4 December 1980). He is currently racing for Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championship driving a Chevrolet.

Racing career

Early years

Abbott began his racing career in 1995, in karting, winning the HKC Junior TKM Championship during his first year racing. He moved to Senior TKM competing in the 1996 Super 1 National Kart Championships finishing 15th overall on his debut year. For 1998 Abbott moved to Formula 100C Super 1 National Kart Championships where he finished the season 4th overall and ran as high as 2nd in the European Intercontinatal A Championships. In 1999 Abbott moved to Formula A and competed in the Super 1 National Kart Championships.

At the end of 1999 Abbott made the move to car racing and won his debut race in the Jim Russell Formula Ford Championship at Silverstone. He competed in the 1999 Dubai 24 Hour, partnering Pedro Lamy and the 2000 Formula First season, taking five pole positions from six races.^[1]

Abbott did not race between July 2000 to March 2003 due to lack of sponsorship. In 2003 Abbott competed in a handful of Radical Enduro championship races driving a Radical Prosport and had several podium finishes.

For 2004, Abbott raced in the Radical Enduro championship with Martin Donnelly Racing. He missed the first two rounds of the championship but took eight victories and 11 pole positions in the remainder of the season, the most races any driver has ever won in one season of Radical Enduro.^[2]

Oval Racing

In 2005, Abbott moved into the UK Oval Racing, joining the SCSA racing series; a UK based championship, similar to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series which raced on the Rockingham Motor Speedway oval circuit. He had a successful debut season, winning the Rookie Championship. This led to him being awarded 'One to Watch' by Autosport Magazine and "Driver of the Year" from over 200 European oval drivers by NASCAR team Roush Racing.

Abbott didn't compete in the 2006 season, but returned in 2007 and finished runner up to series champion Colin White

24 Hour Racing

After a last minute call up from CWS Racing Abbott competed in the 2016 Dubai 24 Hour, finishing 2nd in the SP3 class^[3] after leading the race until three hours from the end when a belt failure forced the car into the pits for an additional pit-stop.

GT racing

Abbott driving for Rob Austin Racing at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the 2009 British GT season.

2006 saw a move into GT racing for Abbott. He entered the 2006 British GT season, driving in the GTC class with a Porsche 996 GT3 racing for RPM Motorsport. The highlight of the year was finishing 2nd in the prestigious Pau Grand Prix. After the Snetterton round of the championship Hunter left RPM to join Paul Mace's Specialist Direct team also driving a Porsche 996 GT3.

After a brief hiatus in 2007, when he returned to Oval racing, he once again joined the British GT grid, beginning a long racing partnership with Rob Austin Racing. Partnering Rob Austin in the teams Ginetta G50, the pair managed to finish second in the GT4 class of the 2008 season, taking three class wins. At the Oulton Park round of the championship, Abbott had a spectacular 100mph crash in his Ginetta, flipping several time before coming to rest on its roof where it burst into flames. Abbott was trapped in the car for 18 seconds while on fire.^[4] The driver's door was jammed shut and he escaped from the car by crawling through the roll cage and out of the passenger side of the car.^[5] Quick thinking by Abbott and efficient work by the race marshals meant that he escaped with only minor burns and injuries.^[6] After 2 weeks Abbott returned to the series and took a double victory at Knockhill.

The partnership with Rob Austin Racing continued into 2009. Abbott contested the first half of the 2009 season, with Abbott taking 4 class wins and several podium finishes along with new partner Gary Simms before stopping before the Knockhill event. Abbott had a one-off outing after a late call from Stark Racing for the Snetterton round of the championship where he scored two-second places in the GT4 class. He finished 4th in the GT4 championship after missing the second half of the season. However, Abbott, with Rob Austin Racing and driver partner Henry Fletcher contested a full season in the GT4 European Series. Abbott and Fletcher finish sixth in the 2009 championship, with three third-place finishes. Abbott continued into the 2010 GT4 European Cup, entering the first three rounds and scoring one 2nd place and finishing fifth in the overall drivers standings.

One-Make Racing

In 2008 Abbott made a one-off appearance in the Ginetta G50 Cup at the Brands Hatch GP after one of the Rob Austin Racing drivers was delayed after returning from a US trip. Having never driven the car before Abbott went straight into qualifying and claimed two pole positions for race 1 and race 2. Abbott did not finish race 1 after contact with Tom Dunstone but won race 2 from Frank Wrathall and Christian Dick.

Abbott entered the 2012 Ginetta GT Supercup, driving a Ginetta G55 for Century Motorsport. Abbott finished sixth overall, with two 3rd places his best results.

For 2013, he moved back into Europe, entering the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux, driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Gen 2 and finishing the season in second place behind former Midland F1 test driver Jeffrey van Hooydonk and ahead of factory Audi driver Christiaan Frankenhout.

Touring Car Racing

Abbott announced that he was making the switch to touring car racing, entering the British Touring Car Championship with his previous GT team Rob Austin Racing. He entered the 2014 British Touring Car Championship season under the AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing banner, driving a NGTC Audi A4.^[7] Abbott scored points on his debut, securing a single point by finishing 15th during race 3 at Brands Hatch. He featured in the top 10 at several races and was top Rookie^[8] in the Jack Sears Trophy with 96 overtakes, awarded to the driver who overtook the most cars during the season.

In 2015 Abbott stayed with Rob Austin Racing^[9] in the British Touring Car Championship under the AlcoSense Exocet Racing banner. Abbott against featured in the top 10 in many races but after missing the Knockhill round of the championship to be there for the birth of his son, Hunter fininshed the year 21st in the Drivers Championship.

For 2016 Abbott switched to the front wheel drive Chevrolet Cruze of Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championship. With a best result of 10th at Silverstone Abbott finished 19th overall.

Lap records

s Hatch Indy Circuit, UK – Year 2000 – Formula First
Donington Park, UK – Year 2008 – British GT, GT4
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – Year 2009 – British GT, GT4
Zolder, Belgium – Year 2009 – European GT4 Championship

Famous Crashes

On Saturday 22 March 2008 Abbott had a spectacular 100+mph crash in the Rob Austin Racing Ginetta G50 in the opening round of the 2008 British GT Championship at Oulton Park. After being tagged by Peter Snowdon's Aston Martin Abbott struck the barriers on the outside of the circuit between Old Hall and Cascades corners at unabated speed. The car flipped several times end over end, clearing the safety barriers, before coming to rest upside down where it burst into flames. The fire was caused by the roof skin being ripped off in the force of the accident, in the process this also ripped off the fuel filler pipes from the fuel tank. As it was near the beginning of the race the fuel tank was near full, when the car came to rest upside down the fuel load leaked quickly into the car.

Abbott was trapped in the car for 18 seconds while on fire.^[4] The driver's door was jammed shut and he escaped from the car by crawling through the roll cage and out of the passenger side of the car.^[5] Quick thinking by Abbott and efficient work by the race marshals meant that he escaped with only minor burns and injuries.^[6] After 2 weeks Abbott returned to the series and took a double victory at Knockhill.

There was significant mainstream media coverage of the crash through newspapers and magazines. The crash is widely known through motor racing circles and can be viewed on YouTube.

On Sunday 31st July 2016 Abbott was involved in a crash while racing for Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championship. He hit a Team BKR-run Volkswagen CC driven by Mark Howard (go to Mark Howard (racing driver)). Abbott roles over and on to the railings and hit a camera stand. No one was injured.

Racing record

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

References

External links

• Hunter Abbott Official Website
• British GT Drive Biography