Luke Youlden

Luke Youlden (born 28 January 1978) is a Australian Supercars series racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden.[1] Youlden currently drives for Kelly Grove Racing as a co-driver alongside David Reynolds in the No. 26 Ford Mustang GT. Outside racing, Youlden works at a performance driving school with fellow Supercars racer Dean Canto.[2] He co-drove to victory with David Reynolds in the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Luke Youlden
Nationality Australian
Born27 January 1978 (1978-01-27) (age 43)
Melbourne, Victoria
Supercars Record
Car number26
Current teamKelly Grove Racing
(Endurance Race Co-Driver)
Series championships0
Races48
Race wins1
Podium finishes7
Pole positions2
2019 Championship position38th (422 pts)

Racing career

Youlden's career started in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship in 1995 while he was completing Year 12. Due to a lack of funds, Youlden didn't progress to the national championship and remained in the Victorian series. At the same time, he joined Dougal McDougall Motorsport as an engineer and a driver. In 1999, Youlden was involved with Greg Ritter's Australian Formula Ford title win and with Ritter driving in the Bathurst 1000 that year, Youlden took his seat at the Bathurst support races. Youlden won both races and this, coupled with his victory in the Victorian series, allowed him to enter the national series in 2000. Youlden won the 2000 Australian Formula Ford Championship and also competed in the British Formula Ford Festival.[3] He made his Bathurst debut the same year, driving for Perkins Motorsport alongside Christian Murchison. The pair were running inside the top five until a broken valve spring put them out of the race.

Youlden competed in the Australian GT Production Car Championship in 2001, winning Class E in a Holden Astra. He again competed for Perkins Motorsport in the V8 Supercar endurance races but was unable to secure a full-time drive for 2002. Youlden settled for what was then called the Konica Series, driving a Ford AU Falcon for Steven Ellery Racing, and would drive with Steven Ellery in the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. Youlden and Ellery finished ninth at Bathurst and Youlden finished the Konica Series in 13th place after a bad start to the season hurt his championship chances. Youlden continued to drive for Steven Ellery Racing in both the Konica Series and the endurance races in 2003 and 2004. Youlden and Ellery finished on the podium in both endurance races in 2003 and the following year Youlden finished second in the Konica Series. Youlden was actually tied on points with series champion Andrew Jones but lost the title on a countback of round wins.[4]

With Steven Ellery Racing dropping out the V8 Supercar Championship Series in 2005, Youlden was hired by Stone Brothers Racing to drive alongside Russell Ingall in that year's endurance races. The pair finished inside the top ten in both endurance races, helping Ingall to the 2005 title. Youlden remained with the team for 2006 and came perilously close to a second podium a Bathurst when he and Ingall finished in fourth place, just one one-hundredth of a second behind teammates James Courtney and Glenn Seton.[5]

Youlden joined Ford Performance Racing for the 2008 endurance races, driving the team's second car with Dean Canto. The pair finished seventh at Bathurst and teamed together again in 2009, finishing ninth at the L&H 500 but failing to finish at Bathurst after Canto hit the wall at The Esses late in the race. 2010 saw the introduction of a rule stating that each team's regular drivers were not allowed to be paired together at the endurance races.[6] This rule saw Youlden get paired up with Mark Winterbottom for the L&H 500 and the Bathurst 1000. Youlden and Winterbottom finished second at the L&H 500 and were on pole for Bathurst, however a delaminated tyre put Youlden into the wall in the middle of the race and this put them out of contention. Youlden was placed in the #6 car for 2011 alongside Will Davison and Youlden collected his first series pole position when the pair claimed the top grid spot at the L&H 500.[7] After balance issues during the race, Youlden and Davison finished third behind the two Team Vodafone cars. Davison led the opening stint of the Bathurst 1000 but Youlden went off at Murray's Corner on the first safety car restart and hit the tyre wall. The pair recovered to finish on the lead lap, albeit in 18th place.[8]

Youlden returned to Stone Brothers Racing in 2012 to partner Shane van Gisbergen. The pair scored pole position for the Sandown 500 before going on to finish fifth in the race.[9][10] Van Gisbergen qualified the car in third for the Bathurst 1000 but the pair would only manage to finish the race in twelfth place. Youlden joined Brad Jones Racing for 2013 to drive alongside Fabian Coulthard in the new Endurance Cup. The duo finished in ninth place in the Endurance Cup standings, with a second-place finish in the second race of the Gold Coast 600.[11]

Career results

Season Series Position Car Team
2000 Australian Formula Ford Championship 1st Mygale SJ2000 Dugal McDougal Motorsport
2001 Australian GT Production Car Championship (Class E) 1st Holden Astra SRi Luke Youlden
V8 Supercar Championship Series 63rd Holden VX Commodore Perkins Motorsport
2002 V8 Supercar Development Series 13th Ford AU Falcon Steven Ellery Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th
2003 V8 Supercar Development Series 5th Ford AU Falcon Steven Ellery Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 35th Ford BA Falcon
2004 V8 Supercar Development Series 2nd Ford AU Falcon Steven Ellery Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th Ford BA Falcon
2005 Australian Carrera Cup Championship 4th Porsche 996 GT3 Cup VIP Pet Foods Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th Ford BA Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
2005–06 New Zealand V8s 5th Ford BA Falcon
2006 V8 Supercar Development Series 22nd Ford AU Falcon
Ford BA Falcon
Peters Motorsport
Dick Johnson Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 37th Ford BA Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
Australian Carrera Cup Championship 16th Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Fitzgerald Racing
2006–07 New Zealand V8s 9th Ford BA Falcon
2007 V8 Supercar Development Series 5th Ford BA Falcon
Ford AU Falcon
A.N.T. Racing
McGill Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 34th Ford BF Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
2007-08 New Zealand V8s 10th Ford BA Falcon
2008 V8 Supercar Development Series 29th Ford BA Falcon Howard Racing
V8 Supercar Championship Series 38th Ford BF Falcon Ford Performance Racing
Kerrick Sports Sedan Series 5th Ford Mustang
2008–09 New Zealand V8s 21st Ford BF Falcon Autotek
2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series 52nd Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing
2010 V8 Supercar Development Series 40th Ford BF Falcon MW Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 32nd Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing
Australian Mini Challenge 23rd Mini Cooper S JCW R56
2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 37th Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing
2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series 5th Ford BF Falcon MW Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 36th Ford FG Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
2013 International V8 Supercars Championship 38th Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2014 International V8 Supercars Championship 32nd Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2015 International V8 Supercars Championship 33rd Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2016 International V8 Supercars Championship 34th Ford FG X Falcon DJR Team Penske
2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 38th Holden VF Commodore Erebus Motorsport
2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 34th Holden ZB Commodore Erebus Motorsport
2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 38th Holden ZB Commodore Erebus Motorsport

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Car Co-Driver Position Laps
2000 Perkins Engineering Holden VT Commodore Christian Murchison DNF 128
2001 Perkins Engineering Holden VX Commodore Adam Macrow DNF 85
2002 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford AU Falcon Steven Ellery 9th 160
2003 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford BA Falcon Steven Ellery 3rd 161
2004 Supercheap Auto Racing Ford BA Falcon Steven Ellery 16th 158
2005 Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon Russell Ingall 5th 161
2006 Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon Russell Ingall 4th 161
2007 Stone Brothers Racing Ford BF Falcon Russell Ingall DNF 149
2008 Ford Performance Racing Ford BF Falcon Dean Canto 7th 161
2009 Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon Dean Canto DNF 139
2010 Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon Mark Winterbottom 9th 161
2011 Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon Will Davison 18th 161
2012 Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon Shane van Gisbergen 12th 161
2013 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Fabian Coulthard 16th 161
2014 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Fabian Coulthard 9th 161
2015 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Fabian Coulthard 4th 161
2016 DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Fabian Coulthard 6th 161
2017 Erebus Motorsport Holden VF Commodore David Reynolds 1st 161
2018 Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore ZB David Reynolds 13th 161
2019 Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore ZB David Reynolds 5th 161

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Overall
Position
Class
Position
2003 Mark Coffey Racing Paul Stokell
Allan Simonsen
Peter Hackett
Lamborghini Diablo GTR A 487 8th 6th

References

  1. "Konica Profile: Luke Youlden". V8X. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  2. "Our Drivers". Stunt Driving School.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  3. "Luke Youlden's Formula Ford Festival Ends Early". AutoWeb. 24 October 2000. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  4. "Andrew Jones Wins 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series Championship". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 25 August 2004. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  5. "Super Cheap Auto 1000 - Rd 9 2006 V8 Supercar Series - Mount Panorama - Bathurst - V8 Supercars - Supercheap Auto 1000". National Software. 8 October 2006. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  6. "Split enduro driver rule divides a nation". SpeedCafe. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  7. "Davison and Youlden Take L&H 500 Pole". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 17 September 2011. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  8. "Early casualties at Mount Panorama". SpeedCafe. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  9. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (15 September 2012). "Shane van Gisbergen secures Sandown 500 pole". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  10. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (16 September 2012). "Lowndes and Luff take Sandown 500 victory". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  11. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (27 October 2013). "Reynolds takes maiden V8 Supercars win". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Will Davison
Jonathon Webb
Winner of the Bathurst 1000
2017
(with David Reynolds)
Succeeded by
Craig Lowndes
Steven Richards
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