Fabien Giroix

Fabien Giroix is a French racing driver from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Paris.

Racing career

Formula cars

Giroix began his career in Formula Renault 2.0 [West European Cup|French Formula Renault] in 1984, finishing fourth. In 1985, he drove in the French [Formula Three Championship] and finished 12th. In 1986, he only participated in a handful of Formula 3 races in the British and German series. In 1987, he drove in two major F3 races and made his World Touring Car Championship and made his DTM debut in an Alpina BMW M3. In 1988, he drove in the first five races of the International Formula 3000 season for Sport Auto Racing, starting second and finishing fourth in his first start at Circuito de Jerez. The points from that race were good enough for 17th in the championship.

Touring cars

In 1989, Giroix joined the DTM circuit full-time driving a BMW M3 for Schnitzer Motorsport, finishing third in points with ten podium finishes in 21 starts. He also drove in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and with teammates Emanuele Pirro and Roberto Ravaglia won the race in their Team Bigazzi BMW M3. In 1990, he dropped to ninth in points for the same team but won the Spa 24 Hours with teammates Johnny Cecotto and Markus Oestreich. In 1991, he made ten starts for Zakspeed in their Mercedes 190E Evo, finishing 23rd in points.
In 1992, Giroix drove in the French Supertouring Championship in a Garage du BAC BMW M3 and finished fourth in points. In 1993, he got a factory drive in a Seat Toledo for seven races and finished 16th in points. He also finished third in the Porsche [Carrera Cup France]. That same year, he returned to the Seat factory team full-time in French Supertouring and finished 11th as well as finishing sixth in French Carrera Cup.

Sports cars

In 1995, Giroix moved to high-level sports car racing with his own Giroix Racing Team that campaigned a McLaren F1 GTR in the BPR Global GT Series, where he finished on the podium twice in five starts and competed in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans where his team finished fifth overall and fourth in class in a race uncharacteristically dominated by GT1-class McLaren F1 GTR's. In 1996 he split his time in Global GT between his own GTR and a factory Lotus Esprit. The Giroix McLaren F1 GTR failed to finish at Le Mans in 1996. In 1997, Giroix's team became the factory-backed outfit for the Lotus Elise GT1 in the FIA GT Championship but the season was not successful. In 1998, he only made one start in a Zakspeed Porsche 911 in FIA GT. Giroix drove in a handful of sports car races throughout most of the 2000s before resurfacing in the Speedcar Series in 2008, where he competed in all eight races and finished tenth in points. As of 2010, he remains an active driver, having made four starts in a Lamborghini Gallardo in the French GT Championship.