Peter Dumbreck

Peter Dumbreck is a racing driver from Scotland who competed in various championships all over the world, including five seasons in the DTM, four seasons in the Super GT Series, two seasons in the FIA GT1 World Championship and many other competitions. In recent years, he drives for Falken Motorsports in the VLN Endurance Series and at 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Peter Dumbreck

Double Formula Vauxhall champion early in a career

Born in October 1973 in Kirkcaldy on the east coast of Scotland, Peter Dumbreck had a victorious start of his racing career, winning the Formula Vauxhall Junior championship title in his first year of competition in 1994. Two years later, he won an overall title in the Formula Vauxhall.

In 1997, Dumbreck stepped into the British Formula 3, driving a Dallara-Honda for Paul Stewart Racing and finishing third in the points, behind Jonny Kane and Nicolas Minassian.

Japanese F3 champion and Macau Grand Prix winner in 1998

In 1998, Dumbreck moved his career to Japan, driving for Tom's in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship and taking the title with eight wins in a Dallara-Toyota. In the same year, he also won the prestigious Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix.

In 1998, Dumbreck also made a debut in the Japanese GT Championship, driving the #44 Toyota MR-2 for Apex team, as a co-driver to Morio Nitta in four races. He stayed for one more season in Japan, driving a Reynard-Mugen for Team LeyJun in the 1999 Formula Nippon. He reached one podium, finishing seventh in the points.

The violent crash in a Mercedes CLR at Le Mans debut

In June 1999, Dumbreck was a part of the Mercedes factory team at 24 Hours of Le Mans. It turned to be an event marked by two big accidents of Mercedes-Benz CLR cars caused by its aerodynamics. Mark Webber went airborne during Thursday night qualifying in the #4 car.

In the race, Peter Dumbreck had a similar accident in the #5 Mercedes CLR, going airborne into the trees on Lap 75. Fortunately, he wasn't injured badly. Mercedes immediately pulled out the third car from the race but also left sportscar competitions.

Entering the revived DTM in 2000

In 2000, Dumbreck stayed with Mercedes and returned from Japan to compete in the revived DTM,  in the first season under the new name Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

He was driving the #19 Mercedes CLK for Persson Motorsport, finishing eighth in the final standings. The highlight of the season was his performance at Sachsenring where he finished second in both races.

Two wins in the 2001 DTM season

In 2001, Dumbreck moved to the #2 Mercedes CLK of the HWA Team. After three podiums in the first three races, he scored his maiden DTM victory in the fourth round at Sachsenring. The second win followed in the sixth round at Lausitzring. With two wins and seven more podiums, Dumbreck finished third in the championship, behind two teammates Bernd Schneider and Uwe Alzen.

For the 2002 DTM season, Dumbreck rejoined Persson Motorsport to drive the #12 Mercedes CLK. The season was extremely disappointing as he scored no points in twenty races.

Peter Dumbreck was driving for Opel in 2003 and 2004

Two DTM seasons with Opel

In 2003, Dumbrreck changed a manufacturer, joining Opel to drive the #19 Opel Astra V8 Coupe for OPC Team Phoenix. The championship was shortened from twenty races in 2002 to ten races in 2003. Dumbreck's best result was the second place at Lausitzring and he finished seventh in the points. That year, he also raced at Nürburgring 24 Hours in an Opel Astra. He didn't reach the finish line while his teammates in another car won the race.

Dumbreck stayed with OPC Team Phoenix in 2004, switching to the #14 Opel Vectra GTS V8. In ten races, his best result was the sixth place in the season-opening race at Hockenheimring and he finished 13th in the points.

Four seasons, one victory in the Japanese Super GT Series

In 2005, Dumbreck left DTM and Europe, returning to Japan to join Toyota Team Kraft in the Japanese GT Championship that changed its name to Super GT Series. He joined the team in the mid-season, participating in four races. He was driving the #35 Toyota Supra, sharing a car with Naoki Hattori. Their best result was the fifth place at Motegi.

In 2006, Dumbreck and Hattori were sharing the #35 Lexus SC430, scoring their first win together in the third round at Fuji Speedway. With two more podiums later in the season, they finished ninth in the championship standings.

Dumbreck stayed with Toyota Team Kraft for two more seasons, scoring no wins or podiums in 2007 and just one podium in 2008. His partner in 2007 was Naoki Hattori while in 2008, Tatsuya Kataoka joined him as a co-driver.

Three starts at Le Mans with Spyker Squadron

While racing with Team Kraft in Japan, Dumbreck was also active in other sports car competitions, including two participations at 24 Hours of Le Mans with Spyker Squadron. In 2006, he was sharing the #85 Spyker C8 Spyder with Tom Coronel and Donny Crevels, not finishing the race.

Dumbreck returned to Le Mans in 2008, sharing the #85 Spyker C8 Laviolette with Ralf Kelleners and Alexey Vasilyev. They retired after 43 laps. The third Le Mans attempt with Spyker followed in 2010 when Dumbreck was sharing the #85 Spyker C8 Laviolette with Tom Coronel and Jeroen Bleekemolen. He finally reached the finish line, in the 27th place overall and ninth in GT2 class.

Besides racing in Japan and at Le Mans, Dumbreck added to his CV some races in the Le Mans Series, FIA GT Series, American Le Mans Series or International GT Open. In 2007, he joined Falken Motorsports for the first time at  Nurburgring 24 Hours, driving a Nissan 350Z. This Dumbreck-Falken connection still lasts today.

Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook were partners in the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship

Two seasons with Nissan in the FIA GT1 World Championship

In 2010, Dumbreck joined Sumo Power GT team to drive the #23 Nissan GT-R GT1 in the FIA GT1 World Championship. He was sharing a car with Michael Krumm. They won one race, at Algarve, finishing ninth in the championship. In the same year, Dumbreck also raced with Spyker in the Le Mans Series, scoring no wins or podiums.

In the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season, Dumbreck was a race winner once, at Algarve, in the #22 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R GT1 together with Richard Westbrook. The British pair finished ninth in the final standings.

Peter Dumbreck as FIA WEC team JRM's driver with fans

Driving an LMP1 prototype in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship

In 2012, Dumbreck joined British team JRM in the revived FIA World Endurance Championship, driving the #22 HPD ARX-03a LMP1 prototype. His co-drivers were David Brabham and Karun Chandhok. At Le Mans 24 Hours, they finished sixth overall. Their best result was the fifth place at Shanghai 6 Hours.

In 2012, Dumbreck also made two starts in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship, as a co-driver to Walkinshaw Racing's Russell Ingall at Gold Coast event.

Peter Dumbreck (in the middle) and his Aston Martin teammates

GTE Pro class podium at 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours

In 2013, Peter Dumbreck finally reached Le Mans podium in his sixth attempt at endurance classic, finishing third in the GTE Pro class. He was sharing the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE with Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke.

In the rest of the season, he was driving Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for JRM in the Blancpain Endurance Series and ADAC GT Masters, Porsche 997 GT3 R for Falken Motorsports at Nurburgring 24 Hours and VLN, and HPD ARX-03b (Honda) for Level 5 Motorsports at Petit Le Mans (4th place).

Peter Dumbreck competes with Falken Motorsports since 2007

Nurburgring Nordschleife specialist and record-holder

In 2014, Dumbreck retired from full-time racing, staying a regular contestant at Nurburgring Nordschleife's VLN series and 24-hour race with Falken Motorsports. In 2014, he also raced at Daytona 24 Hours with Krohn Racing's Ferrari 458 Italia GTC.

The best result at 24 Hours of Nurburgring came in 2015 when he finished third overall in the #44 Falken Porsche 997 GT3 R, sharing a car with Wolf Henzler, Martin Ragginger and Alexandre Imperatori.

In May 2017, Dumbreck broke the production car lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the fully electric supercar NIO EP9. He set the time 6:45.90.

Peter is driving a BMW for Falken Motorsports since 2017

Photos: Peter Dumbreck,