Coulthard retires from racing

Oct 25 2012 by Stuart Gillespie, Galloway News

David Coulthard reached the end of the road on Sunday.

The Twynholm star has decided to call time on a driving career that has spanned more than 20 years.

The 41-year-old announced his decision last Thursday as he prepared for the final round of the DTM series at Hockenheim, where he would compete in a Mercedes C-Class coupe.

Ahead of the event he said: “The weekend will be my final opportunity to compete at this level as I will stop racing in the DTM to concentrate on my developing off-track businesses and, of course , my family.

“I will continue to be part of the Mercedes family through my role as an AMG brand ambassador.

“I would like to thank first of all Norbert Haug and his team at Mercedes Motorsport for providing the opportunity, Deutsche Post for their support and their willingness to allow the Wings for Life Foundation to have promotional space on the car, which has helped raise awareness and funding for the research into spinal cord injuries.

“Thank you, as well, to the HWA and Mücke teams for patiently helping me with the transition from single-seaters to touring cars, and of course to the people who make professional sport sustainable, the fans.

“I have enjoyed the last three years and I wish the organizers and competitors in DTM continued growth and success with the championship.”

Sadly, DC was unable to end his career with a bang.

He could only qualify 21st on the grid, ahead of fellow Scot Susie Wolff – who was also competing in her last DTM event.

And his race was marred by two clashes – one with Christian Vietoris and another with Timo Scheider, which forced him to retire midway through the race.

He said: “I had obviously intended securing a better result on the occasion of bowing out from the DTM. However, you can’t pick and choose in the DTM, this is racing at the highest level.

“I have had an absolutely brilliant time during the past three years in the DTM and will always look back with fondness to this period in my life.”

It may not have been the end Coulthard had been hoping for, but he can certainly look back on his motorsport career with plenty of pride.

After starring in karting he made the switch into cars in 1989, winning the Formula Ford 1600 championship before taking victories in Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula 3 and Formula 3000.

The death of the legendary Ayrton Senna saw him handed his F1 chance with Williams in 1994 and he took his first podium finish at that year’s Portuguese Grand Prix, his first win coming at the same event a year later.

In 1996 he switched to McLaren, where he would spend nine seasons.

His first win for the team came at the start of the 1997 season, his success at Melbourne in Australia also being the first for Mercedes following their return to Formula One. He would go on to have a long relationship with the engine manufacturer.

Coulthard’s efforts to win the world title could be compared to Tim Henman’s attempts to win Wimbledon at the same time as both were thwarted by competing in their respective sports at the same time as one of the all time greats.

And when Michael Schumacher wasn’t dominating in F1 it was Coulthard’s McLaren team-mate Mika Hakkinen who seemed to enjoy success.

But that didn’t stop DC taking 13 wins and finishing second in the 2001 world championship.

In 2005 he moved on to the fledgling Red Bull Racing team and took their first ever podium at Monaco in 2006.

However, in 2008 he announced his retirement, his 247 race career ending on the first lap of the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

His efforts helped lay the foundations for the success the team would later enjoy with Coulthard’s replacement Sebastian Vettel.

DC maintained a presence in the F1 paddock as he took up a commentating role with BBC.

But the competitive fire was still burning and he linked up with Mercedes once more when he returned to racing in the DTM in 2010.

For the first two years he struggled in machinery that was older than that at the disposal of competitors before new regulations saw a new car this season.

And he used it to good effect, taking a series’ best fifth position at the rain soaked Norisring this summer.

But now he has decided to call time on his career – although will continue to work for Mercedes and Red Bull and also carry on with his commentating duties for the BBC.