Raul de Mesquita Boesel (Portuguese pronunciation: [raˈuw boˈɛzew], born 4 December 1957 in Curitiba, Brazil) is a former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.
He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Raul Boesel was initially a successful equestrian show jumper and won state championships and other competitions.
Then, progressing from one form of horsepower to another, in 1974 he began racing karts and the following year won the City of Curitiba Championship. By 1978 he was a front runner in tin-tops in his local state of Parana and in the next season was fourth in the Brazilian Stock Car Championship and was named ‘Rookie of the Year’.
Moving to Britain in 1980 he raced a Van Diemen in Formula Ford, and after winning nine races, came second in the RAC and Townsend Thoresen Championships.
1981 saw him driving a Murray Taylor Racing Ralt RT3 Toyota in F3, and he finished the season third, after achieving 12 podiums and three victories (at Oulton Park and two at Silverstone).
During that time he tested for McLaren though was signed by the RAM team for 1982, alongside Jochen Mass. He finished 15th in his debut race, and there would be strong qualifying positions at several races, but the season would prove a disappointing one for him and the team. During the year he also made his World Sportscar Championship debut, driving a Dome RC-82 with Eliseo Salazar.
In 1983 he drove for the Ligier F1 team, alongside Jean-Pierre Jarier, but, as in 1982, despite a number of strong qualifying sessions by him it was a disappointing year.
In 1984 he raced in South American F2, winning at Rio, but then moved to America to race in Indy Car with Dick Simon Racing. At Indianapolis, despite it being his first encounter with America’s ovals he was the fastest rookie in practice. Raul continued with the team for 1986, and after scoring 54 points in his Lola T86/00, with fifth places at Michigan and Pocono, he was awarded the ‘Most Improved Driver of the Year’ award.
1987 saw a move into the World Sportscar Championship with Jaguar and he took the title after taking victories at Jerez, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Nurburgring and Spa. In the following year, racing a Jaguar XJR-9 with Martin Brundle and John Nielsen, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona and driving for the Shierson team in CART he was third at Indianapolis in 1989.
He moved to Truesports in 1990 and the year after that raced with Jaguar in IMSA, also taking a second place finish with them in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
1993 saw him finish fifth for Dick Simon’s team in the CART Championship and he continued in CART until 1998, racing for teams such as Granatelli Racing, Rahal-Hogan Racing, Team Green and All American Racers.
Following this came a move to the Indy Racing League with McCormack Motorsports, followed by drives through to 2002 with Brant Motorsports, Treadway-Vertex Cunningham, Treadway/Hunbbard, Tam Menard and Bradley Motorsports.
After this he raced in Stock Car Brasil, plus did commentary work for various racing categories.
Alongside his four wheel racing, Raul had long had an interest in power boats and owned Cigarette performance boats for a number of years. In 1999 he piloted the pace boat at the Cigarette New York Super Boat GP and the Nassau Paradise Island Super Boat Challenge and in 2000 entered the Y2K Super Boat World Championship in Key West, Florida, with Phil Lipschutz.
In 2007, he started a career as a disc jockey.
Info Peter Hooper
Raul Boesels F1 career stalled following a difficult 2 seasons with March, then Ligier. He went on to spend more than a decade in US Indycars, and whilst frequently a front runner, victory eluded him, 5 second places being his best results. In between times he enjoyed his most successful season in racing, winning the 1987 sports car championship with Jaguar.
He took 5 wins on his way to the title, in the superb TWR XJR8, sharing with Cheever, Nielsen, Brundle and Dumfries. He then went on to win the 1988 Daytona 24 hours, again with Jaguar, sharing his XJR9 with Brundle and Nielsen. He returned to Jaguar in 1991, driving an XJR12 into an excellent 2nd place with D Jones and M Ferte. Jaguar must hold pretty good memories for him.
Gallery Other F3 CART and Indy 500 F1
