Paul Francis Stokell (born 8 March 1968 in Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver. Highly decorated in every category he has competed, Stokell has been a race and multiple championship winning driver in open wheel, sportscar racing and tarmac rallying, consistently since the early 1990s and remains so today having won back to back Australian Targa Championship in 2018/2019.
| Paul Stokell | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 8 March 1968 Tasmania, Australia |
| Australian Mini Challenge | |
| Years active | 2008-2010 |
| Teams | Decorug Racing |
| Starts | 62 |
| Wins | 16 |
| Poles | 6 |
| Fastest laps | 15 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2009 Australian Mini Challenge |
| Previous series | |
| Pre 1990 1990 1992-96, 2001 1994 1995 1998 2000-04 2000-04 2004 2007-08 2007 | Formula Vee Aust. Formula Ford Australian Drivers' Championship EFDA Nations Cup Malaysian Grand Prix Australian GT Production Nations Cup V8 Supercar Australian GT Performance Australian Carrera Cup Australian GT Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 1994 1995 1995 1996 2003 2004 2009 2018-19 | Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship Malaysian Grand Prix Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Nations Cup Australian Nations Cup Australian Mini Challenge Australian Targa Championship |
While Tasmanian born, today Stokell is Queensland based where he has operated a performance driving school since 2008, and has been involved with the Sherrin Motor Sport Porsche Carrera Cup team taking their maiden victory in 2007.
Open wheelers
editStokell first emerged into the national spotlight racing in the national Australian Formula Ford series, taking a Reynard to runner up in the 1990 title behind Russell Ingall.[1] Stokell tried to push his career in England in the next couple of years however a lack of support forced his return to Australian racing in 1993 driving for Malcolm Ramsay's South Australian Birrana Racing team in Formula Brabham (which reverted to its original name of Formula Holden in 1996). With Stokell leading, Birrana came to dominate the category and Stokell took a trifecta of Australian Drivers' Championships in the mid-90s. In 1994, he represented Australia in the EFDA Nations Cup but the highlight of the era was his first international victory, winning the 1994 New Zealand International Series and 1995 Pan Pacific title including the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Sports cars
edit
In 1998, Stokell led an importer supported team driving Lotus Elise in the Australian GT Production Car Championship and against larger and more powerful cars Stokell became a giant-killer in the Lotus, finishing sixth in the championship. Out of this effort came an invitation to join the newly formed Team Lamborghini Australia, to race Lamborghini Diablos in the Australian Nations Cup Championship. Starting in 2000, Stokell was a constant front runner in the black Diablo and again became a championship winner in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, he drove in one round of the FIA GT Championship[2] in a Lotus placing second in the G2 class.
Since then Stokell has made sporadic appearances in a variety of categories and became a competitor and entrant in the new Mini Challenge series in 2008 and became series champion in 2009.[3] He followed that by representing Australia for the second time in the Spanish Mini Challenge in 2010[4] as well as finishing second in the Australian Mini Challenge in 2010.[5]
Career results
editSome results sources from:[6]
- † Team result
Complete V8 Supercar results
edit| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Steven Ellery Racing | PHI | PTH | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | QLD | WIN | OPK | CDR | QLD 13 |
SAN | BAT Ret |
50 | 56 | |
| 2001 | Dick Johnson Racing | PHI | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | PTH | CDR | OPK | QLD Ret |
WIN | BAT | PUK | SAN | 74th | 72 | |
| 2002 | Toll Racing | ADL | PHI | ECK | HDV | CAN | PTH | ORP | WIN | QLD 21 |
BAT 12 |
SUR | PUK | SAN 1 24 |
SAN 2 Ret |
47th | 81 |
| 2003 | Toll Racing | ADL | PHI | ECK | WIN | PTH | HDV | QLD | ORP | SAN 30 |
BAT 11 |
SUR | PUK | ECK | 69th | 80 | |
| 2004 | Team Dynamik | ADL | ECK | PUK | HDV | PTH | QLD | WIN | ORP | SAN Ret |
BAT 13 |
SUR | SYM | ECK | 57th | 144 |
Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results
edit| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  Mark Coffey Racing
|
 Allan Simonsen Luke Youlden Peter Hackett
|
Lamborghini Diablo GTR | A | 487 | 8th | 6th |
Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results
edit| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Rockstar Energy Drink
|
Josh Hunt Jonathon Webb
|
Nissan 350Z | B | 149 | DNF | DNF |
| 2014 | Fiat Abarth Motorsport
|
Clyde Campbell Joshua Dowling Toby Hagon
|
Fiat Abarth 500 | F | 236 | 22nd | 2nd |
| 2022 | Supabarn Motorsport
|
James Koundouris Theo Koundouris David Russell
|
Audi R8 LMS Evo II | AAm | 283 | 9th | 1st |
References
edit- ^ "Formula Ford - About - Records and Statistics". Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012. 1990 Australian Formula Ford pointscore
- ^ "2005 FIA GT Championship: Zhuhai, Round 9". Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "Stokell bound for Spain after MINI win". Speedcafe.com. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Mixed results for Aussies in Spanish MINIs". Speedcafe.com. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Alajajian takes all in MINI Challenge finale - Speedcafe". 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Paul Stokell Online". Archived from the original on 16 October 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2009. PaulStokel.com Career Highlights
External links
edit
- Official website
- Paul Stokell career summary at DriverDB.com
- Speedsport Profile
- V8 Supercar Results