Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three races, achieving 15 podiums and scoring 132 career points. His best finish in the World Drivers' Championship was fourth in whilst driving for Benetton. He also twice finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar race (in in a Peugeot 905 and in in a Porsche 911 GT1). Career Junior formulae and sportscars After winning the "Volant V" in 1977 at the André Pilette Racing School, Zolder, Boutsen entered the Belgian Formula Ford 1600 championship and won it in 1978 with 15 victories in 18 races. He also entered the 1978 Spa 24 Hours race, the last auto race on the old 14 km (8.7 mi) Spa-Francorchamps circuit- driving a Toyota Trueno. For 1979 he moved to Formula 3, winning three races in 1980 and second place in the European title race, behind Michele Alboreto. In 1981 he moved to Formula 2 and was again second in the European championship, including winning at the 14-mile Nürburgring- this time behind Geoff Lees. He also entered the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race started at 3pm in unusually hot weather – one hour earlier than usual due to the Parliamentary elections held on the same weekend. At 4:06pm Boutsen suffered a massive accident just after the Hunaudières kink, some before the Mulsanne bosse (the "hump") when his WM P81-Peugeot was travelling at some . A suspension piece had failed and the car hit the guard-rail losing the entire rear end. Boutsen was untouched, but the debris field of hurled parts and bodywork was spread over . Three marshals and a gendarme were struck by the debris. One of them, Thierry Mabilat, was killed - struck in the chest by a detached piece of the guard rail. The other two marshals, Claude Hertault and Serge David (who lost an arm), and the gendarme were all seriously injured. In 1983 Boutsen drove in the European Touring Car Championship and in World Sportscar races, where he won the very first Group C race, the Monza 1000 km with Bob Wollek driving a Porsche 956. He also won the famous Daytona 24-hour race in 1985, co-driving the Porsche 956 from the Preston Henn