Racing Career:
Won Brazilian national Go-Kart title at the age of 17. Went to England in 1980 and piloted Formula Fords. Won 9 of 27 events and captured RAC championship.
1981 - Formula Three competitor taking third in the series standings with 12 finishes in the top three.
1982 - Drove in Formula One for March Engineering earning a ninth at Long Beach and an eighth at the Belgian Grand Prix.
1983 - Competed in second season of F1 with Ligier taking seventh in the US Grand Prix of Long Beach.
1984 - Raced in Brazil winning Formula Two event at Rio de Janeiro.
1985 - Made Indy Car debut in opening race at Long Beach taking 20th. Fastest Rookie qualifier at Indy 500 - his first oval track start. Gridded 23rd and finished 18th competing in Dick Simon's Break Free March. Best finish was an eighth at Elkhart Lake.
1986 - Started all 17 events for Simon and finished 13th in drivers standings. Voted Most Improved Driver by his peers with eight top ten finishes. Ran thirteenth in second Indy 500 start. Took fifth in Michigan and Pocono 500 milers. Started second on the grid at Miami finale.
1987 - Won Jaguar's first world sports car title with five victories in eight starts for Tom Walkinshaw racing. Replaced Roberto Guerrero for final two Indy Car events at Laguna Seca and Miami. Finished sixth at Miami and 16th at Laguna Seca. Guerrero drew pole position for him in inaugural Marlboro Challenge - finished third.
1989 - Driving for Douglas Shierson Racing - claimed sixth at Long Beach. Indianapolis was a near miss after watching Fittipaldi and Unser clash on penultimate lap. Boesel finished third. Finished fourth at Milwaukee. Named to replace injured Scott Pruett at Truesports for 1990 season.
1990 - Scored eight top ten finishes earning twelfth place in PPG points standings for Truesports. Best finishes were a pair of sixths at Milwaukee and Detroit.
1991 - Did not start an Indy Car event choosing instead to concentrate on driving IMSA GTP entry for Jaguar. Finished sixth in IMSA GTP points winning one race in Miami.
1992 - Started season at Indianapolis replacing injured Hiro Matsushita at Dick Simon Racing. Finished second at Detroit and secured sponsorship for the remainder of the season. Logged ten top ten finishes at thirteen starts. including third at Marlboro 500. Qualified for Marlboro challenge by virtue of points starting tenth finishing fifth.
1993 - Finished fifth overall in most competitive IndyCar season to date finishing in the points in 15 of 16 races. Scored first career IndyCar pole at Milwaukee. Finished second three times. Completed most miles of all drivers (3,543.352 of 3,658.902) Tied with Bobby Rahal for most top ten finishes - thirteen. Despite two stop and go penalties finished fourth in Indy 500.
1994 - Started all sixteen races for Dick Simon Racing. Started second at Indy but dropped out to finish twenty first. Scored the second pole of his career at Milwaukee. Led the most laps at Michigan but an engine problem late in the race denied him of his first IndyCar victory. Finished second at Laguna Seca and scored three other Top Five finishes.
Return to Raul Boesel Details Menu.