The Early Years

As one of Canada’s leading young open-wheel racing talents, Sean McIntosh has now showcased his racing skills on both sides of the Atlantic.  Beginning his career at the age of 8 in Quarter Midgets and Karting, Sean then followed his passion to graduate to ‘formula’ competition learning his core skills as an early member of Bobby Oergel’s PR1 Motorsports, driver development program. Still only 15, Sean obtained the required credentials to obtain his SCCA race license from the Bridgestone Racing Academy at Mosport, Ontario and one week after his 16th birthday drove his first ever open wheel race in a Formula Ford 2000 at Mid Ohio.
 
2002 saw the now 17 year old Vancouver-native race in the US Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship, finishing fifth overall and earning runner-up status in the ‘Rookie of the Year’ competition.  In addition to his Formula Ford commitments, Sean ran a limited campaign in the Fran-Am 2000 series, a home victory in the Molson Indy Vancouver support race undoubtedly the highlight of the year.
 
A full season in the Fran-Am 2000 North American Pro Series followed where his talent ultimately led to an invitation from British-based Team Firstair to compete in the 2004 Formula Renault UK Championship.  Sean seized the opportunity to compete against some of Europe’s top emerging talents and his efforts were rewarded by winning the series inaugural ‘Graduate Cup’ Championship for rookie drivers. A victory at Oulton Park and several more podium finishes ultimately powered Sean to an impressive sixth overall within the thirty-strong field.

Recent History

Canada’s Sean McIntosh has continued to successfully demonstrate the talent and potential that many believe could take him all the way to Formula One as he has assumed the lead driving duties for Team Canada in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations.

The 20-year-old from Vancouver was selected for the honor of representing Canada in ‘The World Cup of Motorsport’, competing across the world from September 2005 – April 2006, off the back of another highly accomplished season of racing in the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship.  Having won the ‘Graduate Cup’ Championship and taken his maiden victory in 2004, Sean returned to the series for a crack at the overall title in 2005.

Competing once again for Ian Barnwell’s Team Firstair organization, it took just two races of the 2005 season to return to the top step of the podium, team and driver celebrating victory in Round 2 at Donington Park.  More wins would follow with Sean stamping his authority at Snetterton and Knockhill in the second half of the season.  Having dominated qualifying with three pole positions and an additional front-row start, Sean converted his qualifying advantage into four straight victories to help set up the closest Formula Renault UK Championship title fight in 15 years.

Taking his championship challenge all the way to the final race at Brands Hatch, Sean just missed out on the title but he comfortably secured the Vice-Champion’s position with an end of season tally that boasted five wins, the highest by a single driver, eight podium positions, four pole positions and sixteen top-five starts in twenty races.

His achievements were further recognized by the world-famous motorsport publication, Autosport.  The magazine’s traditional review of the season listed Sean as the #1 ranked driver in the Formula Renault UK Championship – a gain of three places from his ranking as a rookie in the previous year’s edition.  Autosport described Sean as “Perhaps naturally, the fastest driver in the field.”

Sean’s outstanding form led to an invitation to step up from his 200bhp Formula Renault racer into Team Canada’s stunning 520bhp A1 Lola-Zytek in the all-new A1 Grand Prix of Nations.  With Team Canada a late entrant alongside 24 other competing nations, Sean headed to the opening round at Brands Hatch in September with just one-day of testing behind him.  Proud to represent his country and belying his level of experience and time in the car, Sean duly posted a ninth-place finish in the Feature event to take Team Canada’s first points.

With a test ban outside race weekends, Sean has subsequently reveled in the challenge of getting to grips with the A1 car while learning new circuits across the globe.  Competing in A1GP against drivers with established track records in Formula One and Indy Racing League competition, not to mention fellow young talents with Formula One-feeder experience gained in the GP2 Series and World Series by Renault, Sean’s results have simply served to underline his status as Canada’s leading young open-wheel racing export.

He stunned observers with his performance in the second round at the EuroSpeedway in Germany by taking the third and final podium spot in the Feature race.  Sean has since backed that performance up with further top-ten qualifying runs and points paying finishes in Portugal, Australia, Malaysia and most recently in the United Arab Emirates. 

Sean has led Team Canada to tenth in the point standings heading into the mid-season break having collected a total of seven top-ten starts and seven top-ten finishes, his German podium and a pair of top-six finishes in Dubai proving to be the highlights from the first half of the season. 

The Road Ahead

The second half of the inaugural A1GP season gets underway in January with a trip to South Africa then on to Indonesia.  Next up are races in Mexico and then the USA - Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, California will host the North American round in March before the season concludes in China at the start of April to make way for the traditional motorsport summer schedule.

With 2006’s regular season in mind Sean has already been evaluating his options.  Having quickly adapted to an increase in horsepower thanks to his current seat-time in A1GP, Sean’s results have led to recent tests in F3, World Series by Renault and GP2 Series race cars.  Showcasing his ability to quickly get a feel for each individual formula, Sean’s testing performances have continued to impress teams in all categories with several exciting options now in the final stages of evaluation. The potential is clear and North America’s next driver in Formula1 may be just a step away!