The name Dick Barbour is legendary in the world of endurance racing. The native Californian has piloted or been the moving force behind cars and racing teams that have won every major race and award in endurance racing history.
Dick Barbour was raised in La Jolla, California. After completing his education, Dick’s passion for automobile racing led him to open a sports and high-performance car accessory business called “Automotion” in San Diego. He also repaired and modified Porsches. His reputation for performance and attention to detail quickly led to Dick’s opening of a Porsche / Audi franchise. At the same time, he started racing sports cars and the rest is history!
Dick Barbour Racing has been a magnet for some of the world’s best and most popular drivers including Brian Redman, Rolf Stommelen, John Fitzpatrick, Paul Newman, Rick Mears and Johnny Rutherford. Foremost on Dick Barbour’s long list of accomplishments are his team’s 3 consecutive overall or class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
In 1980, Dick and his co-driver, John Fitzpatrick, posted 14 victories: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the spring season Road Atlanta Grand Prix, the Riverside Grand Prix, The 24 Hours of Le Mans, The 1000K’s of Nurburgring, the Norrisring Grand Prix, the Mosport 1000K’s, Daytona, The Sears Point Grand Prix, The Grand Prix of Laguna Seca, The Portland Grand Prix and the fall season Road Atlanta Grand Prix again. To top off this incredibly successful season, Dick Barbour Racing also walked away with the Overall IMSA Championship and was the first American Team to be awarded the coveted Porsche Cup in what turned out to be a year that could only be called magical!
After relocating from San Diego, California, Barbour has recreated and repositioned Dick Barbour Racing as the ultimate sports car racing team of the new millennium. The team was headquartered in a newly designed and complete state-of the-art 11,000 sq. ft. facility at Turn One at Road Atlanta. Dick Barbour Racing captured the 2000 American Le Mans Series GT Championship with the Porsche 911 GT3 R in a dominating fashion. The team’s Porsches claimed victory in nine of the series twelve races and ran away to victories in the GT Manufacturer’s Championship, the GT Drivers Championship, and the GT Team Championship.
“It has always been important to me that my return to sports car racing would be as strong as when I left. The opportunity to return with four of the world’s best drivers was tremendous! I fully realized that to be successful it would still take hard work and dedication from our entire team. We, as a team, are fully committed to achieving our goals!” – Dick Barbour
In 2001, Dick Barbour Racing had a second very successful year in the American Le Mans Series entering the new LMP-675 class. Dick Barbour, racing two new Reynard / Judd 01Q prototypes, won the new LMP-675 Class Championship, the Driver’s Championship, and the LMP – 675 European Le Mans Series Championship. That year, Dick Barbour Racing won 7 of its 9 races in the LMP class.
After a very successful two year run, Dick Barbour came back on the scene in 2004 as a team co-owner of the Lamborghini Murcielago Factory Team. The new Lamborghini project was extremely challenging due to the lack of racing development on these powerful machines. Even though the team did not achieve a significant victory, the team was able to make a compelling leap in the mechanical and engineering advancement, getting both cars very close to a top competitive spot.
After the Krohn-Barbour Racing season ended, Dick stepped out of the scene but kept his sight on another possible legendary project. In 2008, Dick was approached by David Robertson with an ambitious venture of running legendary Ford GT’s in the American Le Mans Series. The ultimate goal was to have the Ford GT back in the biggest race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After 3 hard fought seasons and continuous development, the mission was accomplished, and in June 2011, Robertson Racing staged a stunning run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, capturing a podium finish.
At the beginning of 2012, Dick Barbour moved his operation to a new, state of the art, racing facility in Oakwood, GA
67 Victories
6 Championships
European Le Mans Series
American Le Mans Series (2)
ALMS Drivers Championship (2)
ALMS Manufacturer’s Championship
ALMS Tire Championship
IMSA Championship
Porsche Cup
Dick Barbour Racing has won 6 major series championships and has won 67 international races. Highlights include: