David Saelens is a racing driver from Belgium who last raced in International Formula 3000 for European Minardi F3000. Saelens has recorded 0 wins and 4 podiums from 33 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 5,103 ranks Saelens 1038th of 40,308 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 2002-08-01 | Spa-Francorchamps | DNF | −90 |
| 2002-05-25 | Monaco | DNF | −116 |
| 2002-05-11 | A1-Ring | DNF | −109 |
| 2002-04-27 | Barcelona | P16 | −84 |
| 2002-04-13 | Imola | DNF | −140 |
| Rating won | Race | Series | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| +152 | Magny-Cours 1999 | International Formula 3000 | P3 |
| +123 | Barcelona 2000 | International Formula 3000 | P3 |
| +120 | Monaco 2000 | International Formula 3000 | P3 |
| +115 | Spa-Francorchamps 1999 | International Formula 3000 | P5 |
| +112 | Magny-Cours 2000 | International Formula 3000 | P3 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | ▸International Formula 3000 | European Minardi F3000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | P19 | −600 | 5,103 |
| ▸FIA GT Championship | Racing Team Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P36 | −90 | ||
| 2001 | ▸International Formula 3000 | European Minardi F3000 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | P9 | +12 | 5,793 |
| 2000 | ▸International Formula 3000 | D2 Playlife Super Nova | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | P4 | +156 | 5,781 |
| 1999 | ▸International Formula 3000 | Super Nova Racing Limited | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P10 | ↑900+421 | 5,624 |
| 1998 | ▸Formula 3 Macau | ASM Formule 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | −88 | 4,304 |
| 1997 | ▸Formula 3 Macau | ASM Formule 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | +3,041 | 4,391 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇹🇭 Tomas EngeFIA Gold | 5,028 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 36% |
| 🇬🇧 Justin Wilson | 5,723 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 44% |
| 🇧🇷 Mario Haberfeld | 5,356 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 44% |
| 🇫🇷 Sebastien BourdaisFIA Platinum | 5,133 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 52% |
| 🇧🇪 Bas LeindersFIA Silver | 4,394 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 56% |
| 🇧🇷 Ricardo MaurícioFIA Gold | 4,654 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 50% |
| 🇮🇹 Fabrizio Gollin | 5,726 | 23 | 17 | 6 | 74% |
| 🇮🇹 Andrea PicciniFIA Gold | 3,917 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 64% |
| 🇦🇺 Mark Webber | 6,537 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 50% |
| 🇬🇧 Darren Manning | 5,582 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 45% |
| 🇪🇸 Fernando AlonsoFIA Platinum, 3× champion | 6,486 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 44% |
| 🇮🇹 Giorgio PantanoHigher-rated, 2× champion | 6,189 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 36% |
| 🇩🇪 Nick HeidfeldFIA Platinum, 1× champion | 5,906 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,028 | 🇫🇷 Olivier Grouillard | FIA GT Championship | 5,111 |
| 1,029 | 🇨🇭 Patric Niederhauser | GT World Challenge Europe | 5,111 |
| 1,030 | 🇧🇷 Maurizio Sandro Sala | FIA GT Championship | 5,110 |
| 1,031 | 🇪🇪 Kevin Korjus | GP3 Series | 5,109 |
| 1,032 | 🇮🇹 Alessandro Zampedri | FIA GT Championship | 5,108 |
| 1,033 | 🇧🇷 Caio Collet | IndyCar | 5,107 |
| 1,034 | 🇺🇸 James Gue | IMSA WeatherTech | 5,106 |
| 1,035 | 🇮🇹 Massimo Monti | International Formula 3000 | 5,106 |
| 1,036 | 🇮🇹 Constantino Junior | FIA GT Championship | 5,104 |
| 1,037 | 🇩🇪 Christopher Mies | IMSA WeatherTech | 5,103 |
| 1,038 | 🇧🇪 David Saelens | International Formula 3000 | 5,103 |
| 1,039 | 🇩🇰 Noah Strømsted | Formula 3 | 5,103 |
| 1,040 | 🇮🇹 Gino Munaron | Formula 1 | 5,102 |
| 1,041 | 🇦🇺 Joey Mawson | S5000 | 5,102 |
| 1,042 | 🇫🇷 Romain Dumas | WEC | 5,102 |
| 1,043 | 🇬🇧 Martin Donnelly | BTCC | 5,101 |
| 1,044 | 🇬🇧 Mark Shaw | International Formula 3000 | 5,100 |
| 1,045 | 🇯🇵 Björn Wirdheim | Super GT | 5,099 |
| 1,046 | 🇺🇸 Walt Hansgen | Formula 1 | 5,099 |
| 1,047 | 🇺🇸 Buddy Lazier | IndyCar | 5,098 |
| 1,048 | 🇬🇧 Jamie Davies | FIA GT Championship | 5,098 |
David Saelens is a retired Belgian racing driver who competed primarily in single-seater sprint racing at the international level. He spent four seasons in International Formula 3000, where he drove for European Minardi F3000, taking four podium finishes across 30 starts. He also raced in Formula 3 Macau and made a single-race appearance in the FIA GT Championship, a shared-driver endurance series. His career spanned from 1997 to 2002.[1]
Saelens contested Formula 3000 from 1999 to 2002 against a field mixing semi-professional and graded professionals. His podium haul came in a series where he remained winless, finishing 36th in the FIA GT Championship standings in his only endurance-racing appearance. Earlier, in 1998, he took wins in Formula 3 Macau competition and was the first non-French driver to win the French Formula Three Championship that year; he also won the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort. By 2002 he had become a test driver for Minardi in Formula 1.[2]
His Formula 3000 rivals included Justin Wilson, the 2001 champion, with whom Saelens finished closely matched across multiple meetings. He also raced regularly against Tomas Enge, an established professional who would go on to compete in IndyCar and the FIA GT Championship. Saelens finished ahead of Fernando Alonso twice in their meetings; Alonso was in his early career at that stage before going on to win two Formula 1 World Championships and an LMP1 title. He also beat Mark Webber, later a six-time Formula 1 race winner, on six occasions in Formula 3000.