Plamen Kralev

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Plamen Kralev
NationalityBulgaria Bulgarian
Born (1973-02-22) 22 February 1973 (age 51)
Sofia, Bulgaria
Previous series
2007-08
2008

2008-09
2009

2009–10
2010–12
2014, 17
2017-18		Ferrari Challenge
FIA GT3 European Championship
ADAC GT Masters
International GT Open
24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans Series
GP2 Asia Series
FIA Formula Two Championship
FIA ETCC
Italian Touring Car Championship

Plamen Simeonov Kralev[1] (Bulgarian: Пламен Симеонов Кралев, born 22 February 1973 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian racing driver and businessman. He is the first Bulgarian driver to participate in FIA Formula 2 Championship, and the only Bulgarian driver to compete in 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans series, ADAC GT Masters, International GT Open, FIA European Touring Car Cup, Italian Touring Car Championship and Ferrari Challenge. Kralev also has participated in the FIA GT3 European Championship, and in the GP2 Asia Series. Kralev wraps up his active racing career in 2018 in the Italian Touring Car Championship with a podium finish at Misano.

Biography[edit]

In 1999 Kralev graduated from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy.

Racing career[edit]

2003

Plamen Kralev debuted his racing career in 2003 in the Bulgarian Road Championship and became champion of class X3 in the same year. Simultaneously he also won the National Off-Road Championship in Bulgaria.

2007

Kralev began his international career in 2007 in the European Ferrari Challenge series, driving for Team Rosokorso. In his first season Kralev recorded two wins: Hockenheimring and Mugello. At the end of the season he was ranked 11th place with 112 points.

2008

In 2008, Kralev moved to Kessel Racing. He participated both in the Ferrari Challenge as well as in the FIA GT3 European Championship. Kralev was initially partnered with Dimitar Iliev and was later teamed with Niki Cadei. Kralev and Kessel Racing also participated in the German ADAC GT Masters series with their GT3 car. During 2008 Kralev recorded two wins in the Ferrari Challenge and was ranked fifth at the end of the season. Kralev ran as high as third on the Ferrari Challenge World Cup event near the end of the season but fell back due of tire problems. Kralev also participated in the final round of the International GT Open in Barcelona with Matteo Cressoni. The two earned tenth and fourth-place finishes in the two races. The success he achieved during these two years led him to pursue a professional racing career. On 8 September 2008 Kralev signed a cooperation agreement with the Bulgaria State Tourism Agency to serve as the country's ambassador to the world of motorsport. Kralev's GT3 Ferrari bears the Bulgarian rose as a tourism promotion.[2]

2009

In 2009 Kralev became the first Bulgarian to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race driving the Endurance Asia Team Porsche, but due to a gear box failure, had to stop at the 18th hour with 186 laps completed. Plamen Kralev remains the only Bulgarian driver to have participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans series to date. Later that year, he joined the GP2 Asia Series in the 2009–10 season with the Trident Racing team.[3] Despite the lack of any experience in Formula racing, Kralev managed to meet the eligibility criteria and finished a full season.

2010-12

Next, Kralev moved to the FIA Formula Two Championship for the 2010 season,[4] and continued in the series in 2011[5] and 2012. He remains the first Bulgarian driver to have ever competed in the Formula Two Championship.

At the end of the 2012 season, the Formula Two Championship had been disbanded and Kralev ended this stage of his racing career with it.

2014

Kralev partially competed in the European Touring Car Cup for Engstler Motorsport with BMW 320si, for 3 events and was ranked 10th place with 14 points.

2017

Plamen Kralev started racing in the FIA European Touring Car Cup (ETCC) and the TCR Italy Touring Car Championship (ITCC) for this 2017 seasons for Kraf Racing with AUDI RS3 LMS. Kraf Racing is a new bulgarian team, and despite the lack of experience still manage to get 6 podiums - 2 in ETCC and 4 in TCR.

2018

Kralev continues racing only in the TCR Italy Touring Car Championship (ITCC) for the 2018 season because the FIA European Touring Car Cup (ETCC) had folded at the end of the 2017 season. Kralev missed the second racing weekend (Paul Ricard) of this season because his car was damaged from the first race in Imola and wasn't ready in time. He returned for the third racing weekend at Misano where there were a record number of 31 cars racing and yet Kralev still managed to get in 3rd place on the first race but due to a collision he became 9th in the second race.

Racing Record[edit]

Career Summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2007 Ferrari Challenge Team Rossocorsa 15 2 2 ? 2 112 11th
2008 FIA GT3 European Championship Kessel Racing 7/12 0 0 0 0 0 NC
ADAC GT Masters 2/14 0 0 1 1 10 22nd
Ferrari Challenge Italy 8 3 4 ? 5 175 5th
International GT Open - GTA Racing Team EdilCris 2 0 0 0 0 4 26th
2009 International GT Open Vittoria Competizioni 6 0 0 0 0 7 43rd
International GT Open - Super GT 6 0 0 0 0 0 NC
24 Hours of Le Mans - GT2 Endurance Asia Team 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
Le Mans Series - GT2 JMB Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series Trident Racing 8 0 0 0 0 0 33rd
2010 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 18/18 0 0 0 0 1 20st
2011 FIA Formula Two Championship 16/16 0 0 0 0 1 23rd
2012 FIA Formula Two Championship 16/16 0 0 0 0 4 17th
2014 European Touring Car Cup Engstler Motorsport 6/10 0 0 0 0 14 10th
2017 European Touring Car Cup Kraf Racing 9/10 0 0 1 2 25 7th
TCR Italy Touring Car Championship 10/14 0 0 0 4 63 5th
2018 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship Kraf Racing 4/14 0 0 0 1 14 19th

24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2009 China Endurance Asia Team
France Perspective Racing 		Hong Kong Darryl O'Young
France Philippe Hesnault 		Porsche 997 GT3-RSR GT2 186 NC NC

Complete GP2 Series results[edit]

Complete GP2 Asia Series results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 Trident Racing ABU1
FEA
Ret 		ABU1
SPR
Ret 		ABU2
FEA
16 		ABU2
SPR
20 		BHR1
FEA
22 		BHR1
SPR
16 		BHR2
FEA
Ret 		BHR2
SPR
18 		33rd 0

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2010 SIL
1
15 		SIL
2
17 		MAR
1
12 		MAR
2
12 		MNZ
1
10 		MNZ
2
11 		ZOL
1
Ret 		ZOL
2
14 		ALG
1
Ret 		ALG
2
Ret 		BRH
1
Ret 		BRH
2
15 		BRN
1
15 		BRN
2
17 		OSC
1
15 		OSC
2
14 		VAL
1
17 		VAL
2
17 		20th 1
2011 SIL
1
Ret 		SIL
2
17 		MAG
1
Ret 		MAG
2
18 		SPA
1
Ret 		SPA
2
18 		NÜR
1
17 		NÜR
2
17 		BRH
1
12 		BRH
2
13 		SPL
1
10 		SPL
2
15 		MNZ
1
12 		MNZ
2
13 		CAT
1
16 		CAT
2
17 		23rd 1
2012 SIL
1
15 		SIL
2
15 		ALG
1
15 		ALG
2
13 		NÜR
1
11 		NÜR
2
DNS 		SPA
1
13 		SPA
2
17 		BRH
1
11 		BRH
2
Ret 		LEC
1
12 		LEC
2
9 		HUN
1
9 		HUN
2
13 		MNZ
1
13 		MNZ
2
13 		17th 4

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Plamen Simeonov Kralev". gp2series.com. GP2 Series. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Plamen Kralev Advertising Face in Bulgaria" (in Bulgarian). Don Balon. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Plamen Kralev secures GP2 Asia drive". Plamen Kralev. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  4. ^ "Formula Two welcomes Plamen Kralev for 2010". FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Plamen Kralev confirms F2 return". FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 10 March 2011. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.

External links[edit]

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