Search Results - Baird, Craig

Craig Baird

Craig George Baird (born 22 July 1970) is a New Zealand former racing driver who now is the driving standards observer for the Supercars Championship. He had previously raced competitively in the series from 2000 to 2016.

Baird enjoyed a prosperous career in his homeland of New Zealand and throughout the world, and is regarded as one of the countries most successful drivers. He won his first title in 1988 with the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship before moving to the Formula Pacific category the next season. Three years later, he would claim his first championship crown in the category and would win the next two seasons that followed. Throughout these three years, he also won the New Zealand Grand Prix, and shares the record for the most wins for the titular race by a single driver. Baird would then compete in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship where he won four consecutive titles from 1994 to 1997.

In 2000, Baird would sign with Stone Brothers Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars Championship Series. After immediate success in the opening round at Phillip Island, Baird struggled to retain a seat in the category. Driving with various teams for the next few years, he eventually stepped out of the category full-time in 2005. From there, he began competing in Porsche championships in Australia and New Zealand. Throughout his tenure, Baird established himself as one of the most successful drivers in the category with a five Australian Carrera Cup Championship titles and six New Zealand Porsche GT3 Championship titles. These achievements led to him being recognised by Porsche Germany as the most successful Porsche Cup driver in the world.

Following on from his fruitful racing career, Baird now assumes the role of driving standards observer for the Supercars Championship and was appointed to the Motorsport New Zealand board. Provided by Wikipedia