Paul Dumbrell

Racing history

Dumbrell began karting in 1996 and by late 1997 sought to advance his racing career. He competed in the Australian Sprint Kart National Championships in April 1998, then attended a driving course with Kevin Flynn at Sandown Raceway where he briefly drove the ex Craig Lowndes Van Diemen RF85. He later attended the Jim Russell International School of Racing in England, driving a Formula Vauxhall; at 15 he was the youngest in the class and the fastest graduate, but was ineligible for the final race due to the minimum age of 16.

Returning to Australia, he planned to race in Formula Ford but broke his hip when hit by a car while training on his mountain bike, ending that opportunity. At the end of 1998 he entered his first production car race, the GT Production three-hour at Bathurst in a Subaru WRX, but retired with mechanical failure. In 1999 he drove a Formula Holden in the Australian Drivers' Championship and made his V8 Supercar Championship Series debut in August at Symmons Plains, Tasmania.

After a year in Formula Holden, he tested a Formula 3000 car with Mark Webber for Paul Stoddart's Arrows Team at Donington Park. He then took a permanent drive in the Konica V8 Supercar Development Series, consistently ran at the front in 2001, and won the series in 2002. Dumbrell made his first Bathurst 1000 start at 17 years and 74 days, becoming the youngest ever V8 Supercar driver; he qualified the Wynns/Falkuner Racing No. 96 Holden VS Commodore in 33rd with co-driver Matthew White but retired on lap 15 after hitting the wall at McPhillamy Park.

In 2002 he was picked up by Castrol Perkins Racing as Larry Perkins' co-driver for the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000, finishing fifth at Bathurst. Dumbrell's full-time V8 Supercars career included stints with Castrol Perkins Motorsport, Supercheap Auto Racing, HSV Dealer Team, Walkinshaw Racing, and Rod Nash Racing. His best championship finish was 12th in 2006, and he scored his first race win and pole position at the 2010 Norton 360 Sandown Challenge.

After retiring from full-time driving at the end of 2011, he returned as an endurance co-driver for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Jamie Whincup, winning the 2012 Bathurst 1000, the 2013 and 2014 Sandown 500s, and the 2014 Enduro Cup. He also won the Dunlop V8 Supercar Development Series for a second time in 2014.

Business

Dumbrell balanced racing with business throughout much of his career. He owned a Boost Juice franchise as early as 2002 and was a founding partner of a media company. He rose through the family business, Automotive Brands Group (owner of Autobarn and Autopro), becoming chief executive officer in 2009. He cited increasing business commitments as his reason for retiring from full-time V8 Supercar racing in 2011. Automotive Brands was sold to Metcash in 2012, with Dumbrell remaining in charge of the automotive division and joining the executive team. The business was sold again in 2015 to Burson Group in a AU$275 million deal; Dumbrell stayed in charge, and Burson's CEO Darryl Abotomey noted that Dumbrell could continue as an endurance co-driver alongside his business role.