Chris was literally born into motorsport. John Buncombe, his grandfather raced during the 1950’s and 60’s driving for the Works HRG Team, as well as racing other sports cars such as Jaguar C-Types, XK120’s and Healey’s.
His father Jonathan enjoyed a successful career spanning 20 years as a touring car driver, starting out in Mini’s and moving on to become a factory driver for Ford, Toyota and BMW. Jonathan retired from professional racing in 1989 following his season driving the Vauxhall Carlton Thundersaloon for General Motors.
Inevitably Chris and his younger brother Alex grew up supporting their father at race tracks – Chris’ first attendance at Silverstone was at just two months old – and this naturally lead to their own keen interest and involvement in racing.
Chris, along with his brother, started out in Motocross in 1990, reaching the National Schoolboy Championships in 1992 and moving on to compete in the British Kart Championship as team mate to Jenson Button.
He has now successfully competed for 15 years having started motor racing in 1996 when he won a National Scholarship to race in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship.
It was in 2000 that Chris took part in his first endurance event, but returned to single-seater racing the following year. 2001 also saw an invitation by the British Racing Drivers Club to become a founding member of the ‘Rising Star’ category for young British drivers.
Having progressed through the junior ranks Chris is now internationally successful in Endurance GT and Sportscar racing. He has driven for the likes of Ferrari and Maserati in the FIA GT Championship and more recently the Le Mans Series achieving the highlight of his career to date – Winning the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours in the Lola Zytek LMP2.
As well as a racing driver, Chris is also a director of Halcyon Events, who offer high end bespoke hospitality and events at Grands Prix and other motorsport events around the globe.
His father Jonathan enjoyed a successful career spanning 20 years as a touring car driver, starting out in Mini’s and moving on to become a factory driver for Ford, Toyota and BMW. Jonathan retired from professional racing in 1989 following his season driving the Vauxhall Carlton Thundersaloon for General Motors.
Inevitably Chris and his younger brother Alex grew up supporting their father at race tracks – Chris’ first attendance at Silverstone was at just two months old – and this naturally lead to their own keen interest and involvement in racing.
Chris, along with his brother, started out in Motocross in 1990, reaching the National Schoolboy Championships in 1992 and moving on to compete in the British Kart Championship as team mate to Jenson Button.
He has now successfully competed for 15 years having started motor racing in 1996 when he won a National Scholarship to race in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship.
It was in 2000 that Chris took part in his first endurance event, but returned to single-seater racing the following year. 2001 also saw an invitation by the British Racing Drivers Club to become a founding member of the ‘Rising Star’ category for young British drivers.
Having progressed through the junior ranks Chris is now internationally successful in Endurance GT and Sportscar racing. He has driven for the likes of Ferrari and Maserati in the FIA GT Championship and more recently the Le Mans Series achieving the highlight of his career to date – Winning the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours in the Lola Zytek LMP2.
As well as a racing driver, Chris is also a director of Halcyon Events, who offer high end bespoke hospitality and events at Grands Prix and other motorsport events around the globe.
