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Famous Like Me > Racing driver > B > Joakim Bonnier

Profile of Joakim Bonnier on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Joakim Bonnier  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 11th June 1930
   
Place of Birth: Djurgården, Stockholm, Sweden
   
Profession: Racing driver
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Jo Bonnier
Nationality Swedish
Active years 1956 - 1971
Team(s) Maserati, Scuderia Centro Sud, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team, BRM, Porsche, Rob Walker Racing Team, Lotus, Brabham, Anglo-Suisse Racing/Ecurie Bonnier and Honda
Race starts 104
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podium finishes 1
Pole positions 1
Fastest laps 0
First Grand Prix 1956 Italian Grand Prix
First win 1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last win 1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix 1971 United States Grand Prix
edit

Joakim "Jo" Bonnier (born 31 January 1930 in Djurgården, Stockholm, Sweden; died 11 June 1972) was a Formula One driver who raced for various teams. He started in Formula 1 in 1956 with a Maserati and his greatest achievement was getting a victory on BRM's maiden Grand Prix at Zandvoort in 1959. He also won the 1960 German Grand Prix, a Formula 2 race. Bonnier was one of the driving forces behind the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

Despite his win for BRM, Bonnier did not drive for many works teams throughout his career, with only one-offs as a replacement driver for Lotus, Brabham and Honda. Aftetr his debut in a works Maserati, he then drove for his own Joakim Bonnier Racing Team and for Mimmo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud in the late 50s, before finding a spot in the BRM and Porsche teams. After Porsche quit Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1962 season, Bonnier than switched to Rob Walker Racing Team, the only privateer that had scored wins in World Championship events, where he drove Coopers and Brabhams, but scored few points. In 1966 he reformed his own team as Anglo-Suisse Racing Team (later to be renamed Ecurie Bonnier]], but his interest in F1 gradually diminished. His last full season was 1968, in which he traded his old Cooper T86 by an also old McLaren M5A. He then raced occasionally in F1 until 1971.

Alongside F1, Bonnier also took part in many sports car races. In 1960 he won the Targa Florio, co-driving a works Porsche with Hans Herrmann, an in 1962 took a Ferrari 250 TRI entered by Count Giovanni Volpi to top honors in the Sebring 12 Hours, sharing the car with Lucien Bianchi. In 1963 he was once again winner at the Targa Florio, with Carlo Maria Abate in another works Porsche 718. 1964 was his best year in sportscar racing, where he co-drove with Graham Hill in Ferraris entered by Maranello Concessionaires, taking a 330P to second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to a win at Montlhery, while a 12 hour race in Reims also gave him a first place in a 250LM. He then won the 1000 Km of Nurburgring in a Chaparral in 1966, his last win in a major sports car event, but still managed to snatch victories in the minor 1000 Km of Barcelona at Montjuich, in 1971 (with Ronnie Peterson), and the 4 Hours of Le Mans, in 1972 (with Hughes de Fierlandt). By then, he had taken to managing his team, entering several cars in World Endurance Championship events, and taking a backseat to driving, but was nevertheless killed at Le Mans in 1972 when his Lola-Cosworth T280 collided with a Ferrari Daytona driven by Florian Vetsch.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Joakim Bonnier