Stefan Johansson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Johansson in 2011 | |||||||
| Born | Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (1956-09-08)8 September 1956 (age 69) Växjö, Sweden | ||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Nationality |  Swedish | ||||||
| Active years | 1980,1983–1991 | ||||||
| Teams | Shadow,Spirit,Tyrrell,Toleman,Ferrari,McLaren,Ligier,Onyx,AGS,Footwork | ||||||
| Entries | 103 (79 starts) | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 0 | ||||||
| Podiums | 12 | ||||||
| Careerpoints | 88 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1980 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||
| Last entry | 1991 British Grand Prix | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 74 races run over 5 years | |||||||
| Years active | 1992–1996 | ||||||
| Team | Bettenhausen | ||||||
| Best finish | 11th (1994) | ||||||
| First race | 1992Detroit Grand Prix (Detroit) | ||||||
| Last race | 1996Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca) | ||||||
| |||||||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
| Years | 1983–1984,1990–1992,1997–2001,2003,2006–2008,2012 | ||||||
| Teams | Joest,Mazda,Trust,Porsche,Audi,Reynard,Champion,RfH,Arena,Courage,Epsilon Euskadi,Gulf | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st(1997) | ||||||
| Class wins | 3(1992,1997,2003) | ||||||
| Previous series | |||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| 1980 | British F3 | ||||||
| Awards | |||||||
| 1992 | IndyCar Rookie of the Year | ||||||
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish formerracing driver andmotorsport executive, who competed inFormula One between1980 and1991.[b] Inendurance racing, Johansson won the24 Hours of Le Mans in1997 withJoest.
Born and raised inVäxjö, Johansson began his career inkart racing, winning theSwedish Championship in 1973. After achieving multiple national titles inFormula Ford, Johansson progressed toBritish Formula Three, winning the championship in1980. Johansson also made his Formula One debut that year—at theArgentine Grand Prix withShadow—but did not qualify for either round he contested. Following multiple race wins inEuropean Formula Two and podiums in theWorld Sportscar Championship, Johansson returned to Formula One in1983 withSpirit. After sporadic appearances forTyrrell andToleman in1984, Johansson signed forFerrari thefollowing season, achieving his maiden podium finish inCanada. Retaining his seat for1986, Johansson scored several podiums as he finished a career-best fifth in theWorld Drivers' Championship. Replaced byGerhard Berger at Ferrari in1987, Johansson moved toMcLaren to partnerAlain Prost; he scored five podiums on his way to sixth in the standings, but left forLigier at the end of the season. After anon-classified championship finish in1988, Johansson moved toOnyx, scoring the team's only podium finish at the1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. He was dropped by Onyx after the1990 Brazilian Grand Prix, making further appearances forAGS andFootwork in1991 before leaving Formula One, having achieved 12 podiums.
In addition to his 10 seasons in Formula One, Johansson entered 15 editions of the24 Hours of Le Mans between1983 and2012, taking three class wins amongst an overall win in1997, driving thePorsche WSC-95 alongsideMichele Alboreto andTom Kristensen. He also competed in theIndyCar World Series from1992 to1996, both seasons ofGrand Prix Masters, and theinaugural season of theFIA World Endurance Championship.
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson was born on 8 September 1956 inVäxjö, Sweden.[1] Johansson began his career inkart racing, where he won theSwedish Championship in 1973.[2] He then progressed toFormula Ford, winning the Swedish title in both 1977 and 1979.[3]
Johansson competed in theBritish Formula Three Championship from1978 to1980, winning the series in his final year, driving for futureMcLaren chief executiveRon Dennis' Project Four team.
In Formula One he participated in 103 Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1980 for theShadow Racing Team at the1980 Argentine Grand Prix when he was still a Formula Three regular. He failed to qualify for the race and the next race inBrazil and he was not seen in Formula One again until1983, after spending 1982 in theEuropean Formula Two Championship withSpirit Racing, where he finished eighth overall, his best finish being third atMugello inItaly.
Johansson's first Formula One race with Spirit was at the non-championship1983 Race of Champions atBrands Hatch, where he failed to finish due to failure of theHonda engine on lap four. His qualifying time was almost 20 seconds off the pole time set by1982 World ChampionKeke Rosberg in hisWilliams-Cosworth, but his times in the race morning warm-up session were within a second of theFerrari 126C2B ofRené Arnoux, who was fastest. He moved up to seventh place before pulling into the pits with another engine failure. Anecdotally, then-BBC commentatorMurray Walker said on air that Spirit and Honda had completed thousands of miles of trouble-free testing until that point. Spirit continued to test and develop the201C and Johansson re-entered Formula One at the1983 British Grand Prix atSilverstone where he qualified the car in a credible 14th position. He raced in a further five Grands Prix in 1983, with a best finish of seventh in theDutch Grand Prix atZandvoort.
Stefan Johansson was replaced at Spirit byMauro Baldi for the1984 season when the team lost its Honda engines toWilliams and he didn't race until he joinedTyrrell in Round 10 of the championship, theBritish Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, as a replacement for the injuredMartin Brundle. He then went on to drive forToleman for the last few Grands Prix of the season in place of the injuredJohnny Cecotto, finishing fourth in theItalian Grand Prix atMonza. While at Toleman, Johansson's regular teammate was future triple World Drivers' ChampionAyrton Senna.
Johansson signed a contract with Toleman for1985 but it fell through when Toleman failed to secure a tyre agreement. Instead Johansson started again with Tyrrell as a replacement for the suspendedStefan Bellof before being called up to Ferrari whenRené Arnoux was mysteriously sacked after the first race of the season inBrazil. At his second race with Ferrari, namely their 'home' race, theSan Marino Grand Prix, two laps from home he passed Senna's out-of-fuel Lotus to take the lead to the delight of theTifosi, and would probably have won if hisFerrari 156/85 had not run out of fuel itself just half a lap later. His role at Ferrari for the 1985 season was primarily to supportMichele Alboreto's championship challenge, though he did finish second to the Italian atCanada, and backed it up with second in the next race atDetroit.
In1986, he often outpaced Alboreto, despite the Italian being the team's lead driver. The V6 turbo in theFerrari F1/86 lacked nothing in power compared to the Honda,BMW,Renault andTAG-Porsche engines, but the car itself proved to be difficult, with both drivers complaining through the season about lack of downforce and the car's reluctance to drive well on all but the smoothest of circuits. Johansson finished fifth in the 1986 Drivers' Championship, his best-ever position, while Alboreto, who finished second in 1985, could only manage ninth place. There were many in Formula One, including highly respected then-BBC commentators Murray Walker and1976 World ChampionJames Hunt, who believed that Ferrari were sacking the wrong driver, given that the Swede had generally outshone his more highly-paid teammate throughout the season.
He was replaced at Ferrari byAustrianGerhard Berger for1987 and he moved to McLaren as number two driver behind double and reigning World ChampionAlain Prost. McLaren weren't as competitive in 1987 as they had been in 1984–1986, with Prost only adding three wins to his tally (and beating the record of 27 Grand Prix wins held byJackie Stewart with his 28th win inPortugal) and failing to successfully defend his Drivers' Championship. Further podium finishes did follow for the Swede and Johansson finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship. Stefan Johansson's position at McLaren was considered by many as just a stop gap signing by team boss Ron Dennis who had failed to lure Ayrton Senna from Lotus due to him being under contract until the end of 1987 and always intended signing theBrazilian for1988.[4] Johansson famously finished the1987 German Grand Prix on three wheels having had a puncture on the last lap. He also finished second behind Prost inBelgium and added further podium finishes inBrazil,Spain andJapan. Despite 11 podiums in three seasons, Johansson was still winless and was not wanted by a top team (he had hoped to joinWilliams in 1988 as a replacement for the departing 1987 World ChampionNelson Piquet but Williams signedRiccardo Patrese instead). He did return to McLaren in a test-driver capacity in 1990, testing the Honda V12 engine atSuzuka inJapan and helping with the development of a paddle shifter and a new gearbox.[5]
He joinedLigier for 1988, ironically alongside the man he replaced at Ferrari, René Arnoux, but the team's first non-turbo powered car since1983, the Michel Beaujon-designedJS31 powered by anaturally aspiratedJuddV8 engine, was totally uncompetitive, scoring no points and often failed to qualify, even against teams with much smaller budgets such asAGS andRial (the French team's low point of the year was when both Johansson and Arnoux failed to qualify for theFrench Grand Prix atPaul Ricard in the first weekend of July). Unfortunately for Johansson, he failed to come to grips with the JS31, recording six non-qualifications during the season (compared to Arnoux who only failed to qualify twice). He did record the car's two best finishes of the year though, ninth placings in the opening race of the season inBrazil and the last race inAustralia.
Better was to follow in1989 as he was signed to lead the newOnyx team. The car was temperamental and didn't always qualify, but Johansson finished a surprise and popular third inPortugal for his last (and the team's only) podium finish. He fell out with new team ownerPeter Monteverdi in early 1990 and was duly sacked, making further appearances forAGS andFootwork in1991.
Johansson's record of podium finishes without a win was equalled byNick Heidfeld at the2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, who then took the record outright at the2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.[6]
In his 11-year Formula One career, in which he drove for 10 different teams at 103 Grands Prix, Johansson achieved 12 podiums and scored a total of 88 championship points.
For 1992 he moved over toCARTChampionship Car, winning the Rookie of the Year title with two third places, ahead ofBelgium'sÉric Bachelart. His first pole came at Portland the next year, but as in Formula One he never won a race. From 1992 to 1996, he started 73 races and had his best season overall in 1994, finishing in 11th. During this time, he competed in the 1993–1995Indianapolis 500. At the 1996Molson Indy Toronto race, he was involved in an accident that claimed the life of fellow driverJeff Krosnoff and track marshalGary Avrin. After making wheel to wheel contact, Jeff's car hit the barriers and also a tree and lamp post that was too close to the track. Krosnoff died instantly of the injuries sustained from hitting the lamp post.
Before hisFormula One career Johansson had participated in sports car races such as24 Hours of Le Mans, and had won twoWorld Sportscar Championship races in the 1980s (theMugello round in 1983, driving aJoest RacingPorsche 956 withBob Wollek, and the 1988Spa Francorchamps race in aSauber C9 withMauro Baldi).
After retiring fromCART at the end of the 1996 season he returned to this type of racing. During 1997 he recorded two major race wins, at the12 Hours of Sebring driving aFerrari 333 SP withAndy Evans,Fermín Vélez andYannick Dalmas. Later in 1997 Johansson also won atLe Mans where he drove aTWR-Porsche WSC-95 forJoest Racing alongside his Ferrari F1 teammate of 1985 and 1986 Michele Alboreto, and youngDaneTom Kristensen. For Kristensen it was to be the first of a record (as of2013) 9 wins in the famous French classic.
In1997, Johansson founded a successfulIndy Lights team runningFredrik Larsson andJeff Ward; in1998 its drivers wereGuy Smith andLuiz Garcia Jr.; for1999 the seats went toScott Dixon andBen Collins.
During 1998 and 1999, Johansson raced for various sports car teams (like the unreliableAudi R8C Coupé at Le Mans) but in 2000 he started Johansson-Matthews racing with an American businessman called Jim Matthews. They competed in theAmerican Le Mans Series using aReynard 2KQ prototype. Unfortunately this wasn't a successful vehicle in its original form (though it was later developed into various other successful cars including the Zytek that he later raced) and the partnership dissolved.
In 2001, Johansson campaigned anAudi R8 prototype with backing fromGulf Oil and the assistance ofMike Earle's Arena team. That year he raced in theEuropean Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series and atLe Mans itself. His co-drivers were Guy Smith and Patrick Lemarie. At Le Mans Smith was replaced byTom Coronel.
2002 saw Johansson back in anAudi R8 but this time one run by theMiami based Champion Racing team. His co-driver was exFormula One driverJohnny Herbert and they competed in theAmerican Le Mans Series.
For 2003, he returned to CART as a team owner, runningAmerican Spirit Team Johansson withJimmy Vasser andRyan Hunter-Reay as drivers. This was one of many new teams for the 2003 CART season; ironically, Bachelart'sMi-Jack Conquest Racing team was another. The team was under-funded, and although Hunter-Reay scored a fluke win in the wet conditions atAustralia, it folded at the end of the season.
After only competing in a couple of celebrity races and occasional outings in the worksZytek in 2004 Johansson returned to full-time racing in 2005 driving theChip Ganassi run New Century Mortgage sponsoredLexus Riley Daytona Prototype in the AmericanGrand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. With co-driverCort Wagner he scored his best finish, a second place, atMont Tremblant in Canada, they finished the year in fifth place in the championship.
In 2006 as well as the Grand Prix Masters series, Johansson has made occasional appearances in Grand-Am for the Cheever and CITGO teams, and has continued an association with the worksZytek team in theLe Mans Series.
2007 saw Johansson competing in aHighcroft RacingCourage-Acura in the LMP2 class of theAmerican Le Mans Series, sharing withDavid Brabham. He was due to race a Zytek at Le Mans in 2007, but the team could not rebuild the car in time after a test-day accident, and Johansson made a last minute deal to drive a works Courage.
Johansson took part in the inauguralSpeedcar Series in 2008, where luck once again deserted him as the victim of a lot of other drivers' accidents. For 2008 Johansson did not have a full-time sports car drive, but had some outings planned in the HighcroftAcura ARX-01 in theALMS and a place with theEpsilon Euskadi team at Le Mans.
Outside the cockpit, Johansson has a number of business ventures (including managing several successful drivers such asScott Dixon) and is a keenartist – he is particularly known for hiswatch designs. Also, Johansson does expert commentary on Viasat Motor during Formula One races on occasion.
In 2011, he raced aPescarolo-Judd in thePetit Le Mans 10 Hours and aFord GT3 in the Malaysian 12 Hours at Sepang.
In 2012, he returned to the24 Hours of Le Mans, racing aLola B12/80.
He is the manager of several racing drivers, including New ZealanderScott Dixon, fellow SwedeFelix Rosenqvist (winner of the2015 European Formula 3 Championship), CanadianZachary Claman DeMelo,Romain Grosjean[7] andEd Jones.[8]
Johansson was the inspiration for the song "Speedway at Nazareth" byMark Knopfler.[9]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Polifac BMW Junior Team | March 792 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | VLL | MUG | PAU | HOC | ZAN | PER | MIS | DON Ret | NC | 0 | |
| 1980 | ICI Roloil Racing Team | March 802 | BMW | THR DNS | HOC | NÜR | VLL | PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN | PER | MIS | HOC | NC | 0 | |
| 1981 | Docking Spitzley Team Toleman | Lola T850 | Hart | SIL 9 | HOC 1 | THR 7 | NÜR 4 | VLL 2 | MUG Ret | PAU 8 | PER Ret | SPA 14 | DON 4 | MIS 9 | MAN 1 | 4th | 30 | |
| 1982 | Marlboro Team Spirit | Spirit 201 | Honda | SIL Ret | HOC Ret | THR 14 | NÜR 6 | MUG 3 | VLL 4 | PAU 7 | SPA Ret | HOC 4 | DON 11 | MAN Ret | PER 11 | MIS 7 | 8th | 11 |
Source:[11] | ||||||||||||||||||
(key)
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | BASF Cassetten Team GS Sport | C | Sauber SHS C6 | Cosworth DFL 4.0V8 | MNZ | SIL | NÜR | LMS | SPA | MUG | FUJ | BRH Ret | NC | 0 | |||
| 1983 | Sorga S.A. /Joest Racing | C | Porsche 956 | Porsche Type-935 2.6F6t | MNZ | SIL 2 | NÜR 2 | LMS 6 | SPA Ret | KYA Ret | 11th | 36 | |||||
| Porsche Kremer Racing | FUJ Ret | ||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | New-ManJoest Racing | C1 | Porsche 956 | Porsche Type-935 2.6F6t | MNZ Ret | SIL | LMS Ret | NÜR 8 | BRH | MOS | SPA Ret | IMO | FUJ 4 | KYA | SAN | 38th | 13 |
| 1988 | Team Sauber Mercedes | C1 | Sauber C9 | Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0V8t | JER | JAR | MNZ | SIL | LMS | BRN | BRH | NÜR Ret | SPA 1 | SAN 2 | 19th | 55 | |
| Toyota TeamTom's | Toyota 88C-V | Toyota R32V 3.2V8t | FUJ 21 | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Konrad Motorsport | C2 | Porsche 962C | Porsche Type-935 3.2F6t | SUZ | MNZ Ret | SIL | 39th | 6 | ||||||||
| Mazdaspeed | Mazda 787B | Mazda R26B 2.6 4-Rotor | LMS 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Konrad Motorsport | C1 | Konrad KM-011 | Lamborghini 3512 3.5V12 | NÜR DNQ | MAG Ret | MEX Ret | AUT Ret | ||||||||||
| 1992 | Euro Racing | C1 | Lola T92/10 | Judd GV10 3.5V10 | MNZ DNS | SIL DSQ | NC | 0 | |||||||||
| Trust Racing Team | C2 | Toyota 92C-V | Toyota R36V 3.6V8t | LMS 5 | DON | SUZ | MAG | ||||||||||
(key)
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Bettenhausen Racing | 16 | PenskePC-20 | Chevrolet265AV8t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | DET 3 | POR | MIL | NHA 10 | TOR 11 | MCH | CLE 9 | ROA 19 | VAN 3 | MDO 6 | NAZ 21 | LAG 11 | 14th | 47 | [15] | |
| 1993 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | PenskePC-22 | Chevrolet265CV8t | SRF 12 | PHX 21 | LBH 26 | INDY 11 | MIL 25 | DET 20 | POR 26 | CLE 4 | TOR 24 | MCH 23 | NHA 14 | ROA 21 | VAN 3 | MDO 26 | NAZ 7 | LAG 6 | 13th | 43 | [16] | ||
| 1994 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | PenskePC-22 | Ilmor265DV8t | SRF 5 | PHX 4 | LBH 10 | INDY 15 | MIL 26 | DET 22 | POR 8 | CLE 5 | TOR 14 | MCH 14 | MDO 12 | NHA 23 | VAN 26 | ROA 8 | NAZ 5 | LAG 12 | 11th | 57 | [17] | ||
| 1995 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | PenskePC-23 | Mercedes-Benz IC108BV8t | MIA 22 | SRF 17 | PHX 24 | LBH 6 | NAZ 3 | MIL 21 | DET 11 | POR 6 | ROA 10 | TOR 14 | CLE 8 | MCH 6 | MDO 23 | NHA 25 | VAN 4 | LAG 14 | 13th | 60 | [18] | ||
| Reynard 94i | FordXBV8t | INDY 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Bettenhausen Racing | Reynard 96i | Mercedes-Benz IC108CV8t | MIA 19 | RIO 23 | SRF 6 | LBH 19 | NAZ 19 | 500 16 | MIL 27 | DET 7 | POR 9 | CLE 12 | TOR 17 | MCH 5 | MDO 11 | ROA 4 | VAN 17 | LAG 21 | 15th | 43 | [19] | ||
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | PenskePC-22 | Chevrolet265CV8t | 6 | 11 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1994 | PenskePC-22 | Ilmor265DV8t | 27 | 15 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1995 | Reynard 94i | FordXBV8t | 31 | 16 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| Year | Team | Chassis/Engine | Qualifying | Race1 | Race2 | Overall ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 |  Marlboro Theodore Racing Team | Ralt・Toyota | 1st | 1 | 2 | 2nd |
| 1988 |  CamelEddie Jordan Racing | Reynard・VW | 25th | 13 | 9 | 8th |
Source:[10] | ||||||
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Phantom | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | RSA Ret | ||||
| 2006 | Team Altech | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5V8 | QAT 8 | ITA C | |||
| Team Virgin Radio | GBR 12 | MAL C | RSA C | |||||
Source:[11] | ||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Gulf Racing Middle East | LMP2 | Lola B12/80 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5V8 | SEB 22 | SPA 10 | LMS Ret | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA | 76th | 1.5 |
Source:[10] | ||||||||||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Formula Three Champion 1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | CART Rookie of the Year 1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1997 With:Michele Alboreto &Tom Kristensen | Succeeded by |
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