Joakim Bonnier

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Jo Bonnier
Nationality  Swedish
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1956 - 1971
Teams	Maserati, Scuderia Centro Sud, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team, BRM, Porsche, Rob Walker Racing Team, Lotus, Brabham, Anglo-Suisse Racing/Ecurie Bonnier and Honda
Races	108 (104 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podium finishes	1
Career points	39
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
First race	1956 Italian Grand Prix
First win	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last win	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last race	1971 United States Grand Prix

Joakim "Jo" Bonnier (January 31, 1930 - June 11, 1972) was a Swedish sportscar racing and Formula One driver who raced for various teams.

Contents 1 Career 2 Early life 3 First competition 4 Formula 1 driver 5 Sports car racer 6 Complete Formula One World Championship results 7 References

[edit] Career

[edit] Early life

Jo Bonnier was born in Djurgården, Stockholm, to the wealthy Bonnier family. He spoke six languages. His parents hoped that he would become a doctor. His father, Gert, was a professor of genetics at the University of Stockholm. Many members of his large family were in the publishing business, and it was his aspiration to join them for a while. He attended Oxford University for a year, studying languages. He then went to Paris, France planning to learn about publishing.

[edit] First competition

Bonnier began competitive racing in Sweden at 17, on an old Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He returned home to Sweden in 1951 after his Paris trip. He took part in several rallies as the proud owner of a Simca.^[1]

[edit] Formula 1 driver

He entered Formula 1 in 1956 with a Maserati. Bonnier's racing career almost ended in September 1958 at a race at Imola, near Modena. He debuted a 1,500 Maserati and moved up through the field following a bad start. Bonnier passed Luigi Musso and was gaining on leader Eugenio Castellotti at around two seconds per lap. Bonnier lost control when another car pulled directly into him while negotiating a fast corner. His Maserati struck a large rock at the edge of the road and catapulted. The other driver went underneath him as he turned over and over in the air. While he was upside down the crash hat of his competitor made contact with his. Bonnier's Maserati landed on its side before skidding 75 feet and headed into a ditch. He came to a stop there against a pole. Bonnier was thrown out. He suffered a concussion, several cracked ribs, and a broken vertebra. Nothing remained of his car aside from a pile of smoking junk.

His greatest achievement in F1 was taking victory for BRM in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, when the notoriously unreliable car worked well for once (Dan Gurney and Hans Herrmann had bad crashes after brake failures). He also won the 1960 German Grand Prix with a Porsche 718, a race held for Formula 2 in preparation for the rule change of 1961. 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. After 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 switched to Rob Walker Racing Team, the only privateer that had scored wins in World Championship events, where he drove Coopers and Brabhams, scoring 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 for an also old McLaren. He raced occasionally in F1 until 1971.

Alongside F1, Bonnier also took part in many sports car races. He won the 1960 Targa Florio, co-driving a works Porsche 718 with Hans Herrmann, and in 1962 took a Ferrari 250 TRI entered by Count Giovanni Volpi to top honors in the 12 Hours of Sebring, sharing the car with Lucien Bianchi. In 1963 he was once again winner at the Targa Florio, with Carlo Mario Abate in another works Porsche 718.

[edit] Sports car racer

1964 was his best year in sports car racing, where he co-drove a Ferrari P entered by Maranello Concessionaires with Graham Hill, 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 1000km Nürburgring in a Chaparral in 1966 (with Phil Hill), his last win in a major sports car event, but still managed to snatch victories in the minor 1000 km of Barcelona at Montjuïc 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 Sportscar Championship events, and taking a backseat to driving. Nevertheless he was involved in an accident in Le Mans in 1972 when his Lola-Cosworth T280 collided with a Ferrari Daytona driven by a swiss amateur driver Florian Vetsch. His car was catapulted into the trees and he was killed.

[edit] Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Points
1956	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA Ret						-	0
1957	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6	ARG 7	MON	500	FRA			PES Ret	ITA Ret						-	0
	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team							GBR Ret	GER
1958	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6	ARG	MON Ret	NED 10	500	BEL 9		GBR Ret		POR Ret					18th	3
	Giorgio Scarlatti								FRA 8
	Scuderia Centro Sud										GER Ret
	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4										ITA Ret	MOR 4
1959	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	MON Ret	500	NED 1	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 5	POR Ret	ITA 8	USA					8th	10
1960	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	ARG 7													18th	4
		BRM P48			MON 5	500	NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR Ret	ITA	USA 5
1961	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 787	Porsche Flat-4	MON Ret	NED 11												15th	3
		Porsche 718				BEL 7	FRA 7	GBR 5	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 6
1962	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 804	Porsche Flat-4	NED 7			FRA 10	GBR Ret	GER 7	ITA 6	USA 13	RSA					15th	3
		Porsche 718			MON 5	BEL
1963	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T60	Climax V8	MON 7	BEL 5	NED 11	FRA NC										11th	6
		Cooper T66						GBR Ret	GER 6	ITA 7	USA 8	MEX 5	RSA 6
1964	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T66	Climax V8	MON 5													15th	3
		Brabham BT11	BRM V8		NED 9	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR Ret	GER Ret
		Brabham BT7	Climax V8							AUT 6	ITA 12	USA Ret	MEX Ret
1965	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT7	Climax V8	RSA Ret	MON 7	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 7	NED Ret	GER 7	ITA 7	USA 8	MEX Ret				-	0
1966	Anglo-Suisse Racing	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	MON NC	BEL Ret			NED 7	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA NC	MEX 6					17th	1
	Brabham Racing Organisaion	Brabham BT22	Climax Straight-4			FRA NC
	Anglo-Suisse Racing	Brabham BT7	Climax V8				GBR Ret
1967	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA Ret	MON	NED	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR Ret	GER 5	CAN 8	ITA Ret	USA 6	MEX 10			15th	3
1968	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA Ret	ESP												22nd	3
		McLaren M5A	BRM V12			MON DNQ	BEL Ret	NED 8	FRA	GBR Ret	GER	ITA 6	CAN Ret	USA Ret
		Honda RA301	Honda V12												MEX 5
1969	Ecurie Bonnier	Lotus 63	Cosworth V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR Ret								-	0
		Lotus 49B								GER Ret	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX
1970	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Cosworth V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA DNQ	CAN	USA Ret	MEX	-	0
1971	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Cosworth V8	RSA Ret	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER DNQ	AUT DNS	ITA 10	CAN	USA 16			-	0

[edit] References

1. ^ Bonnier Seeks Grand Prix Win, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1962, Page B2.