Stefan Johansson
Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One between Template:F1 and Template:F1.Template:Efn In endurance racing, Johansson won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Template:24hLM with Joest.
Born and raised in Växjö, Johansson began his career in kart racing, winning the Swedish Championship in 1973. After achieving multiple national titles in Formula Ford, Johansson progressed to British Formula Three, winning the championship in 1980. Johansson also made his Formula One debut that year—at the Template:F1GP with Shadow—but did not qualify for either round he contested. Following multiple race wins in European Formula Two and podiums in the World Sportscar Championship, Johansson returned to Formula One in Template:F1 with Spirit. After sporadic appearances for Tyrrell and Toleman in Template:F1, Johansson signed for Ferrari the following season, achieving his maiden podium finish in Canada. Retaining his seat for Template:F1, Johansson scored several podiums as he finished a career-best fifth in the World Drivers' Championship. Replaced by Gerhard Berger at Ferrari in Template:F1, Johansson moved to McLaren to partner Alain Prost; he scored five podiums on his way to sixth in the standings, but left for Ligier at the end of the season. After a non-classified championship finish in Template:F1, Johansson moved to Onyx, scoring the team's only podium finish at the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. He was dropped by Onyx after the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix, making further appearances for AGS and Footwork in Template:F1 before leaving Formula One, having achieved 12 podiums.
In addition to his 10 seasons in Formula One, Johansson entered 15 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans between Template:24hLM and Template:24hLM, taking three class wins amongst an overall win in Template:24hLM, driving the Porsche WSC-95 alongside Michele Alboreto and Tom Kristensen. He also competed in the IndyCar World Series from 1992 to 1996, both seasons of Grand Prix Masters, and the inaugural season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Early life and career
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson was born on 8 September 1956 in Växjö, Sweden.<ref name="c824">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Johansson began his career in kart racing, where he won the Swedish Championship in 1973.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He then progressed to Formula Ford, winning the Swedish title in both 1977 and 1979.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Johansson competed in the British Formula Three Championship from 1978 to 1980, winning the series in his final year, driving for future McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis' Project Four team.
Formula One career
In Formula One he participated in 103 Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1980 for the Shadow Racing Team at the 1980 Argentine Grand Prix when he was still a Formula Three regular. He failed to qualify for the race and the next race in Brazil and he was not seen in Formula One again until 1983, after spending 1982 in the European Formula Two Championship with Spirit Racing, where he finished eighth overall, his best finish being third at Mugello in Italy.
Spirit (1983)
Johansson's first Formula One race with Spirit was at the non-championship 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, where he failed to finish due to failure of the Honda engine on lap four. His qualifying time was almost 20 seconds off the pole time set by Template:F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg in his Williams-Cosworth, but his times in the race morning warm-up session were within a second of the Ferrari 126C2B of René Arnoux, who was fastest. He moved up to seventh place before pulling into the pits with another engine failure. Anecdotally, then-BBC commentator Murray 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 the 201C and Johansson re-entered Formula One at the 1983 British Grand Prix at Silverstone 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 the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Tyrrell/Toleman (1984)
Stefan Johansson was replaced at Spirit by Mauro Baldi for the Template:F1 season when the team lost its Honda engines to Williams and he didn't race until he joined Tyrrell in Round 10 of the championship, the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, as a replacement for the injured Martin Brundle. He then went on to drive for Toleman for the last few Grands Prix of the season in place of the injured Johnny Cecotto, finishing fourth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. While at Toleman, Johansson's regular teammate was future triple World Drivers' Champion Ayrton Senna.
Ferrari (1985–1986)
Johansson signed a contract with Toleman for Template:F1 but it fell through when Toleman failed to secure a tyre agreement. Instead Johansson started again with Tyrrell as a replacement for the suspended Stefan Bellof before being called up to Ferrari when René Arnoux was mysteriously sacked after the first race of the season in Brazil. At his second race with Ferrari, namely their 'home' race, the San Marino Grand Prix, two laps from home he passed Senna's out-of-fuel Lotus to take the lead to the delight of the Tifosi, and would probably have won if his Ferrari 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 support Michele Alboreto's championship challenge, though he did finish second to the Italian at Canada, and backed it up with second in the next race at Detroit.
In Template:F1, he often outpaced Alboreto, despite the Italian being the team's lead driver. The V6 turbo in the Ferrari F1/86 lacked nothing in power compared to the Honda, BMW, Renault and TAG-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 and Template:F1 World Champion James 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.
McLaren (1987)
He was replaced at Ferrari by Austrian Gerhard Berger for Template:F1 and he moved to McLaren as number two driver behind double and reigning World Champion Alain 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 by Jackie Stewart with his 28th win in Portugal) 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 the Brazilian for Template:F1.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Johansson famously finished the 1987 German Grand Prix on three wheels having had a puncture on the last lap. He also finished second behind Prost in Belgium and added further podium finishes in Brazil, Spain and Japan. Despite 11 podiums in three seasons, Johansson was still winless and was not wanted by a top team (he had hoped to join Williams in 1988 as a replacement for the departing 1987 World Champion Nelson Piquet but Williams signed Riccardo Patrese instead). He did return to McLaren in a test-driver capacity in 1990, testing the Honda V12 engine at Suzuka in Japan and helping with the development of a paddle shifter and a new gearbox.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ligier (1988)
He joined Ligier for 1988, ironically alongside the man he replaced at Ferrari, René Arnoux, but the team's first non-turbo powered car since Template:F1, the Michel Beaujon-designed JS31 powered by a naturally aspirated Judd V8 engine, was totally uncompetitive, scoring no points and often failed to qualify, even against teams with much smaller budgets such as AGS and Rial (the French team's low point of the year was when both Johansson and Arnoux failed to qualify for the French Grand Prix at Paul 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 in Brazil and the last race in Australia.
Onyx/AGS/Footwork (1989–1991)
Better was to follow in Template:F1 as he was signed to lead the new Onyx team. The car was temperamental and didn't always qualify, but Johansson finished a surprise and popular third in Portugal for his last (and the team's only) podium finish. He fell out with new team owner Peter Monteverdi in early 1990 and was duly sacked, making further appearances for AGS and Footwork in Template:F1.
Johansson's record of podium finishes without a win was equalled by Nick Heidfeld at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, who then took the record outright at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.
CART career
For 1992 he moved over to CART Championship Car, winning the Rookie of the Year title with two third places, ahead of Belgium's Éric 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 1993–1995 Indianapolis 500. At the 1996 Molson Indy Toronto race, he was involved in an accident that claimed the life of fellow driver Jeff Krosnoff and track marshal Gary 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.
After Formula One: Sports Cars and team ownership
Before his Formula One career Johansson had participated in sports car races such as 24 Hours of Le Mans, and had won two World Sportscar Championship races in the 1980s (the Mugello round in 1983, driving a Joest Racing Porsche 956 with Bob Wollek, and the 1988 Spa Francorchamps race in a Sauber C9 with Mauro Baldi).
After retiring from CART at the end of the 1996 season he returned to this type of racing. During 1997 he recorded two major race wins, at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving a Ferrari 333 SP with Andy Evans, Fermín Vélez and Yannick Dalmas. Later in 1997 Johansson also won at Le Mans where he drove a TWR-Porsche WSC-95 for Joest Racing alongside his Ferrari F1 teammate of 1985 and 1986 Michele Alboreto, and young Dane Tom Kristensen. For Kristensen it was to be the first of a record (as of 2013) 9 wins in the famous French classic.
In 1997, Johansson founded a successful Indy Lights team running Fredrik Larsson and Jeff Ward; in 1998 its drivers were Guy Smith and Luiz Garcia Jr.; for 1999 the seats went to Scott Dixon and Ben Collins.
During 1998 and 1999, Johansson raced for various sports car teams (like the unreliable Audi R8C Coupé at Le Mans) but in 2000 he started Johansson-Matthews racing with an American businessman called Jim Matthews. They competed in the American Le Mans Series using a Reynard 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 an Audi R8 prototype with backing from Gulf Oil and the assistance of Mike Earle's Arena team. That year he raced in the European Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series and at Le Mans itself. His co-drivers were Guy Smith and Patrick Lemarie. At Le Mans Smith was replaced by Tom Coronel.
2002 saw Johansson back in an Audi R8 but this time one run by the Miami based Champion Racing team. His co-driver was ex Formula One driver Johnny Herbert and they competed in the American Le Mans Series.
For 2003, he returned to CART as a team owner, running American Spirit Team Johansson with Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay as drivers. This was one of many new teams for the 2003 CART season; ironically, Bachelart's Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team was another. The team was under-funded, and although Hunter-Reay scored a fluke win in the wet conditions at Australia, it folded at the end of the season.
After only competing in a couple of celebrity races and occasional outings in the works Zytek in 2004 Johansson returned to full-time racing in 2005 driving the Chip Ganassi run New Century Mortgage sponsored Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype in the American Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. With co-driver Cort Wagner he scored his best finish, a second place, at Mont 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 works Zytek team in the Le Mans Series.
2007 saw Johansson competing in a Highcroft Racing Courage-Acura in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series, sharing with David 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 inaugural Speedcar 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 Highcroft Acura ARX-01 in the ALMS and a place with the Epsilon Euskadi team at Le Mans.
Outside the cockpit, Johansson has a number of business ventures (including managing several successful drivers such as Scott Dixon) and is a keen artist – he is particularly known for his watch designs. Also, Johansson does expert commentary on Viasat Motor during Formula One races on occasion.
In 2011, he raced a Pescarolo-Judd in the Petit Le Mans 10 Hours and a Ford GT3 in the Malaysian 12 Hours at Sepang.
In 2012, he returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing a Lola B12/80.
Driver management
He is the manager of several racing drivers, including New Zealander Scott Dixon, fellow Swede Felix Rosenqvist (winner of the 2015 European Formula 3 Championship), Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo, Romain Grosjean<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Ed Jones.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In popular culture
Johansson was the inspiration for the song "Speedway at Nazareth" by Mark Knopfler.<ref name="Andreevski 2021 e478">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Career results
Career summary
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete World Sportscar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
American open-wheel results
(key)
CART
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Penske PC-22 | Chevrolet 265C V8 t | 6 | 11 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1994 | Penske PC-22 | Ilmor 265D V8 t | 27 | 15 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1995 | Reynard 94i | Ford XB V8 t | 31 | 16 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
Complete Macau Grand Prix results
| Year | Team | Chassis/Engine | Qualifying | Race1 | Race2 | Overall ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Template:Flagicon Marlboro Theodore Racing Team | Ralt・Toyota | 1st | 1 | 2 | 2nd |
| 1988 | Template:Flagicon Camel Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard・VW | 25th | 13 | 9 | 8th |
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Complete Grand Prix Masters results
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Phantom | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | RSA Template:Small |
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| 2006 | Team Altech | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | QAT Template:Small |
ITA Template:Small |
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| Team Virgin Radio | GBR Template:Small |
MAL Template:Small |
RSA Template:Small | |||||
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Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Template:Tooltip | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Gulf Racing Middle East | LMP2 | Lola B12/80 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 V8 | SEB Template:Small |
SPA Template:Small |
LMS Template:Small |
SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA | 76th | 1.5 |
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Notes
References
External links
Template:S-start Template:S-sports Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Toleman Template:Onyx Grand Prix Template:Cheever Racing
Template:24 Hours of Le Mans winners Template:12 Hours of Sebring winners Template:British F3 champions Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using center with unknown parameters
- 1956 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Växjö
- Swedish racing drivers
- Swedish Formula One drivers
- Shadow Formula One drivers
- Spirit Formula One drivers
- Tyrrell Formula One drivers
- Toleman Formula One drivers
- Ferrari Formula One drivers
- McLaren Formula One drivers
- Ligier Formula One drivers
- Onyx Formula One drivers
- AGS Formula One drivers
- Arrows Formula One drivers
- Champ Car drivers
- Indianapolis 500 drivers
- Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
- European Formula Two Championship drivers
- British Formula Three Championship drivers
- Grand Prix Masters drivers
- American Le Mans Series drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
- Speedcar Series drivers
- European Le Mans Series drivers
- TC 2000 Championship drivers
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- World Sportscar Championship drivers
- FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
- GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
- WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- 12 Hours of Sebring drivers
- American Spirit Team Johansson drivers
- Epsilon Euskadi drivers
- Team Joest drivers
- Arena Motorsport drivers
- TOM'S drivers
- Bettenhausen Racing drivers
- Oreca drivers
- Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers
- Audi Sport drivers
- Porsche Motorsports drivers
- Highcroft Racing drivers
- Cheever Racing drivers
- Alan Docking Racing drivers
- Sauber Motorsport drivers