Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number of categories, including CART, various kinds of Sports car racing and Grand Prix Masters.
He is also the manager of New Zealander Scott Dixon, fellow Swede Felix Rosenqvist, Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo and Ed Jones.
Formula One career
Johansson's route to Formula One was via the British Formula 3 Championship, which he won in 1980 driving for future McLaren team boss Ron Dennis' Project Four team. 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.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 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.1984
Stefan Johansson was replaced at Spirit by Mauro Baldi for the 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.1985–1986
Johansson signed a contract with Toleman for 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. He led his second race with Ferrari at their 'home' race, the San Marino Grand Prix, and two laps from home passed Senna's out of fuel Lotus 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 after taking the lead. His role at Ferrari for the 1985 season was primarily to back up 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 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 the 1986 Drivers' Championship his best ever position in fifth place 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 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.
1987
He was replaced at Ferrari by Austrian Gerhard Berger for 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 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. 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 did return to McLaren in a test-driver capacity in 1991, testing the Honda V12 engine at Suzuka in Japan.1988–1991
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, 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. Unfortunately for Johansson, he failed to come to grips with the JS31, recording six non-qualifications during the season. 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.Better was to follow in 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 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.
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.
In his 11-year Grand Prix career, in which he drove for 10 different teams, 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.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 9 wins in the famous French classic.
at Donington Park in 1997
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 & 1999 Johansson raced for various sports car teams 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 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 and is a keen artist – he is particularly known for his watch designs. Also "Lill-Lövis" 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.
In popular culture
Johansson was the inspiration for the song "Speedway at Nazareth" by Mark Knopfler.Career results
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pts | |
| Polifac BMW Junior Team | March 792 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | VAL | MUG | PAU | HOC | ZAN | PER | MIS | DON Ret | NC | 0 | ||
| ICI Roloil Racing Team | March 802 | BMW | THR DNS | HOC | NÜR | VAL | PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN | PER | MIS | HOC | NC | 0 | ||
| Docking Spitzley Team Toleman | Lola T850 | Hart | SIL 9 | HOC 1 | THR 7 | NÜR 4 | VAL 2 | MUG Ret | PAU 8 | PER Ret | SPA 14 | DON 4 | MIS 9 | MAN 1 | 4th | 30 | ||
| Marlboro Team Spirit | Spirit 201 | Honda | SIL Ret | HOC Ret | THR 14 | NÜR 6 | MUG 3 | VAL 4 | PAU 7 | SPA Ret | HOC 4 | DON 11 | MAN Ret | PER 11 | MIS 7 | 8th | 11 |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | |
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow DN11 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG DNQ | BRA DNQ | RSA | USW | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 | ||
| 1983 | Spirit Racing | Spirit 201 | Honda RA163-E 1.5 V6t | BRA | USW | FRA | SMR | MON | BEL | DET | CAN | GBR Ret | AUT 12 | ITA Ret | EUR 14 | RSA | NC | 0 | |||
| 1983 | Spirit Racing | Spirit 201C | Honda RA163-E 1.5 V6t | GER Ret | NED 7 | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1984 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 012 | Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA | RSA | BEL | SMR | FRA | MON | CAN | DET | DAL | GBR DSQ | GER DSQ | AUT DNQ | NED DSQ | 17th | 3 | |||
| 1984 | Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG184 | Hart 415T 1.5 L4t | ITA 4 | EUR Ret | POR 11 | 17th | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1985 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 012 | Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA 7 | 7th | 26 | |||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 156/85 | Ferrari 031 1.5 V6t | POR 8 | SMR 6 | MON Ret | CAN 2 | DET 2 | FRA 4 | GBR Ret | GER 9 | AUT 4 | NED Ret | ITA 5 | BEL Ret | EUR Ret | RSA 4 | AUS 5 | 7th | 26 | |
| 1986 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari F1/86 | Ferrari 032 1.5 V6t | BRA Ret | ESP Ret | SMR 4 | MON 10 | BEL 3 | CAN Ret | DET Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 11 | HUN 4 | AUT 3 | ITA 3 | POR 6 | MEX 12 | AUS 3 | 5th | 23 |
| 1987 | Marlboro McLaren International | McLaren MP4/3 | TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6t | BRA 3 | SMR 4 | BEL 2 | MON Ret | DET 7 | FRA 8 | GBR Ret | GER 2 | HUN Ret | AUT 7 | ITA 6 | POR 5 | ESP 3 | MEX Ret | JPN 3 | AUS Ret | 6th | 30 |
| 1988 | Ligier Loto | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV 3.5 V8 | BRA 9 | SMR DNQ | MON Ret | MEX 10 | CAN Ret | DET Ret | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | HUN Ret | BEL 11 | ITA DNQ | POR Ret | ESP Ret | JPN DNQ | AUS 9 | NC | 0 |
| 1989 | Moneytron Onyx Formula One | Onyx ORE-1 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | BRA DNPQ | SMR DNPQ | MON DNPQ | MEX Ret | USA Ret | CAN DSQ | FRA 5 | GBR DNPQ | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 8 | ITA DNPQ | POR 3 | ESP DNPQ | JPN DNPQ | AUS DNPQ | 12th | 6 |
| 1990 | Monteverdi Onyx Formula One | Onyx ORE-1 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA DNQ | BRA DNQ | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH25B | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA DNQ | BRA DNQ | SMR | MON | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1991 | Footwork Grand Prix International | Footwork FA12 | Porsche 3512 3.5 V12 | CAN Ret | MEX DNQ | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Footwork Grand Prix International | Footwork FA12C | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete World Sportscar Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | |
| 1982 | BASF Cassetten Team GS Sport | C | Sauber SHS C6 | Cosworth DFL 4.0 V8 | MNZ | SIL | NÜR | LMS | SPA | MUG | FUJ | BRH Ret | NC | 0 | |||
| 1983 | Sorga S.A. / Joest Racing | C | Porsche 956 | Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t | MNZ | SIL 2 | NÜR 2 | LMS 6 | SPA Ret | KYA Ret | 11th | 36 | |||||
| 1983 | Porsche Kremer Racing | C | Porsche 956 | Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t | FUJ Ret | 11th | 36 | ||||||||||
| 1984 | New-Man Joest Racing | C1 | Porsche 956 | Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t | 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 5.0 V8t | JER | JAR | MNZ | SIL | LMS | BRN | BRH | NÜR Ret | SPA 1 | SAN 2 | 19th | 55 | |
| 1988 | Toyota Team Tom's | C1 | Toyota 88C-V | Toyota R32V 3.2 V8t | FUJ 21 | 19th | 55 | ||||||||||
| 1991 | Konrad Motorsport | C2 | Porsche 962C | Porsche Type-935 3.2 F6t | SUZ | MNZ Ret | SIL | 39th | 6 | ||||||||
| 1991 | Mazdaspeed | C2 | Mazda 787B | Mazda R26B 2.6 4-Rotor | LMS 6 | 39th | 6 | ||||||||||
| 1991 | Konrad Motorsport | C1 | Konrad KM-011 | Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12 | NÜR DNQ | MAG Ret | MEX Ret | AUT Ret | 39th | 6 | |||||||
| 1992 | Euro Racing | C1 | Lola T92/10 | Judd GV10 3.5 V10 | MNZ DNS | SIL DSQ | NC | 0 | |||||||||
| 1992 | Trust Racing Team | C2 | Toyota 92C-V | Toyota R36V 3.6 V8t | LMS 5 | DON | SUZ | MAG | NC | 0 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
American open-wheel results
CART
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
| 1992 | Bettenhausen Racing | Penske PC-20 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | 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 | |
| 1993 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | Penske PC-22 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | 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 | |
| 1994 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | Penske PC-22 | Ilmor 265D V8t | 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 | |
| 1995 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | Penske PC-23 | Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8t | 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 | |
| 1995 | Bettenhausen Motorsports | Reynard 94i | Ford XB V8t | INDY 16 | 13th | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Bettenhausen Racing | Reynard 96i | Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8t | 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 |
Indianapolis 500
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pts | |
| 2012 | Gulf Racing Middle East | LMP2 | Lola B12/80 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 V8 | SEB 22 | SPA 10 | LMS Ret | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA | 76th | 1.5 |