Billy Johnson (racing driver)

Billy Johnson 2013

William Ryan "Billy" Johnson (* 10. October 1986 in Torrance ) is an American sports car and touring car - racing . In the 2016 season he became the champion of the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. He is currently competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship . In both racing series for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK Team in the Ford GT with starting number 66.

Racing career

First years

Johnson started karting at the age of 13 . In 2003 he won two scholarships: one to compete in the Skip Barber Racing School championship and one to compete in the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA as a driver of the BMW Junior Program. In 2004 he entered the championship of Formula BMW USA, where he achieved fifth place overall. He was also named Sportsman of the Year.

In 2005 he took part once in a race of the Pro Mazda Championship , in which he surprisingly landed in the top 10.

Sports car racing

In the 2005 season he made his debut in sports car racing in addition to his involvement in the Pro Mazda Championship, his co-driver was James Hinchcliffe . They competed in the Grand-Am Cup ST class and achieved seven top 10 results in seven races. He also made his debut in a GT racing car, racing at Virginia International Raceway as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series . He drove for the Prototype Technology Group team, and his emergency vehicle was a BMW M3 .

In 2006 he took part in a race in the Speed ​​World Challenge for Tindol Motorsports. He also competed again in the ST class of the Grand-Am Cup, this season he drove for the teams Kensai Racing, Potter Racing, and ROAR Racing.

2007 was his first full season in a sports car, scoring 3 wins for Kensai Racing in the ST class. He also made his debut in the GS class for the Jim Click Racing team, reaching eighth place, making it the highest-placed Mustang.

2008 completed his first full season in the GS class for the Motorsport Technology Group team. He achieved 4 podium positions at the wheel of a BMW Z4 M-Coupe or a Porsche 997.

In 2009 he also initially joined the Motorsport Technology Group team, with which he was able to achieve a victory in Homestead . When the team ran out of funds, he moved to Roush Fenway Racing . His new company car was a Ford Mustang FR500C, his new teammate was Jack Roush Jr. When the two won at Homestead the following year, it was the 400th victory of team boss Jack Roush. The two finished third in the championship, scored another win in New Jersey, and garnered several podiums.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2016	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Ford GT	Olivier Pla	Stefan Mücke	Rank 21
2017	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Ford GT	Olivier Pla	Stefan Mücke	Rank 27
2018	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ford GT	Olivier Pla	Stefan Mücke	Rank 21
2019	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK	Ford GT	Olivier Pla	Stefan Mücke	Rank 25

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2013	Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin Vantage V8	Paul Dalla Lana	Pedro Lamy	Rank 32
2017	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Ford GT	Stefan Mücke	Olivier Pla	Rank 11

Web links

Commons : Billy Johnson  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Billy Johnson at Racing Sports Cars