Jo Vonlanthen

**Jo Vonlanthen**
Nation:	Switzerland
Automobile world championship
First start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1975
Last start:	Grand Prix of Austria 1975
Constructors
	1975 Frank Williams Racing Cars
statistics
World Cup balance:	no World Cup placement
World Cup points :	-
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Joseph "Jo" Vonlanthen (born May 31, 1942 in St. Ursen ) is a former Swiss automobile racing driver .

Career

Jo Vonlanthen was a car dealer in Frauenfeld when he started racing privately in 1968. He drove his first races in Formula Super Vau . In 1972 he won the Swiss Formula 3 championship with a Tecno . In 1973 he moved to the Formula 2 European Championship . The best result was third place at the Gran Premio di Roma in Vallelunga with a GRD-273 Ford. In 1975 he finished second in the opening race of the Formula 2 European Championship season in Estoril , with a March - 742 - BMW behind the winner Jacques Laffite .

Vonlanthen drove three Formula 1 races in his career , only one of which had the status of a world championship run. In 1975 he drove a works ensign at the BRDC International Trophy in Silverstone . For Frank Williams Racing Cars he then contested the Swiss Grand Prix in Dijon, which is also not part of the World Championship . Although he was not classified with nine laps behind, this race earned him a commitment to a world championship run. At the Austrian Grand Prix , however, he only got into the race because Wilson Fittipaldi and Brian Henton withdrew their qualified vehicles from the start after training accidents. Vonlanthen started the race with his Iso-Marlboro FW03 from last place on the grid and retired on lap 14 with an engine failure.

In 1976 Vonlanthen returned to Formula 2, but again did not have the desired success and withdrew from racing.

Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8