Joakim Bonnier

Joakim Bonnier

Nation:	Sweden
Automobile world championship
First start:	1956 Italian Grand Prix
Last start:	1971 USA Grand Prix
Constructors
1956–1957 Maserati  • 1958 Maserati , BRM  • 1959–1960 BRM  • 1961–1962 Porsche  • 1963 Cooper  • 1964 Cooper , Brabham  • 1965 Brabham  • 1966 Cooper , Brabham  • 1967 Cooper  • 1968 Cooper , McLaren , Honda  • 1969 Lotus  • 1970 -1971 McLaren
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup eighth ( 1959 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 104 1 1 -
World Cup points :	39
Podiums :	1
Leadership laps :	139 over 546.815 km

Karl Joakim "Jocke" Jonas Bonnier , in Anglophone space and Jo Bonnier or short JoBo called (* 31 January 1930 in Stockholm , Sweden ; † 11. June 1972 in Le Mans , France ) was a Swedish sports car - and Formula 1 -Race driver who, as a co-founder of the drivers' union ( GPDA ), had a decisive influence on the driving safety of Grand Prix racing .

Life

Youth and education

Joakim Bonnier was born as the son of a university professor of genetics and offspring of the family who owned the Swedish publishing empire Bonnier . Since his uncle had no children, some journalists considered him a potential heir. However, his parents had planned for him to train as a doctor. But since the age of five he wanted to be a racing driver. Restoring old Harley-Davidson - Motorcycles was associated with correspondingly more fun than the finish homework or the "buffalo" of examination material. As a result, his diploma was so bad that studying medicine was no longer an option. Now his parents wanted him to become a businessman. During his bank apprenticeship, however, he showed neither talent nor interest, so that they now sent him to Paris to study publications and journalism .

Was the choice of their university already ideal for many distractions, so promoted father Bonnier with the purchase of MG - sports car unintentionally the first step of the son in the motorsport . Actually only intended as a transfer vehicle to the Swedish homeland, "Jocke" immediately abused the mobile pedestal by registering for a 12-hour race. His debut was rather embarrassing as he collided with a jeep in the middle of a Parisian boulevard , completely destroying the car. He himself got away with a crack in his upper lip. To hide this from his parents, he had a mustache.

As soon as he arrived in Stockholm, the family complained that he now looked like a French gangster . However, when it took a whole day after the following shave for his family to register this, he decided to simply grow a beard. This beard, always carefully trimmed, would later become his trademark. He also explains the nickname given to him by Italian racing fans: "Barbita", the bearded one.

Due to the compulsory military service on board the coast guard ship “Princess Victoria” in 1950/51, a continuation of his motorsport career was initially out of the question. After that, the good relations between his parents gave him the opportunity to open a car dealership for Alfa Romeo .

Start of career

Formula 1 Porsche 804 from 1962

Joakim Bonnier in the Porsche F1-804
at the 1962 German Grand Prix

Joakim Bonnier in the Cooper - Maserati in 1966

Bonnier on Chaparral during training for the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1966

... in 1971 in the McLaren M7C

He made his official racing debut in 1953 in an ice race on the Flattensee near Stockholm, which he finished far behind in last place on an HRG . Meanwhile, the car trade flourished, so that Bonnier was considered the general distributor for Alfa Romeo in Sweden as early as 1954.

In the same year he tried his luck again at the Swedish Grand Prix, which at that time was held as a sports car race with a classic Le Mans start . His start was as spectacular as it was catastrophic. In the hustle and bustle, he put the car in reverse and destroyed his car on the pit wall.

Unimpressed by these failures, Bonnier continued to try his luck at ice races and rallies . As an Alfa dealer, he was always able to “borrow” one of the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante 3.5-liter sports cars for advertising purposes. Even if this Alfa didn't look much like a classic sports car, it was a thoroughbred racing car that Bonnier could finally have better experiences with.

First steps in sports car races

After a mediocre first Grand Prix in Finland , Bonnier achieved better results in Scandinavia . He had his breakthrough in 1955 at the Swedish Grand Prix in Kristianstad , when he managed to beat Juan Manuel Fangio , Stirling Moss and Jean Behra in the 2-liter class and win. After this sense of achievement, he finally decided to pursue a motorsport career beyond the local framework.

With his teammate and friend, the American Herbert MacKay-Fraser , Bonnier “tinkered” in 1955/56 as a “ gypsy ” - as he himself called it - along the European sports car races. On the old bus, painted black and yellow, in which they were transporting their car, it boldly read “Scuderia Bonnier”. And they had some successes: In Aintree , on the AVUS , in Castelfusano and on the Nürburgring they achieved considerable class wins. In 1956 Bonnier made his debut as a works driver for Maserati alongside Paco Godia at his home Grand Prix.

In Formula 1 by chance

A coincidence brought the now recognized sports car racing driver to Formula 1 . Bonnier was only as a starter for the GT race at Italy reported when he suddenly unexpectedly and for the first time in the cockpit of a Maserati - seaters was: Luigi Villoresi was ill one hour before the start, was still the start and another three rounds but soon had to hand over the steering wheel to Bonnier. Bonnier had never been in the car before and was unfamiliar with the vehicle. He drove four laps before retiring with engine failure.

In the following two years Bonnier competed in Formula 1 races in a Maserati 250F for Scuderia Centro Sud or as a private individual. At the renowned sports car race in Reims , he also achieved an impressive victory for the brand in 1957, which he was unable to enjoy himself. His friend MacKay-Fraser had a fatal accident in the same race.

A great race duel between Bonnier and the drivers of the BRM racing team in the same year at the BRDC International Trophy in Silverstone marked another turn in his career. The responsible race director at BRM, Raymond Mays, was very interested in a commitment from the Swede, who signed for the last races of the 1958 Formula 1 season .

Ironically, at the Grand Prix of Morocco , in which Stuart Lewis-Evans was tragically fatally burned, Bonnier scored the first world championship points of a Swedish Grand Prix driver in fourth place.

The only Grand Prix win

In 1959, Bonnier's career culminated in the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , when the capricious BRM was precisely tailored. In contrast to the usual weekend events at the British racing team, there was not a single serious technical problem. Bonnier seemed to the observers to be in the shape of his life, achieved pole position in close training with Moss and finally, after a tough fight against the Cooper controlled by Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Masten Gregory, also the first Formula 1 victory for himself and also his team. Even the worries of his technicians that the tires would not be able to carry him over the distance were "calmed down", since the route, which had become slippery from the oil from some burst engines, did not allow the expected high speed. But in the course of the season neither BRM nor "Jocke" could build on this success, because the constant "problem child" of the racing series fell back into its susceptibility to defects. A fifth place was the only noteworthy further result of the 1959 Formula 1 season .

Out of loyalty, Bonnier stayed with BRM during the 1960 Formula 1 season. Then he switched to Porsche for the period 1961/62. If the German team had glamorous moments on racing days that were not part of the official World Cup calendar, they and Bonnier were denied great success in the World Cup during those years. Two victories in Formula 2 races at the Nürburgring and in Modena were the best results for him, while his team-mate Dan Gurney achieved at least the only Grand Prix victory of that Porsche era. After Porsche temporarily withdrew from Formula 1, Bonnier spent three years with the Scotsman Rob Walker's team , driving Cooper and Brabham models.

His career stretched into the 1970s, with which he almost "survived" his old team BRM and was able to look back on 102 races in 16 years of Formula 1, as many years as Jack Brabham and only from Riccardo Patrese , Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen (all 17), Graham Hill and Jenson Button (both 18) and Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher (both 19) outdone. But while the others were lucky enough to complete their careers largely in the top regions of the classification, Bonnier disappeared in the course of his motorsport career in the middle of the classification as a temporary guest on the racing calendar on privately used older cars.

End of a long Formula 1 career

What kept him in the Formula 1 series for a long time was his tireless commitment as a co-founder of the drivers' union and the resulting improvement in general safety conditions in racing. His last job was in a McLaren - Cosworth M7C in 1971 and, at the age of 41, decided to limit himself to the above-mentioned voluntary work in Grand Prix racing. However, he could not leave the sports cars in which he has celebrated significant successes over the years.

Triumph and accidental death in a sports car

1965

In 1960 he won the Targa Florio with Hans Herrmann and Graham Hill in a Porsche . In 1962 he won the Sebring 12-hour race and in 1963 he was able to repeat his victory at the Targa. In 1964 he won the Reims 12 hour race . However, he missed a win at Le Mans , where he finished second in the last year.

In 1972, at the age of 42, he and his team-mates Gérard Larrousse and Gijs van Lennep started a new attempt at the Le Mans 24-hour race on a Lola- Cosworth T280 . At the beginning of the race he was able to fight his way forward and maintain the lead. But after the exertion of the night, the accident occurred on the following Sunday morning at around 8 a.m. when he tried to overtake the Ferrari Daytona of Swiss private driver Florian Vetsch while braking on the Indianapolis bend. To let Bonnier by, Vetsch braked hard. Bonnier may have misunderstood this, so that after changing lanes twice, he collided with the Ferrari at around 250 km / h. His Lola was catapulted about eight meters into the air, hurled the driver out of the cockpit into the pine trees and exploded on contact with the ground. Bonnier died at the scene of the accident. Vic Elford driving behind him assumed that Bonnier had made the wrong decision because he was exhausted.

Bonnier left behind his wife Marianne, a niece of Alfred Nobel , whom he married in 1960, and two sons.

With the eloquent Sweden, racing lost a driver personality valued by many colleagues, to whom the improvement in safety in racing can be owed in many ways. Outwardly rather unapproachable, he was considered a pleasant and charming companion among drivers. Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips was one of his closest friends and best man for the Bonniers. Perhaps the last real “gentlemen's driver” had also established a tradition that is now very popular with athletes from all over the world: as early as the mid-1960s, he relocated to Lausanne in Switzerland for tax reasons . There he had opened American automobile dealerships and an art gallery. He also worked as an importer of the English racing cars from Lola.

After Bonnier's death, his long-time mechanic Heini Mader took over the racing team and renamed it Heini Mader Racing Components . In the following decades, Mader turned it into one of the most successful tuning companies for racing engines from Cosworth and BMW .

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1956	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1957	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	1	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	1	-	-	-	-	-	3	20th
	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	5	-	-	-	-	-
	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	1	-	-	-	-	-
	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P25	BRM 2.5 L4	2	-	-	-	-	-
1959	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P25	BRM 2.5 L4	7th	1	-	-	1	-	10	8th.
1960	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P25	BRM 2.5 L4	1	-	-	-	-	-	4th	18th
		BRM P48		7th	-	-	-	-	-
1961	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 787	Porsche 1.5 F4	2	-	-	-	-	-	3	15th
		Porsche 718		6th	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 804	Porsche 1.5 F8	6th	-	-	-	-	-	3	15th
		Porsche 718	Porsche 1.5 F4	1	-	-	-	-	-
1963	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T60	Climax 1.5 V8	4th	-	-	-	-	-	6th	11.
		Cooper T66		6th	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T66	Climax 1.5 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	3	15th
		Brabham BT11	BRM 1.5 V8	4th	-	-	-	-	-
		Brabham BT7	Climax 1.5 V8	4th	-	-	-	-	-
1965	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT7	Climax 1.5 V8	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1966	Anglo-Suisse Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	7th	-	-	-	-	-	1	17th
		Brabham BT22	Climax 2.8 L4	1	-	-	-	-	-
		Brabham BT7	Climax 2.0 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-
1967	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	8th	-	-	-	-	-	3	15th
1968	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	1	-	-	-	-	-	3	22nd
		McLaren M5A	BRM 3.0 V12	6th	-	-	-	-	-
		Honda RA301	Honda 3.0 V12	1	-	-	-	-	-
1969	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Lotus 63	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
		Lotus 49B		1	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	McLaren M7C	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1971	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
total				104	1	-	-	1	-	39

Grand Prix victories

• 1959 Dutch Grand Prix ( Zandvoort ) 

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13
1956
								DNF
1957
	7th	DNA			DNF		DNF	DNF
1958
	DNA	DNF		10		9	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th
1959
	DNF		1	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	8th
1960
	7th	5		DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF		5
1961
	DNF	11	7th	7th	5	DNF	DNF	6th
1962
	7th	5	WD	10	DNF	7th	6th	13
1963
	7th	5	11	NC	DNF	6th	7th	8th	5	6th
1964
	5	9	DNF		DNF	DNF	6th	12	DNF	DNF
1965
	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	7th	DNF	7th	7th	8th	DNF
1966
	NC	DNF	NC	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	NC	6th
1967
	DNF			DNF		DNF	6th	8th	DNF	6th	10
1968
	DNF		DNQ	DNF	8th		DNF	DNA	6th	DNF	NC	5
1969
						DNF	DNF
1970
									DNQ		DNF
1971
	DNF						DNQ	DNS	10		16

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1957	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 300S	Giorgio Scarlatti		failure	Clutch damage
1958	Francisco Godia	Maserati 300S	Francisco Godia		failure	Engine failure
1959	Porsche KG	Porsche 718 RSK	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips		failure	Clutch damage
1960	Porsche KG	Porsche 718/4 RS	Graham Hill		failure	Engine failure
1961	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 718/4 RS Coupe	Dan Gurney		failure	Engine failure
1962	Scuderia SSS Repubblica di Venezia	Ferrari 250TRI / 61	Dan Gurney		failure	Engine failure
1963	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 718/8 GTR Coupe	Tony Maggs		failure	accident
1964	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 330P	Graham Hill		Rank 2
1965	Maranello Concessionaires Ltd.	Ferrari 365P2	David Piper		failure	Ignition damage
1966	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Chaparral 2D	Phil Hill		failure	alternator
1969	Scuderia Filipinetti	Lola T70 Mk.IIIB	Masts Gregory		failure	Engine failure
1970	Scuderia Filipinetti	Ferrari 512S	Pure Wisell		failure	accident
1972	Ecurie Bonnier Switzerland	Lola T280	Gérard Larrousse	Gijs van Lennep	failure	Fatal accident by Bonnier

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1957	AV Dayton	Maserati 150S 2.5	Giorgio Scarlatti		failure	Engine failure
1958	AV Dayton	Maserati 300S	Dale Duncan		failure	Gearbox damage
1959	Porsche Auto Company	Porsche 718 RSK	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips		3rd place and class win
1960	Joakim Bonnier	Porsche 718 RS / 60	Graham Hill		failure	Engine failure
1961	Porsche car	Porsche 718 RS / 61	Dan Gurney		failure	Clutch damage
1962	Scuderia SSS Repubblica di Venezia	Ferrari 250 TRI / 61	Lucien Bianchi		Overall victory
1963	NART	Ferrari 250 GTO	John Cannon		Rank 13
1964	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 330P	Graham Hill		failure	Gearbox damage
1966	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Chaparral 2D	Phil Hill		failure	Oil leak
1968	Ecurie Bonnier	Lola T70 Mk.III GT	Sten Axelsson		failure	contaminated gasoline
1969	Sportscars Switzerland	Lola T70 Mk.IIIB GT	Ulf Norinder		failure	Wishbones
1972	Ecurie Bonnier	Lola T280	Gérard Larrousse	Pure Wisell	Rank 6

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1955		Alfa Romeo 1900	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
					DNF		18th
1956	Maserati	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Maserati 300S	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
					15th	11	DNF
1957	Maserati A.V. Dayton	Maserati 300S Maserati 150S	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
			DNF	DNF		15th	DNF	3	DNF
1958	AV Dayton Borgward Paco Godia	Maserati 200SI Maserati 300S Borgward RS	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			DNF	DNF		DNF	DNF
1959	Porsche	Porsche 718 RSK	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			3	DNF	7th	DNF	2
1960	Porsche	Porsche 718 RSK	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
			3	DNF	1	2	DNF
1961	Porsche Scuderia Serenissima	Porsche 718 Maserati Tipo 63	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			DNF	2	10	DNF	DNF
1962	Porsche Scuderia Serenissima	Porsche 356 Ferrari 250TRI Porsche 718 GTR Ferrari 250TRI	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
			DNF		1		3		DNF	DNF
1963	Porsche North American Racing Team	Porsche 356 Ferrari 250 GTO Porsche 718 GTR Ferguson	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
			5		13	1			DNF			DNF							DNF
1964	Porsche Maranello Concessionaires	Porsche 356 Ferrari 330P Porsche 718 GTR Porsche 904 Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
			6th	DNF	DNF				5		2	1										1
1965	Maranello Concessionaires Porsche	Ferrari 330P Porsche 904 Ferrari 365P2	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
							DNF		4th		3			DNF	DNF
1966	Chaparral Cars Porsche Jo Bonnier	Chaparral 2D Porsche 906	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
			DNF	DNF		DNF		1	DNF			DNF			5
1967	Autodelta	Alfa Romeo T33	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
							DNF
1968	Ecurie Bonnier	Lola T70	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
				DNF	6th					10	DNF
1969	Sportscars Unlimited Switzerland Scuderia Filipinetti	Lola T70	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	DNF	20th	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	2
1970	Ecurie Bonnier Scuderia Filipinetti	Lola T70 Ferrari 512S	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
					7th			10		DNF	10
1971	Scuderia Filipinetti	Ferrari 512M Lola T212	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			7th			8th	DNF		3
1972	Ecurie Bonnier	Lola T280 Lola T290	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				DNF	6th		DNF			6th	DNF

Quotes

• “The basis is a certain technical sensitivity. That feeling that almost automatically tells you whether you are treating a machine right or wrong, whether it is working 'well' or 'badly'. Then you also need a healthy amount of interest in technical things and thus also the necessary basic knowledge of what goes on under the hood and on the wheel suspensions. " (Joakim Bonnier, 1964)
• "Unworldliness and obsolescence have their origin in the way in which CSI seats are awarded." (Joakim Bonnier, 1965)

literature

• Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Erich Kahnt: 50 years of Formula 1. The winners. Heel, Königswinter 1999, ISBN 3-89365-615-4 , pp. 43-45.

Web links

Commons : Joakim Bonnier  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jo Bonnier at www.grandprix.com (English)