John Fitzpatrick (racing driver)
John Fitzpatrick (born June 9, 1943 in Birmingham ) is a former British racing driver. He was one of the most successful touring and sports car drivers from 1963 to 1983.
career
Fitzpatrick is the son of a manufacturer of refrigerated bodies for trucks. As a teenager, he later wanted to take over his parents' business, and he played golf until a complicated broken arm made a successful career in this sport seem hopeless.
John Fitzpatrick's motorsport career began when his father gave him a Mini 850 for his 17th birthday . He joined the Shenston Motor Club and initially competed in amateur rallies before the first circuit races followed in 1962. In 1963 he won the BRSCC 500 Club Championship, whereupon he received an invitation to test drives through the mediation of Mini Cooper works driver John Whitmore, which earned him a works contract with Cooper.
With the factory Mini-Cooper, Fitzpatrick came second in the British Saloon Car Championship in 1964. In 1965 he switched to Ford and started mainly successfully with a Ford Anglia , from 1968 Ford Escort , interrupted by occasional use in Ferrari racing cars and in the Porsche 911 . After various positions (including with Georg Loos and the American Dick Barbour), Fitzpatrick bought a Kremer Porsche 935 K3 in 1981 and founded his own team, which in the USA with two wins, a second and two third places and a fourth place was successful.
His greatest international successes include winning together with Hans Heyer and Rolf Stommelen in the 1972 6-hour race at the Nürburgring, a run for the European Touring Car Championship, with a Schnitzer - BMW 2800 CS , overall victory at the 1973 Salzburgring in the works Ford-Capri 2600 RS , overall victory at the 6 Hours of Silverstone 1976 in a Walkinshaw -BMW 3.5 CSL, fourth place in the overall standings and winning the IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) category in a Fitzpatrick-Porsche 935 LM the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1982 and overall victory in the 1000 km of Brands Hatch in 1983 in a Fitzpatrick Porsche 956 together with Derek Warwick .
After the Brands Hatch win, Fitzpatrick retired from racing as a driver. The decisive factor was probably the death of Rolf Stommelen, who had an accident on April 24, 1983 in a car belonging to the Fitzpatrick team. Until 1986, Fitzpatrick was still the team boss of John Fitzpatrick Racing, and even after that he remained connected to motorsport, including from 1992 to 2000 as Director and Club Secretary of the British Racing Driver Club.
statistics
Championship title
In the course of his 21 year career, Fitzpatrick has won the following championship titles:
- 1963 - BRSCC Champion (British Saloon Car Championship)
- 1964 - BRSCC Champion
- 1972 - European GT Champion and Porsche Cup winner
- 1974 - European GT Champion and Porsche Cup winner
- 1980 - IMSA series winner and Porsche Cup winner
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 911S | Erwin Kremer | Juan Carlos Bolaños | failure | crankshaft | ||
1973 | Ford Motor Works | Ford Capri RS | Dieter Glemser | Hans Heyer | failure | crankshaft | ||
1975 | Gelo Racing Team | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Gijs van Lennep | Toine Hezemans | M. Schurti | G. Loos | 5th place and class win | |
1976 | Hermetite Productions Ltd. | BMW 3.0 CSL | Tom Walkinshaw | failure | Wagon fire | |||
1977 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 935K2 | Guy Edwards | Nick Faure | failure | Engine failure | ||
1978 | Weisberg Gelo Racing | Porsche 935/77 | Klaus Ludwig | Toine Hezemans | failure | Cylinder head | ||
1979 | Gelo Racing Sportswear | Porsche 935 | Jean-Louis Lafosse | Harald Grohs | failure | Engine failure | ||
1980 | Dick Barbour Racing | Porsche 935K3 | Brian Redman | Dick Barbour | 5th place and class win | |||
1982 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 935 Moby Dick | David Hobbs | 4th place and class win | ||||
1983 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 956 | Guy Edwards | Rupert Keegan | Rank 5 |
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Libra International Racing | Ford Escort RS1600 | John Buffum | Rank 28 | |
1980 | Dick Barbour Racing | Porsche 935K3 | Dick Barbour | Overall victory | |
1981 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 935K3 / 80 | Jim Busby | failure | drive shaft |
1982 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 935K3 / 80 | David Hobbs | failure | accident |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | John Fitzpatrick | Mini cooper | DAY | SEB | TAR | MON | SPA | CON | ONLY | ROS | LEM | REI | FRE | CCE | RTT | SIM | ONLY | MON | TDF | BRI | BRI | PAR |
DNF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1967 | Abarth England Jeff Edmonds |
Abarth 1600 OT Ferrari 250LM |
DAY | SEB | MON | SPA | TAR | ONLY | LEM | HOK | MUG | BRH | CCE | ZEL | OVI | ONLY | ||||||
DNF | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||
1972 | Libra Racing Kremer Racing |
Ford Escort Porsche 911 |
BUA | DAY | SEB | BRH | MON | SPA | TAR | ONLY | LEM | ZEL | WAT | |||||||||
DNF | 28 | 8th | 9 | DNF | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
1973 | Kremer Racing Ford |
Porsche 911 Porsche Carrera RSR Ford Capri |
DAY | VAL | DIJ | MON | SPA | TAR | ONLY | LEM | ZEL | WAT | ||||||||||
6th | 10 | 12 | 14th | 6th | DNF | |||||||||||||||||
1974 | Gelo Racing | Porsche Carrera RSR | MON | SPA | ONLY | IMO | LEM | ZEL | WAT | LEC | BRH | KYA | ||||||||||
9 | 4th | 12 | DNF | 14th | 11 | 6th | ||||||||||||||||
1975 | Gelo Racing | Porsche Carrera RSR | DAY | MUG | DIJ | MON | SPA | BY | ONLY | ZEL | WAT | |||||||||||
9 | 5 | 6th | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
1976 | Hermetite BMW | BMW 3.0CSL | MUG | VAL | ONLY | MON | SIL | IMO | ONLY | ZEL | BY | WAT | MOS | DIJ | DIJ | SAL | ||||||
8th | 4th | 1 | 11 | 2 | DNF | 7th | ||||||||||||||||
1977 | BMW America Kremer Racing |
BMW 3.5 CSL Porsche 935 |
DAY | MUG | DIJ | MON | SIL | ONLY | VAL | BY | WAT | EST | LEC | MOS | IMO | SAL | BRH | HOK | VAL | |||
25th | DNF | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
1978 | Gelo Racing | Porsche 935 | DAY | SEB | MUG | VALLEY | DIJ | SIL | ONLY | LEM | MIS | DAY | WAT | VAL | ROD | |||||||
1 | 2 | 16 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
1979 | Gelo Racing | Porsche 935 | DAY | SEB | MUG | VALLEY | DIJ | RIV | SIL | ONLY | LEM | BY | DAY | WAT | SPA | BRH | ROA | VAL | ELS | |||
50 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | DNF | |||||||||||||||||
1980 | Barbour Racing Kremer Racing |
Porsche 935 | DAY | BRH | SEB | MUG | MON | RIV | SIL | ONLY | LEM | DAY | WAT | SPA | MOS | ROA | VAL | DIJ | ||||
29 | 1 | DNF | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
1981 | Kremer Racing Fitzpatrick Racing |
Porsche 935 | DAY | SEB | MUG | MON | RIV | SIL | ONLY | LEM | BY | DAY | WAT | SPA | MOS | ROA | BRH | |||||
DNF | DNF | 1 | 4th | 6th | 6th | |||||||||||||||||
1982 | Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 935 | MON | SIL | ONLY | LEM | SPA | MUG | FUJ | BRH | ||||||||||||
4th | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1983 | Fitzpatrick Racing | Porsche 956 | MON | SIL | ONLY | LEM | SPA | FUJ | KYA | |||||||||||||
5 | 8th | 6th | 5 | 3 |
Web links
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Fitzpatrick, John |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 9, 1943 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham |