John Fitzpatrick (racing driver)

John Fitzpatrick 1972

John Fitzpatrick in the BMW 2800 CS at the 6-hour touring car race at the Nürburgring in 1972

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

Commons : John Fitzpatrick  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Career stages
• John Fitzpatrick at Racing Sports Cas