Ralph Firman

Ralph Firman

Nation:	Ireland
Formula 1 world championship
First start:	2003 Australian Grand Prix
Last start:	2003 Japanese Grand Prix
Constructors
2003  Jordan
statistics
World Cup balance:	WM-19. ( 2003 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 14th - - -
World Cup points :	1
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Ralph David Firman (born May 20, 1975 in Norwich , England ) is an Irish - British racing driver . Among other things, he started in the Formula 1 World Championship in 2003 .

Life

Ralph Firman in the 1995 British Formula 3 Championship

Firman in Jordan 2003

Ralph Firman in the Super GT 2010

Ralph Firman is the son of Ralph Firman Sr., the co-founder of the British racing car manufacturer Van Diemen International . Firman attended Gresham's School in Norfolk . Although originally from the United Kingdom , he competed in motorsport most of the time with an Irish license.

He began his motorsport career in karting. In 1993 he won the British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship and the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award . The next year he joined the Formula Vauxhall Lotus to before 1995 in the 3 Championship Formula British changed. In his second season in the British Formula 3 Championship in 1996 he was able to win the title. He also won the Macau Grand Prix . The following year he switched to Formula Nippon , where he also won the championship in 2002 . At the same time, he also competed in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002 ; his best result in this racing series was second in 2002.

Then Firman started in the 2003 season in Formula 1 for Jordan as a teammate of Giancarlo Fisichella . His best result was eighth in the Spanish Grand Prix . With that he reached a world championship point. After a serious training accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix caused by a broken rear wing , which he survived with a minor injury, he was unable to compete in the race and also had to pause at the Italian Grand Prix . Zsolt Baumgartner represented him in both races. Firman completed a total of 14 races and finished nineteenth in the drivers' championship. After only one year he left Formula 1 because his contract was not renewed.

The following year he competed for Racing for Holland on a Dome S101 together with Justin Wilson and Tom Coronel at the 24 Hours of Le Mans , but retired due to technical problems. He also contested two races in the World Series by Nissan this year . From 2005 to 2013 he drove for the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in the Super GT and won the championship in the GT500 class there in 2007 on a Honda NSX together with his teammate Daisuke Itō . In the 2005/06 season and again in the 2007/08 season he also drove for A1 Team Ireland in the A1GP series.

After the 2013 season, Firman ended his motorsport career. He now runs a metalworking company near Snetterton . However, he has his residence in Monaco .

statistics

Statistics in the Formula 1 World Championship

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
2003	Jordan Ford	Jordan EJ13	Ford 3.0 V10	14th	-	-	-	-	-	1	19th
total				14th	-	-	-	-	-	1

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16
2003
	DNF	10	DNF	DNF	8th	11	12	DNF	11	15th	13	DNF	DNS		DNF	14th

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
2004	Racing for Holland	Dome S101	Justin Wilson	Tom Coronel	failure	ignition

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 4rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2005, ISBN 1-902007-46-8

Web links

Commons : Ralph Firman  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Ralph Firman at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Ralph Firman , motorsportmagazine.com; Accessed April 27, 2020
2. ^ British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship :: Overview , motorsport-archive.com; Accessed April 27, 2020
3. ↑ PURE PRECISION ENGINEERING LTD. , companieshouse.gov.uk; Accessed April 27, 2020