| Nationality | British |
|---|---|
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Participating years | 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006–2008, 2011 |
| Teams | Skea Racing International, Ecurie Ecosse, RML, Risi Competizione, Creation Autosportif, Lotus Jetalliance |
| Best finish | 2nd GT Class 2000 |
Johnny Mowlem (born 12 February 1969, is a British racing driver. He has won class victories in both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, and has earned class podiums at major sports car races, including the Le Mans 24 hours and the 1000 km Nürburgring. He has also achieved overall podium finishes at the Daytona 24 hours (2003/2004) as well as at the Petit Le Mans. Mowlem gained international attention as the primary driver of the hybrid-powered Ginetta Zytek prototype racer in the ALMS in 2008 and 2009. Mowlem operates his own driving academy, working with both corporate clients and drivers wishing for a career in racing. Mowlem currently competes in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).[1]
Mowlem’s career has been followed in his home country through a series of television programs on Sky Sports, which has followed him for the last 9 years and provides viewers with an unparalleled opportunity for behind-the-scenes access to the sport.
Mowlem will drive for Lotus in 2011.
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Mowlem, who was born in London, was raised in Majorca, Spain from the age of one until he was seventeen years old. He attend Leeds University where he achieved a joint Honors BA degree in Spanish and Economics. Along with his wife, Fiona, he has two children; a son named Reece and a daughter, Sereina.
Mowlem has a tremendous fitness ethic. He took part in the London Marathon, completing the distance, as part of a charity fundraiser by the British Racing Drivers Club in 2010. The BRDC effort raised eighty thousand pounds. Mowlem's effort was all the more remarkable as his training was limited by a torn achilles tendon suffered three months earlier. Mowlem was hurt while playing soccer.
Mowlem started his racing career in 1990, at age 19, when he competed in Formula Ford 1600 at Brands Hatch. He raced for Jackie Stewart’s Staircase of Talent team in the British Formula Vauxhall Lotus class before moving up to the British Formula 3 championship in 1995, winning four national victories.
Mowlem then switched to sports cars in 1996, racing in the British Porsche Cup in 1996 and 1997, winning the class 1 championship in 1996 and then generated his first major media attention in 1997 by winning all 17 races to become British champion for the second time. He earned the pole position for 14 of the 17 events. Winning this championship by remaining un-defeated throughout an entire season earned him international recognition and the Gregor Grant Award for outstanding achievement in motorsport at the International Autosport Awards.
In the 1998 season, Johnny Mowlem along with co-driver David Murry competed in the GT class in the ALMS finished first in the GT class at Laguna Seca Raceway.
Mowlem also finished second in the GT class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1999. The 2000 season included second place class finishes in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[2] By then Mowlem was a full time competitor in the North American-based ALMS while living in the UK. In 2001, Mowlem continued his ALMS career. He drove with a number of co-drivers in the GT and GT1 class. He posted the fastest lap by a GT1 car during the Le Mans race.
Mowlem partnered with Randy Pobst to finish second in the GT class at Le Mans in 2002. He partnered with international stars Tony Stewart and Jan Lammers to drive a factory Crawford race car in the Daytona Prototype category at Daytona. An engine failure stopped the trio after 15 hours.
In 2003 Mowlem continued to compete in the United States, earning a second place in GT and second overall at the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours, as well as victory at the ALMS round held at Road America.
Mowlem won the GT class and again finished second overall at Daytona in 2004, driving with Robin Liddell, Mike Fitzgerald and Jay and Joe Policastro.
Mowlem finished third in the ALMS GT1 drivers’ championship in 2004 and 2005. He also competed in several Rolex Sports Car Series events in the United States during those seasons and, including trips for testing sessions, crossed the Atlantic Ocean about 100 times during those two years.
Mowlem won the 2005 UK Reading Sports Personality of the Year, an honour reserved for the top sports performers in his region. Mowlem showed his adaptability during the 2006 season, racing an Aston Martin DBRS9 for Autosport Design Racing in the SPEED World Challenge GT series as well as competing in the International GT Open series in a Porsche and in two different classes in the ALMS. The latter led to one of the highlights of his career. Racing in the ALMS, Mowlem won the GT2 class at Mosport in a Ferrari, and then drove for the factory Zytek team in the LMP1 class in the last two races of the season. Teamed with former Formula One driver Stefan Johansson and Japanese Haruki Kurosawa, Mowlem finished second overall in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and nearly won the season finale from pole position, again with Johansson, at the newly renamed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
In 2007 Mowlem continued his strong association with Ferrari, racing a 430 in the GT2 class for the Pirelli factory GPC Ferrari team in the Le Mans Series as well as the International GT Open championship. He also drove for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team as their third driver alongside Mika Salo and Jaime Melo in the longer endurance races. This driver combination brought Ferrari a class victory in the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring, with the closest margin of victory in the history of the championship, two tenths of a second. That victory margin added to Mowlem’s closest finish in Daytona 24 Hours history in 2004, where he finished 6.7 seconds ahead of Mike Rockenfeller after 24 hours of racing. At Le Mans in 2007, Salo/Melo/Mowlem were leading their class by 3 laps when Melo had an accident, spinning on an oil slick seventeen hours in the event.
Mowlem joined Corsa Motorsports for the 2008 ALMS season, racing a Ferrari in the GT2 class. Late in the season, the team started an new venture in conjunction with Zytek. Mowlem's continuing association with the Zytek team resulted in a joint effort to race a hybrid-powered car in the P1 class in ALMS. The Ginetta-Zytek 09SH hybrid car debuted in 2009. The car, was powered by a hybrid power plant. It combined an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The effort made history when Mowlem qualified the car third and finished third in the P1 class in a race at Lime Rock Park. Mowlem did much of the test driving during the extensive development process conducted by Zytek.[3]
In 2010 the hybrid program was put on hold but Mowlem has continued his career in ALMS securing drives in the LMPC at Long Beach and Laguna Seca and at Road America and Mosport in a LMP1 Lola driving for AutoCon. Mowlem put the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car on the LMP Challenge class pole with a lap averaging 103.558 mph. He started seventh overall in a field of 36 cars.[4]
Mowlem has signed with Lotus to drive race cars for the famed car maker. He will also be the primary test driver for the company's development program. He said, "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Many of the great drivers in racing history have been associated with Lotus at one time or another. Now I'm one of them."
| Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Co-Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | GT | 82 | P | Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 |
Skea Racing International | David Murry Sascha Maassen |
304 | 17th | 2nd |
| 2001 | GTS | 62 | D | Saleen S7-R Ford 7.0L V8 |
Ecurie Ecosse Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML) |
Ian McKellar Bruno Lambert |
175 | DNF | DNF |
| 2003 | GT | 95 | Y | Ferrari 360 Modena GTC Ferrari F133 3.6L V8 |
Risi Competizione | Shane Lewis Butch Leitzinger |
138 | DNF | DNF |
| 2006 | GT1 | 66 | M | Saleen S7-R Ford 7.0L V8 |
ACEMCO Motorsports | Terry Borcheller Christian Fittipaldi |
337 | 11th | 6th |
| 2007 | GT2 | 97 | M | Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0L V8 |
Risi Competizione | Mika Salo Jaime Melo |
223 | DNF | DNF |
| 2008 | LMP1 | 14 | D | Creation CA07 AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5L V10 |
Creation Autosportif | Stuart Hall Marc Goossens |
316 | 24th | 11th |
| 2011 | GTE Pro |
65 | M | Lotus Evora GTE Toyota (Cosworth) 4.0L V6 |
Lotus Jetalliance | Jonathan Hirschi James Rossiter |
295 | 22nd | 7th |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dale Earnhardt Jabby Crombac |
Gregor Grant Award - Autosport Awards 1997 |
Succeeded by Lord March Klaus Ludwig Alex Zanardi |