Josef Král
| Josef Král | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Czech |
| Born |
June 15, 1990 Dvůr Králové (Czech Rep.) |
| GP2 Series career | |
| Debut season | 2010 |
| Current team | Barwa Addax Team |
| Car no. | 2 |
| Former teams | Super Nova Racing |
| Starts | 44 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 15th in 2011 |
| Previous series | |
| 2009–10–2011 2008–09 2007–08 2007 2006–07 2005 |
GP2 Asia Series International Formula Master A1 Grand Prix Formula BMW UK Formula BMW ADAC Czech Formula 1400 |
Josef Král (born June 15, 1990 in Dvůr Králové nad Labem) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic.
Career
Karting & early career
Král began his motorsport career in karting back in 1998, and during the following seven years he achieved notable success, winning the Czech Republic ICA Junior title in 2003 and the Czech ICA 100 Championship the following year, as well as numerous other titles.
In 2005, Král made his Formula Racing debut, finishing third in the Czech Formula 1400 series.
Formula BMW
In 2006, Král made the step up to Formula BMW, competing in the German ADAC series. Driving for Micánek Motorsport, he scored forty points during the year to be classified in twelfth place. At the end of the year, Král switched to Josef Kaufmann Racing to contest the Formula BMW World Final, held in Valencia. He originally finished as runner-up to team-mate Christian Vietoris, but was subsequently disqualified from the race.[1]
Král continued in Formula BMW for 2007, this time switching to the UK series with Räikkönen Robertson Racing. He scored a total of thirteen podium places in eighteen races, including six wins, to finish as runner-up to Swede Marcus Ericsson. He also took part in two Formula BMW ADAC races, taking a single podium position.
Král once again took part in the end-of-season Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, this time driving for Mücke Motorsport. Again, he finished second on the road behind team-mate Philipp Eng, but was disqualified for a technical infringement.[2]
A1 Grand Prix
In February 2008, Král made his debut for A1 Team Czech Republic in the South African round of the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season.[3] After qualifying towards the back of the grid for both races, he finished eighteenth in the sprint race before retiring from the feature event.
International Formula Master
In 2008, Král joined Team JVA to contest the International Formula Master series. He finished the season in sixth place, taking three podium places, including a debut win at Oschersleben.[4]
He remained in the championship for 2009, this time switching to Italian team JD Motorsport.[5] After taking podium places in Valencia, Brno and Brands Hatch, Král won his first race of the season at the Hungaroring, which acted as a support race for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.[6] He added another win at Oschersleben en route to third in the championship.
GP2 Series
In October 2009, Král made his debut in a GP2 car, testing for both Ocean Racing Technology and Piquet GP at Jerez in Spain. Later the same month, he signed with British team Super Nova Racing to contest the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season.[7] This relationship continued into the main series in 2010, when Král teamed up with his former Formula BMW rival Ericsson.[8] During the sprint race at Valencia, Král's car was launched into the air after he collided with Rodolfo González, before landing heavily and hitting the tyre barriers. Král sustained two fractured vertebrae as a result, and was replaced by Luca Filippi until he recovered. After missing ten races, Král returned to action at the final round of the championship, where he scored his first series points.
Král moved to the Arden International team for 2011, partnered by 2010 Formula Two runner-up Jolyon Palmer.[9] He finished tenth in the Asia series. In the main series, he scored his first podium in the Monaco sprint race. Another podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps saw him improve to 15th place in the championship. He moved to reigning teams' champion, Addax, for the 2012 season, alongside Johnny Cecotto, but was replaced by Dani Clos after the first round of the championship.[10] He then returned to the seat for the fourth round of the series.[11] After a run of pointless weekends, he took his first series victory in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, only to be dropped for the following round of the championship in favour of Jake Rosenzweig.[12] He finished 17th in the championship.
He will return for the 2015 season, partnering Arthur Pic at Campos Racing.
Formula One
Král tested a Formula One car for the first time at the 2010 season-ending "young drivers" test in Abu Dhabi, with Hispania Racing.[13]
Král revealed in June 2013 that he had a contract in place to race in the 2013 Formula 1 championship with HRT F1, but the team closed down at the end of 2012.[14]
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Czech Formula 1400 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 3rd |
| 2006 | Formula BMW ADAC | Micánek Motorsport | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 12th |
| 2007 | Formula BMW UK | Räikkönen Robertson Racing | 18 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 636 | 2nd |
| Formula BMW ADAC | ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 25th | |
| 2007–08 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 19th |
| 2008 | International Formula Master | Team JVA | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 6th |
| 2009 | International Formula Master | JD Motorsport | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 62 | 3rd |
| 2009–10 | GP2 Asia Series | Super Nova Racing | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11th |
| 2010 | GP2 Series | Super Nova Racing | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24th |
| 2011 | GP2 Series | Arden International | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 15th |
| GP2 Asia Series | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10th | ||
| GP2 Final | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16th | ||
| 2012 | GP2 Series | Barwa Addax Team | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 17th |
* Season in progress.
Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Super Nova Racing | ESP FEA 12 |
ESP SPR 19 |
MON FEA 13 |
MON SPR 8 |
TUR FEA 15 |
TUR SPR 14 |
VAL FEA Ret |
VAL SPR Ret |
GBR FEA |
GBR SPR |
GER FEA |
GER SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
BEL FEA |
BEL SPR |
ITA FEA |
ITA SPR |
ABU FEA 8 |
ABU SPR 5 |
24th | 3 | ||||
| 2011 | Arden International | TUR FEA 13 |
TUR SPR 6 |
ESP FEA 9 |
ESP SPR 21 |
MON FEA 6 |
MON SPR 2 |
VAL FEA 8 |
VAL SPR Ret |
GBR FEA 23 |
GBR SPR 20 |
GER FEA 18 |
GER SPR 11 |
HUN FEA 9 |
HUN SPR 17 |
BEL FEA 8 |
BEL SPR 3 |
ITA FEA Ret |
ITA SPR 17 |
15th | 15 | ||||||
| 2012 | Barwa Addax Team | MYS FEA 14 |
MYS SPR 9 |
BHR1 FEA |
BHR1 SPR |
BHR2 FEA |
BHR2 SPR |
ESP FEA 20 |
ESP SPR 16 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 10 |
VAL FEA DSQ |
VAL SPR 11 |
GBR FEA 16 |
GBR SPR 10 |
GER FEA 12 |
GER SPR 13 |
HUN FEA 24 |
HUN SPR 17 |
BEL FEA 4 |
BEL SPR 1 |
ITA FEA |
ITA SPR |
SGP FEA |
SGP SPR |
17th | 27 |
Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Super Nova Racing | ABU1 FEA 5 |
ABU1 SPR 3 |
ABU2 FEA 9 |
ABU2 SPR Ret |
BHR1 FEA 21 |
BHR1 SPR 11 |
BHR2 FEA 16 |
BHR2 SPR 10 |
11th | 8 |
| 2011 | Arden International | ABU FEA 6 |
ABU SPR 2 |
ITA FEA 13 |
ITA SPR 9 |
10th | 8 |
References
- ↑ "DELL Formula BMW World Final 2006 – Race". press.bmw-motorsport.com. 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ↑ "Formula BMW World Final 2007 – Eng wins Formula BMW World Final and a Formula 1 drive.". press.bmw-motorsport.com. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ↑ "Youngster in for Czech Republic". a1gp.com. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ↑ "International Formula Master 2008". driverdb.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
- ↑ "Kral joins JD Motorsport for 2009 season". f1sa.com. 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
- ↑ "IFM: Series Hungaroring race one report". motorsport.com. 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
- ↑ "Super Nova signs Kral for GP2 Asia". crash.net (Crash Media Group). 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ↑ English, Steven (2010-01-14). "Super Nova signs Ericsson, Kral". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2010-01-14.
- ↑ "Kral and Palmer join Arden for 2011 GP2 season". gp2series.com (GP2 Series). 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
- ↑ "Clos to replace Kral at Addax for GP2 Series's race in Bahrain". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
- ↑ Mallett, Thomas (2012-05-10). "Guerin replaces Hartley at Ocean Racing for Barcelona's GP2 race". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2012-05-15.
- ↑ Freeman, Glenn (2012-09-06). "Jake Rosenzweig replaces Josef Kral at Addax for Monza". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 2012-09-10.
- ↑ English, Steven (15 November 2010). "Valsecchi, Kral to test for Hispania". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ↑ "Josef Kral tenía un contrato con HRT sobre la mesa para esta temporada". motorpasionf1.com (in Spanish) (Motor Pasion F1). 30 June 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
External links
- Official website
- Josef Král on Twitter
- Josef Král career summary at DriverDB.com