Joakim "Jo" Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was a Swedish racing driver and team owner, who competed in Formula One from to . Bonnier won the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix with BRM.
Born and raised in Stockholm, Bonnier was the son of geneticist Gert Bonnier and born into the wealthy Bonnier family, the controlling family of the eponymous Bonnier Group. Bonnier competed in Formula One for Maserati, Scuderia Centro Sud, BRM, Porsche, Rob Walker Racing and Ecurie Bonnier, winning the with BRM to become the first Swedish Formula One Grand Prix winner and finishing eighth in the World Drivers' Championship that year.
Outside of Formula One, Bonnier entered 13 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from to , finishing runner-up in alongside Graham Hill, driving the Ferrari 330P. During the latter, Bonnier died when his Lola T280 collided with traffic and left him critically injured. Until his death, Bonnier had been the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.
Early life Bonnier was born in Stockholm, to the wealthy Bonnier family. His father, Gert, was a professor of genetics at Stockholm College, while many members of his extensive family were in the publishing business. He spoke six languages and, although his parents hoped that he would become a doctor, for a while it was his aspiration to enter the family publishing business. He attended Oxford University for a year, studying languages, then went to Paris, France, planning to learn about publishing.
First competition Bonnier began competitive racing in Sweden at the age of 17, on an old Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He returned home to Sweden in 1951 after his Paris trip, and later took part in several rallies as the proud owner of a Simca.Bonnier Seeks Grand Prix Win, Los Angeles Times, 9 October 1962, Page B2.
Formula One
Bonnier entered Formula One in , driving a Maserati. His racing career almost ended in September 1956 in a race at Imola. He debuted a 1500cc Maserati and moved up through the field following a bad start, passing Luigi Musso, and was gaining on leader Eugenio Castellotti at around two seconds per lap when he lost control after another car pulled directly into his path as they negotiated a fast corner. His Maserati struck a large rock at the edge of the road and catapulted. The other driver went underneath him as he turned over and over in the air and, while he was upside down, the crash helmet of his competitor made contact with his. Bonnier's Maserati landed on its side before skidding 75 feet and heading into a ditch, where it came to a stop against a pole. Bonnier was thrown out of the car and suffered concussion, several cracked ribs, and a broken vertebra. His car was completely written off.
Bonnier's greatest achievement in Formula One was taking victory for BRM in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, when the notoriously unreliable car worked well for once (Dan Gurney and Hans Herrmann had bad crashes after brake failures). He also won the 1960 German Grand Prix with a Porsche 718, a race held for Formula Two in preparation for the rule change of 1961. Bonnier was one of the driving forces behind the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. Despite his win for BRM, Bonnier did not drive for many works teams throughout his career, with only one-offs as a replacement driver for Lotus, Brabham and Honda. After his debut in a works Maserati, he then drove for his own Joakim Bonnier Racing Team and for Mimmo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud in the late 50s, before finding a spot in the BRM and Porsche teams.
After Porsche quit Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1962 season, Bonnier switched to Rob Walker Racing Team, the only privateer to have scored wins in World Championship events, where he drove Coopers and Brabhams, scoring few points.
In 1966, Bonnier reformed his own team as Anglo-Suisse Racing Team (later to be renamed Ecurie Bonnier), but his interest in Formula One gradually diminished. His last full season was 1968, in which he traded his old Cooper T86 for an old McLaren. He raced occasionally in Formula One until 1971. In 1966, along with American racing drivers Phil Hill, Richie Ginther and Carroll Shelby, he was racing advisor to the 1966 motor racing epic Grand Prix starring James Garner. All the aforementioned (including Garner, who did all his own driving) were employed as drivers for the racing scenes. While filming the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix at the notorious and extremely fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Bonnier, along with more than half the field including Jackie Stewart, Bob Bondurant, Graham Hill and Denny Hulme, crashed out on the first lap of the race. According to Phil Hill, Bonnier went through an upstairs window at a house next to the track and could not take part in the later filming on the circuit.
Sports car racer
Alongside Formula One, Bonnier also took part in many sports car races. He won the 1960 Targa Florio, co-driving a works Porsche 718 with Hans Herrmann, and in 1962 took a Ferrari 250 TRI entered by Count Giovanni Volpi to top honours in the 12 Hours of Sebring, sharing the car with Lucien Bianchi. In 1963, he was once again winner at the Targa Florio, with Carlo Mario Abate in another works Porsche 718.
1964 was Bonnier's best year in sports car racing, where he co-drove a Ferrari P entered by Maranello Concessionaires with Graham Hill, taking a 330P to second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to a win at Montlhéry, while a 12-hour race in Reims also gave him a first place in a 250LM. He then won the 1000km Nürburgring in a Chaparral in 1966 (with Phil Hill), his last win in a major sports car event, but still managed to snatch victories in the minor 1000 km of Barcelona at Montjuïc in 1971 (with Ronnie Peterson), and the 4 Hours of Le Mans in 1972 (with Hughes de Fierlant).
Bonnier purchased a McLaren M6B to campaign in the 1968 Can-Am series. In the first outing at the Karlskoga Sweden GP, Bonnier had the pole but an off course excursion on the first lap caused him to finish second to David Piper in a Ferrari 330P3/4. He then ran his McLaren in five of the six Can-Am races with his best finish an eighth at Las Vegas.1968 Can-Am Stardust Grand Prix, Las Vegas He was plagued with mechanical problems most of the season. However, he finished third in the M6B at the Mt Fuji 200-mile race.1968 Fuji 200 World Challenge Cup
In 1970, Bonnier drove a Lola T210 to victory in the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship, securing the drivers title at the end of the season with 48 points.
Other ventures Team managements
By the early seventies, Bonnier had taken to managing his team, entering several cars in World Sportscar Championship events, and taking a backseat to driving.
Safety advocacy Bonnier had also taken a lead in the fight for track safety, which had started around that time.
Death Bonnier was killed in a crash during the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the straight between Mulsanne Corner and Indianapolis, his open-top Lola T280-Cosworth collided with a Ferrari Daytona driven by a Swiss amateur driver Florian Vetsch. His car was catapulted over the Armco barriers and into the trees next to the track and he was killed instantly. According to Vic Elford, who was driving a factory-entered Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 and who had stopped to assist Vetsch escape from his burning Ferrari, the last he had seen of Bonnier's Lola was that it was "spinning into the air like a helicopter".
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts 1956 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA NC 0 1957 Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG PES ITA NC 0 Jo Bonnier MONDNA 500 FRA GBR GER 1958 Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARGDNA GER 20th 3 Jo Bonnier MON NED 500 BEL GBR POR Giorgio Scarlatti FRA Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 ITA MOR 1959 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA 8th 10 1960 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 ARG 18th 4 BRM P48 MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA 1961 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 787 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 MON NED 15th 3 Porsche 718 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA 1962 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 804 Porsche 753 1.5 F8 NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA RSA 15th 3 Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 MON 1963 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Cooper T60 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON BEL NED FRA 11th 6 Cooper T66 GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA 1964 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Cooper T66 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON 15th 3 Brabham BT11 BRM P56 1.5 V8 NED BEL FRA GBR GER Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 AUT ITA USA MEX 1965 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 1966 Anglo-Suisse Racing Team Cooper T81 Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 MON BEL NED GER ITA USA MEX 17th 1 Brabham BT22 Climax FPF 2.8 L4 FRA Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 GBR 1967 Joakim Bonnier Racing Team Cooper T81 Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX 15th 3 1968 Joakim Bonnier Racing Team Cooper T81 Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 RSA 22nd 3 McLaren M5A BRM P101 3.0 V12 ESPDNA MON BEL NED FRA GBR GERDNA ITA CAN USA Honda RA301 Honda RA301E 3.0 V12 MEX 1969 Ecurie Bonnier Lotus 63 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR NC 0 Lotus 49B GER ITA CAN USA MEX 1970 Ecurie Bonnier McLaren M7C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0 1971 Ecurie Bonnier McLaren M7C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0 Notes – Bonnier was 6th at 1967 German Grand Prix but he was given points for the 5th place because F2-drivers who competed in the same race were ineligible to score points.
Complete Formula One non-championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1957 Jo Bonnier Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 SYR PAU GLV NAP RMS CAE Scuderia Centro Sud INT Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 MOD MOR 1958 Jo Bonnier Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 GLV SYR AIN INT CAE 1959 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 GLV AIN INT OUL SIL 1960 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 GLV BRM P48 INT SIL LOM OUL 1961 Scuderia Colonia Lotus 18 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 LOM GLV PAU VIE AIN Porsche System Engineering Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 BRX SYR NAP LON SOL KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA UDT-Laystall Racing Lotus 18/21 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 SIL 1962 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 CAP Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS Porsche System Engineering Porsche 804 Porsche 753 1.5 F8 SOL KAN MED DAN MEX RAN NAT R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Lotus 24 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 OUL 1963 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Cooper T60 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 LOM GLV PAU IMO INT ROM SOL MED AUT Lotus 24 SYR AIN Cooper T66KAN OUL RAN 1964 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Cooper T66 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT Brabham BT11 BRM P56 1.5 V8 SOL MED RAN 1965 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 ROC SYR SMT INT MED Lotus 25 RAN 1966 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RSA Brabham BT11 BRM P60 2.0 V8 SYR Anglo-Suisse Racing Team Cooper T81 Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 INT OUL 1967 Joakim Bonnier Racing Team Cooper T81 Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12 ROC SPR INT SYR OUL ESP 1968 Joakim Bonnier Racing Team McLaren M5A BRM P101 3.0 V12 ROC INT OUL 1969 Ecurie Bonnier Lotus 49B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC INT MAD OUL 1971 Ecurie Bonnier Lola T190 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE SPR INT RIN OUL VIC
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results