34 Facts About Stefan Johansson

Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson was born on 8 September 1956 and is a Swedish former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One between 1980 and 1991.

In endurance racing, Johansson won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997 with Joest.

Stefan Johansson was dropped by Onyx after the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix, making further appearances for AGS and Footwork in 1991 before leaving Formula One, having achieved 12 podiums.

Stefan Johansson competed in the IndyCar World Series from 1992 to 1996, both seasons of Grand Prix Masters, and the inaugural season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson was born on 8 September 1956 in Vaxjo, Sweden.

Stefan Johansson began his career in kart racing, where he won the Swedish Championship in 1973.

Stefan Johansson then progressed to Formula Ford, winning the Swedish title in both 1977 and 1979.

Stefan Johansson competed in the British Formula Three Championship from 1978 to 1980, winning the series in his final year, driving for future McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis' Project Four team.

Stefan Johansson failed to qualify for the race and the next race in Brazil and he was not seen in Formula One again until 1983, after spending 1982 in the European Formula Two Championship with Spirit Racing, where he finished eighth overall, his best finish being third at Mugello in Italy.

Stefan Johansson moved up to seventh place before pulling into the pits with another engine failure.

Spirit continued to test and develop the 201C and Stefan Johansson re-entered Formula One at the 1983 British Grand Prix at Silverstone where he qualified the car in a credible 14th position.

Stefan Johansson raced in a further five Grands Prix in 1983, with a best finish of seventh in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Stefan Johansson was replaced at Spirit by Mauro Baldi for the 1984 season when the team lost its Honda engines to Williams and he didn't race until he joined Tyrrell in Round 10 of the championship, the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, as a replacement for the injured Martin Brundle.

Stefan Johansson then went on to drive for Toleman for the last few Grands Prix of the season in place of the injured Johnny Cecotto, finishing fourth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Stefan Johansson signed a contract with Toleman for 1985 but it fell through when Toleman failed to secure a tyre agreement.

Stefan Johansson finished fifth in the 1986 Drivers' Championship, his best-ever position, while Alboreto, who finished second in 1985, could only manage ninth place.

Stefan Johansson was replaced at Ferrari by Austrian Gerhard Berger for 1987 and he moved to McLaren as number two driver behind double and reigning World Champion Alain Prost.

Stefan Johansson famously finished the 1987 German Grand Prix on three wheels having had a puncture on the last lap.

Stefan Johansson finished second behind Prost in Belgium and added further podium finishes in Brazil, Spain and Japan.

Stefan Johansson did return to McLaren in a test-driver capacity in 1990, testing the Honda V12 engine at Suzuka in Japan and helping with the development of a paddle shifter and a new gearbox.

Unfortunately for Stefan Johansson, he failed to come to grips with the JS31, recording six non-qualifications during the season.

Stefan Johansson did record the car's two best finishes of the year though, ninth placings in the opening race of the season in Brazil and the last race in Australia.

The car was temperamental and didn't always qualify, but Stefan Johansson finished a surprise and popular third in Portugal for his last podium finish.

Stefan Johansson fell out with new team owner Peter Monteverdi in early 1990 and was duly sacked, making further appearances for AGS and Footwork in 1991.

Later in 1997 Stefan Johansson won at Le Mans where he drove a TWR-Porsche WSC-95 for Joest Racing alongside his Ferrari F1 teammate of 1985 and 1986 Michele Alboreto, and young Dane Tom Kristensen.

In 1997, Stefan Johansson founded a successful Indy Lights team running Fredrik Larsson and Jeff Ward; in 1998 its drivers were Guy Smith and Luiz Garcia Jr.

In 2001, Stefan Johansson campaigned an Audi R8 prototype with backing from Gulf Oil and the assistance of Mike Earle's Arena team.

Stefan Johansson's co-driver was ex Formula One driver Johnny Herbert and they competed in the American Le Mans Series.

In 2006 as well as the Grand Prix Masters series, Stefan Johansson has made occasional appearances in Grand-Am for the Cheever and CITGO teams, and has continued an association with the works Zytek team in the Le Mans Series.

Stefan Johansson was due to race a Zytek at Le Mans in 2007, but the team could not rebuild the car in time after a test-day accident, and Johansson made a last minute deal to drive a works Courage.

Stefan Johansson took part in the inaugural Speedcar Series in 2008, where luck deserted him as the victim of a lot of other drivers' accidents.

For 2008 Stefan Johansson did not have a full-time sports car drive, but had some outings planned in the Highcroft Acura ARX-01 in the ALMS and a place with the Epsilon Euskadi team at Le Mans.

Stefan Johansson is the manager of several racing drivers, including New Zealander Scott Dixon, fellow Swede Felix Rosenqvist, Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo, Romain Grosjean and Ed Jones.

Stefan Johansson was the inspiration for the song "Speedway at Nazareth" by Mark Knopfler.