Jack Christopherson
This is the canon ASMF character. For the 18MMF non-canon career, see Jack Christopherson (non-canon).
Jack Christopherson (born January 2, 1968) is a former racing driver born in Birmingham, England. He competed in Formula 3000 for Eddie Jordan Racing in 1988, coming 2nd in the championship. He is also a multiple winner of the non-chamionship F1RWRS Indianapolis World 800 in both 2013 and 2014, plus the winner of F1RICS' 2016 USA 500.
Early Career
Christopherson first rosed to prominence in British Formula 3 with Eddie Jordan Racing, where he jockeyed for success with fellow Brit Johnny Herbert. Having narrowly edged Herbert for the championship title in 1987, he moved up to Formula 3000 with the Irish squad, while rival Herbert moved to Madgwick International.
Formula 3000
Despite his inexperience at the second-highest rung of motorsport going into the 1988 season, he was immediately on the pace, storming to victory in the opening race of the season at Jerez. He followed this up during the course of the season with second places at Pau and Pergusa, and finished the year with a third place at Dijon-Prenois. However, five retirements during the course of the year hindered his progress, including at Monza where he scored both pole and fastest lap. In total, he scored two pole positions (Jerez, Monza) and three fastest laps (Imola, Pau, Monza), but it was not enough to fend off another former F3 rival, Martin Donnelly, whose winning streak was impossible to suppress. He ended the year with 31 points, giving him 2nd in the championship.
Formula One
1989-1991: AGS
Christopherson made his Formula One debut in 1989, driving for the tiny AGS team alongside his former Eddie Jordan Racing teammate Olivier Grouillard. Christopherson opened the season showing strong pace, and was quickly rewarded by a 7th place finish in the San Marino Grand Pix. Crippling reliability issues meant that despite further finishes would be hard to come by, nevertheless Christopherson scored his first ever point at the United States Grand Prix, taking sixth place in a race beset with attrition. This would prove to be his only points haul of the season, with his best finish in the latter half of the season being another 7th place finish in the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The following season, Christopherson remained with the French outfit when no better offers came calling - this time joined by Formula 3000 graduate Fabrizio Giovanardi. Christopherson and AGS struggled in the initial stages of the season, dropping into pre-qualifying after a series of DNFs.
Christopherson continued for a third year with the team and was in dire straights for much of the year - barring a single start at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
1991-199x: Williams
Christopherson's heroics in dragging a frankly abysmal car onto the grid in Hungary caught the attention of Williams - who saw fit to bring him into the team to replace the poorly-performing Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler following that race. Two races later in Italy, Christopherson scored a career best result of fourth - which cemented his place at the Grove-base team for the near future at least.
The team kept him on in 1992, where he could finally make his mark in the all-conquering FW14B. He would take his first victory at the second round of the season in Mexico and would frequently appear on the podium throughout the season. Despite this he was a clear number two driver behind teammate Prost and was the runners-up in that year's championship.
1998-1999: Jordan
By 1998, Christopherson was driving for the Jordan team alongside German driver Ralf Schumacher. Jordan at this point were a consistant midfield team battling for the 'best of the rest' honours with Williams and Benetton Arrows. Christopherson scored two podiums in this season, his best being a second place finish at the Portuguese Grand Prix - enough for seventh in the standings.
The following year saw a marked improvement for Jordan, with Christopherson and new teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen able to fight for wins all season. Christopherson finished on the podium seven times in 1999, including a win in the Austrian Grand Prix. Christopherson finished the year in fifth place - with Jordan finishing the season in a best-ever second place in the constructor's standings.
2000-2001: McLaren
Christopherson's consistent year, coupled with a volatile James Davies falling out with McLaren management saw Christopherson move to Woking in a straight swap with Davies. Despite having a strong package, Christopherson could not beat Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari - finishing the 2000 season in a distant second place despite winning races in Monaco, Belgium and the USA.
Christopherson stayed for a second season but the car had slumped behind Williams as well as Ferrari now - with Christopherson only able to get the single win all season in San Marino.
2002: Jordan testing
James James Davies's return to McLaren meant Christopherson was out of a race drive for 2002 which meant he'd take up the reserve role for Jordan Grand Prix. He was not called upon. During his absence from the Formula One grid, Christopherson found time to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the MG Sport and Racing LMP675 team alongside Mark Blundell and Julian Bailey. His car would retire after 219 laps.
F1RWRS
Jones Racing (2013-2015)
After many years on the racing sidelines, Christopherson was signed on as a guest driver for Jones Racing to participate in the Budweiser 500, run by another former F1 driver in the form of Sammy Jones. Christopherson wasn't in contention for a full time drive at Jones Racing next year as the team has just completed a deal with Daniel Melrose. Despite that Christopherson did well against competitors that were many years younger than himself and having never drove the car before. Christopherson qualified 11th on the grid for the race before a fantastic drive on race day meant he became the first winner of the Dan Wheldon Memorial trophy after leading the last 50 laps when the Foxdale cars hit problems.
Foxdale (2014)
The win immediately put the Brit on the map for several drives up and down the grid despite facing the potential of being the oldest driver on the grid with the retirement of Chris Dagnall. While Jones Racing had a test contract with Christopherson for 2014, he was free to drive for another team for the foreseeable future unless Jones took out his option on him for 2014. After much debate, Christopherson eventually signed on for Foxdale, the very team he beat for the Bud 500 win a few months before. Foxdale entered the season as one of the championship favourites with a new Renault engine replacing the old Hart engine which game the team so many problems in 2013. However it soon became evident that the car, whilst more reliable, was nowhere near the blistering pace being set by DGNgineering and MRT up front. As a result Christopherson struggled for pace, suffering numerous mechanical failures, and only finished one race before being fired by Foxdale mid-way through the year, following the British Grand Prix. His only race finish was ninth in Mexico.
Christopherson returned to his role as Jones Racing's test driver, and was credited by Jones himself for helping drive development forward on the CJR-103 car as the team finished fifth overall in the championship. Once again he featured in the non-championship races in the off-season and led a Jones 1-2-3 at the Bud 800 race, securing himself the Dan Wheldon Trophy for the second year in succession. Christopherson stayed on at Jones for 2015, once again assuming his test and development role, albeit replaced by Terry Hawkin as offical reserve driver.
Results
Career Summary
| Year | Series | Team | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | British Formula 3 | Eddie Jordan Racing | 1st |
| 1988 | International Formula 3000 | Eddie Jordan Racing | 2nd |
| 1989 | Formula One | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | 19th |
| 1990 | Formula One | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | NC |
| 1998 | Formula One | Jordan Grand Prix | 7th |
| 1999 | Formula One | Jordan Grand Prix | 5th |
| 2000 | Formula One | West McLaren Mercedes | 2nd |
| 2001 | Formula One | West McLaren Mercedes | 5th |
| 2002 | Formula One | DHL Jordan Honda | Test Driver |
| 2003 | Formula One | Panasonic Toyota Racing | 10th |
| 2004 | Formula One | Panasonic Toyota Racing | 13th |
| 2014 | F1R World Race Series | Foxdale Auto Racing Team | 33rd |
| 2016 | F1R Indy Championship Series | Mastercard Lola | 3rd |
| 2018 | International Pro Car | Infiniti All Stars Tide Infiniti Voeckler |
24th |
F3000
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Eddie Jordan Racing | Reynard 88D | Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | JER 1 |
IMO 4 |
PAU 2 |
SIL Ret |
MNZ Ret |
PER 2 |
BHA 4 |
BIR Ret |
BUG Ret |
ZOL Ret |
DIJ 3 |
2nd | 31 |
Formula One
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH24 | Judd EV 3.5 V8 | BRA Ret |
SMR 7 |
MON Ret |
FRA Ret |
USA 6 |
CAN Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
SOV Ret |
POR 7 |
ITA Ret |
BEL Ret |
JPN 12 |
AUS 12 |
MEX 11 |
19th | 1 | ||
| 1990 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH25 | Judd EV 3.5 V8 | USA Ret |
BRA DNQ |
PAC Ret |
SMR 10 |
MON 16† |
CAN DNQ |
MEX DNQ |
FRA Ret |
GBR DNPQ |
GER 11 |
HUN DNPQ |
BEL DNQ |
ITA 15 |
POR DNPQ |
JPN Ret |
AUS 19 |
— | 0 | ||
| 1991 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH26 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA DNPQ |
BRA DNPQ |
PAC DNPQ |
SMR DNPQ |
MON DNPQ |
CAN DNPQ |
MEX DNPQ |
FRA DNPQ |
GBR DNQ |
GER DNPQ |
HUN Ret |
13th | 5 | |||||||
| Canon Williams Renault Team | Williams FW14 | Renault RS3 3.5 V10 | BEL 7 |
ITA 4 |
POR Ret |
ESP Ret |
JPN 5 |
AUS‡ 9 |
|||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Canon Williams Team | Williams FW14B | Renault RS4 3.5 V10 | RSA 4 |
MEX 1 |
BRA Ret |
PAC Ret |
ESP 1 |
SMR 2 |
MON 3 |
CAN 2 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 1 |
GER 2 |
HUN 2 |
BEL 3 |
ITA Ret |
POR 2 |
JPN Ret |
AUS 1 |
2nd | 87 | |
| 1993 | Canon Williams | Williams FW15C | Renault RS5 3.5 V10 | RSA 2 |
BRA 3 |
PAC 1 |
SMR 2 |
ESP 2 |
MON 1 |
CAN WD |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER 2 |
HUN 2 |
BEL 5 |
ITA Ret |
POR Ret |
JPN Ret |
AUS 1 |
2nd | 66 | ||
| 1994 | Rothmans Williams Renault | Williams FW16 | Renault RS6 3.5 V10 | BRA 2 |
PAC Ret |
SMR 2 |
MON Ret |
ESP 2 |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 3 |
GER 1 |
HUN 2 |
BEL 1 |
ITA Ret |
POR EX |
EUR 1 |
JPN 5 |
AUS 1 |
2nd | 70 | ||
| 1998 | Benson and Hedges Jordan | Jordan 198 | Mugen-Honda MF-301 HC 3.0 V10 | AUS 13 |
BRA 6 |
ARG 4 |
SMR Ret |
ESP 6 |
MON Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA 3 |
GBR Ret |
AUT Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 5 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 7 |
JPN 13† |
POR 2 |
7th | 17 | ||
| 1999 | Benson and Hedges Jordan | Jordan 199 | Mugen-Honda MF-301 HD 3.0 V10 | AUS 10 |
BRA Ret |
SMR 2 |
ESP 12 |
MON 3 |
CAN 10 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 4 |
AUT 1 |
GER 5 |
HUN 6 |
BEL 2 |
ITA 12 |
JPN 4 |
MAL 3 |
POR 2 |
5th | 51 | ||
| 2000 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren MP4/15 | Mercedes FO110J 3.0 V10 | AUS Ret |
BRA Ret |
SMR 2 |
FRA 2 |
ESP 2 |
EUR Ret |
MON 1 |
CAN 5 |
GBR 3 |
AUT 4 |
GER Ret |
HUN 5 |
BEL 1 |
ITA Ret |
JPN 4 |
MAL 2 |
USA 1 |
POR Ret |
2nd | 68 |
| 2001 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren MP4-16 | Mercedes FO110K 3.0 V10 | AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
BRA Ret |
SMR 1 |
ESP Ret |
AUT Ret |
MON 3 |
CAN 4 |
EUR 4 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 3 |
GER 2 |
HUN Ret |
BEL 3 |
ITA 2 |
USA Ret |
JPN 4 |
5th | 49 | |
| 2003 | Panasonic Toyota Racing | Toyota TF103 | Toyota RVX-03 3.0 V10 | AUS 9 |
MAL DNS |
SMR Ret |
ESP 11 |
AUT 11 |
MON 3 |
CAN Ret |
GBR Ret |
EUR Ret |
GER 6 |
HUN 9 |
ITA 7 |
BEL 10 |
BRA 7 |
USA Ret |
JPN 7 |
10th | 15 | ||
| 2004 | Panasonic Toyota Racing | Toyota TF104 | Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10 | AUS 7 |
MAL 10 |
BHR 6 |
MON Ret |
CAN DSQ |
USA 6 |
CHN 8 |
BRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
KOR C |
JPN Ret |
13th | 8 |
F1RWRS
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Foxdale Auto Racing Team | Foxdale 001 | Renault RS01 | TAS Ret |
AUS Ret |
BRA Ret |
MEX 9 |
USA Ret |
MON Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER | BEL | ITA | MED | NED | MAC | CHN | JPN | 33rd | 0 |
Non-championship Races
| Year | Team | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Castrol Jones Racing | F1RWRS Indianapolis World 800 | 1st |
| 2014 | Castrol Jones Racing | F1RWRS Indianapolis World 800 | 1st |
F1RICS
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 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 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mastercard Lola | Lola B16/00 | Honda V6T | SAO 9 |
ARG 13 |
HOM 3 |
GAT 1 |
LBH 1 |
CAM 15 |
POR 2 |
INDY 1 |
MIL 17 |
DON 4 |
EUR 8 |
WGI 9 |
NHA 1 |
MIC 17 |
TOR 18 |
ROA 8 |
KEN 1 |
POC 32 |
MON 25 |
LAG 4 |
SUR 2 |
SUZ 24 |
TEX 21 |
FON 23 |
3rd | 188 |
IPC
Class A
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Infiniti All Stars | Infiniti G35 | AUS1 | AUS2 | BAT | ITA | FRA | SPA | GBR 2 |
EUR1 | EUR2 | 24th | 95 | |||||||
| Tide Infiniti Voeckler | ILL 2 |
WIS | NY1 | NY2 | CAN | RSA1 | RSA2 |
Class B
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Infiniti All Stars | Infiniti G35 | AUS | BAT | ITA | FRA | SPA | GBR 6 |
EUR | ILL | WIS | NY | CAN | RSA | 37th | 31 |