John Zimmer
John Zimmer (born 28th January 1969) is an Australian racing driver who won the F1RGP2C in 1995, and has competed in the F1RWRS and various touring car categories around the world. He is known for running the international motorsport team, ZimSport.
Racing career
Zimmer first started racing in 1982, at the age of thirteen, being fairly successful. At sixteen, he advanced to the Australian Formula Ford Championship, winning the championship in 1988. That year, he went to Britain to compete in the Formula Ford Festival, finishing 6th, and decided to stay there to compete in the British Formula Ford championship. He ended the year in 8th, finishing fourth at the Festival. He then entered the British F3 series, first in his own car and then driving for Alan Docking Racing, finishing fifth in 1991. He won the BF3 championship in 1992, as well as the Macau Grand Prix in his second attempt. His performances got him noticed by F3000 team Forti Corse, who signed him up for the 1993. After a fairly solid performance, he was signed to compete in the new F1RGP2C for Benetton. He did well in the 1994 championship, winning his first race at Monaco, before losing the championship to Jack Christopherson at the final race when his engine blew. In 1995, he became the seatholder for Benetton, and won 7 races on his way to championship victory, beating Williams driver Daniel Moreno by 5 points. However, despite two successful seasons, Zimmer had yet to win the Australian Grand Prix, his home race, after mechanical failures both times put him out despite starting from pole on both occasions. In 1996 however, with the race moving to Melbourne and the start of the year, Zimmer didn't take pole but managed to win the race, but it was one of only two wins that year. Zimmer had sacked his previous teammate Kazuhiko Takagi in favour of Andrew Spokes, who Zimmer planned to turn into a champion. Spokes finished third in the championship with Zimmer fourth.
Complete results
F1RGP2C
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Mild Seven Benetton Ford | Benetton B194 | Ford ECA Zetec-R | BRA Ret |
PAC Ret |
SMR 3 |
MON 1 |
ESP 1 |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER 2 |
HUN 1 |
BEL 5 |
ITA 2 |
POR Ret |
EUR 1 |
JPN Ret |
AUS 8* |
2nd | 58 | |
| 1995 | Mild Seven Benetton Renault | Benetton B195 | Renault RS7 | BRA 1 |
ARG 1 |
SMR 2 |
MON Ret |
ESP 1 |
CAN 4 |
FRA 3 |
GBR 1 |
GER Ret |
HUN 1 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 1 |
POR 1 |
EUR 2 |
JPN 2 |
PAC Ret |
AUS Ret |
1st | 95 |
| 1996 | Mild Seven Benetton Renault | Benetton B196 | Renault RS8 | AUS 1 |
BRA Ret |
ARG Ret |
LUX 4 |
SMR 4 |
MON 2 |
ESP 3 |
CAN 4 |
USA Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 1 |
GER Ret |
HUN 4 |
BEL 5 |
ITA 7* |
JPN 9 |
4th | 44 | |
| 1997 | Mild Seven Benetton Renault | Benetton B197 | Renault RS9 | AUS 4 |
BRA Ret |
ARG 5 |
SMR 10 |
MON Ret |
ESP 7 |
CAN 8 |
USA 7 |
FRA 2 |
GBR 6 |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA 6 |
AUT 4 |
JPN Ret |
10th | 16 | |
| 1998 | Mild Seven Benetton Playlife | Benetton B198 | Playlife GC37-01 | AUS 3 |
BRA 5 |
ARG 5 |
SMR 9 |
ESP 7 |
MON 4 |
CAN Ret |
GBR 4 |
USA 3 |
FRA 5 |
AUT Ret |
GER 17 |
HUN Ret |
BEL | ITA | JPN | 6th* | 20* |
F1CC
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Red Bull Sauber Petronas | Sauber C16 | Petronas SPE-01 | Goodyear | AUS 5 |
BRA 7 |
ARG Ret |
SMR Ret |
MON Ret |
ESP Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 6 |
GER 6 |
HUN 9 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 10 |
AUT 9 |
LUX 5 |
JPN 7 |
EUR 11 |
20th | 6 | ||
| 1998 | West McLaren Mercedes | McLaren MP4-13 | Mercedes FO110G | Bridgestone | AUS 8 |
BRA 3 |
ARG 4 |
SMR 7 |
ESP Ret |
MON 7 |
CAN Ret |
FRA 5 |
GBR 3 |
AUT Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 7 |
BEL 8 |
ITA 8 |
LUX 5 |
JPN 10 |
11th | 15 | |||
| 1999 | Lucky Strike Reynard Racing | Reynard 001 | Toyota | Bridgestone | AUS Ret |
BRA 8 |
SMR Ret |
MON 12 |
ESP C |
CAN C |
USA C |
MEX C |
GBR C |
FRA C |
GER C |
AUT C |
HUN C |
BEL C |
EUR C |
ITA C |
MAL C |
PAC C |
JPN C |
NC | 0 |
* F1CC collapsed after the qualifying session of the 1999 F1CC Spanish GP.
RTCC
| Year | Entrant | Car | Cl. | # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Kickert Motorsport Engineering | Holden Vectra | I | 31 | SIL 1 8 |
SIL 2 13 |
DON 1 24 |
DON 2 2 |
5th | 33 | ||||||||
| 2015 | ZimSport | Holden Vectra | I | 031 | ORA 1 12 |
ORA 2 20 |
KNO 1 9 |
KNO 2 14 |
SAN 1 Ret |
SAN 2 10 |
SPA 1 7 |
SPA 2 14 |
SUZ 1 |
SUZ 2 |
LIE 1 |
LIE 2 |
12th | 30 |
F1RWRS
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Fwifwi-Holden Racing | ZimSport FHR1 | Holden HSV LS3 | BAV 19 |
GER DNPQ |
SAX DNPQ |
LUX 5* |
BEL 7 |
=14th | 26 | |||||||||||
| NAB-Holden Racing Team | Holden HRT-001 | Holden HSV LS3 | GBR DNPQ |
ENG DNPQ |
KEN DNPQ |
NED 10 |
TAS DNPQ |
AUS 4 |
NSW 1 |
SUR Ret |
CHN INJ |
USA 14 |
|||||||||
| 2013 | Team Calinetic | Calinetic CAL4 | Ford HB I | TAS | AUS | MEX 6 |
USA DNPQ |
MON DNPQ |
FRA DNPQ |
GBR DNPQ |
GER DNPQ |
NED DNPQ |
BEL 13* |
POR DNPQ |
20th | 5 | |||||
| Holden F1RWRS Racing Team | Holden HRT-003 | Holden HSV L12-1 | MED 3 |
MAC Ret |
CHN 9 |
JPN DNQ |
BRA | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Valvoline Holden Racing Team | Holden HRT-005 | Holden LSF1 | TAS | AUS | MED | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | GBR | GER DNPQ |
BEL 9 |
AUT DNPQ |
ITA DNPQ |
SEA DNPQ |
CHN Ret |
JPN DNPQ |
BRA DNPQ |
=23rd | 0 |
Career Summary
| Year | Series | Team | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Australian Rookie Karting | Independent | 7th |
| 1983 | Australian Rookie Karting | Independent | 2nd |
| 1984 | Australian Rookie Karting | Independent | 1st |
| 1985 | Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | ZimSport | 17th |
| 1986 | Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | ZimSport | 10th |
| 1987 | Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | ZimSport | 5th |
| 1988 | Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | ZimSport | 1st |
| Formula Ford Festival | ZimSport | 6th | |
| 1989 | British Formula Ford | ZimSport | 8th |
| Formula Ford Festival | ZimSport | 4th | |
| 1990 | British F3 | ZimSport | 17th |
| 1991 | British F3 | Alan Docking Racing | 5th |
| Macau Grand Prix | Alan Docking Racing | 3rd | |
| 1992 | British F3 | Alan Docking Racing | 1st |
| Macau Grand Prix | Alan Docking Racing | 1st | |
| 1993 | International Formula 3000 | Forti Corse | 8th |
| 1994 | International Formula 3000 | Forti Corse | 16th |
| F1RGP2C | Benetton | 2nd | |
| 1995 | F1RGP2C | Benetton | 1st |
| 1996 | F1RGP2C | Benetton | 4th |
| 1997 | F1RGP2C | Benetton | 10th |
| 1998 | F1RGP2C | Benetton | 3rd* |
| 2011 | F1RWRS | ZimSport | 15th |
| NAB-Holden Racing Team | |||
| 2013 | F1RWRS | Team Calinetic | 20th |
| Holden F1RWRS Racing Team | |||
| 2015 | F1RWRS | Valvoline Holden Racing Team | =23rd |