John Michael Edwards (born March 11, 1991) is an American professional racing driver, and
BMW Motorsport
BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E.
The current orga ...
works driver.
Career
Edwards began racing cars at the young age of 12 in 2003 in the Skip Barber Series. To the best of his knowledge he became the youngest open wheel racing driver in history, taking his first win at Daytona International Speedway at 12 years and 238 days of age.
In 2005 he went to Europe to compete first in Italian Karting and then after an unexpected early promotion to the world of European motor racing at age 14 he was the youngest to ever hold a FIA racing license racing in
Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and
Formula Renault 2.0 Germany
In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the terminology, term ''formula'' in science refers to the Commensurability (philosophy o ...
. He finished 16th in Eurocup in 2006 and 5th with a win at Anderstorp. In 2007 he returned to the United States and drove in the
Atlantic Championship
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...
and finished 9th in points for
Forsythe Championship Racing
Forsythe/Pettit Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing.
Histor ...
with a second at Toronto.
In 2008 he stepped back on the US racing ladder where he won the championship of the
Star Mazda Series in spite of missing the first race of the season. He returned to Atlantics for the 2009 season driving for
Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...
. He captured 4 wins and 3 poles on his way to the championship. He won the championship over
Jonathan Summerton
Jonathan Summerton (born April 21, 1988, in Kissimmee, Florida) is an American race car driver.
Early racing
He began racing karts at the age of 14 and by the end of the year had begun racing Skip Barber Series cars. In 2004 he began racing in F ...
and
Simona de Silvestro
Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) is a Swiss-Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the FIA Formula E Championship as well ...
, 2nd and 3rd in the
2009 Atlantic Championship season.
For 2010, he transitioned to sports cars to join the Mazda factory team and Speed Source, racing in the
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
GT class with co-driver
Adam Christodoulou
Adam Robert Christodoulou (born 11 June 1989, in Lichfield) is a Greek-British racing driver, who won the 2008 British Formula Renault Championship, also won the 2009 Star Mazda Championship in the United States. His less successful cousin Ri ...
. His 2010 highlights included a GT class win in the Grand-Am race at Lime Rock. Also in 2010, driving along co-drivers Michael Auriemma and Michael Edwards, he secured two Nürburgring VLN Class wins for Schubert Motorsports.
For 2011 he joined for Stevenson Motorsports in the Grand-Am Continental GS series. Partnered with Matt Bell, they secured wins at Laguna Seca and Road America. In 2011 he also raced a partial season with Team Sahlen in the Grand-Am GT series, taking the Mazda to the podium several times with co-driver Wayne Nonnamaker.
For 2012 he once again drove with Stevenson Motorsports in both the Grand-Am Continental GS and GT series. At the beginning of the season he suffered an off track anterior cruciate ligament injury and missed the first two races of the season. He returned to achieve 4 pole positions in GT qualifying in the remaining 9 races. After a series of podium finishes in GT he and his teammate Robin Liddell secured victories at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. He and Matt Bell also had a win at Laguna Seca in the GS series.
In 2013, Edwards returned with Stevenson Motorsports, finishing 3rd in the
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
GT class with Robin Liddell and 2nd in the
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...
GS class with Matt Bell. In early 2013, John also joined BMW Team
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 win ...
part-time, subbing for Joey Hand in the American Le Mans Series GT class, driving the BMW Z4 GTE. He and Dirk Müller achieved one win among 4 podiums.
For the 2014 season, Edwards was picked up full-time by BMW, teaming with Dirk Müller to finish 7th in the Tudor
United SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
GTLM class. He also joined Fall-Line Motorsports in the
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...
GS class, teaming with Trent Hindman to win the team championship.
Edward returned to BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2015 and 2016 as a BMW Factory driver in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship to compete in the GTLM class with co-driver
Lucas Luhr
Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Early career
Born in Mülheim-Kärlich, Luhr ...
. After a strong drive, Edwards and Luhr won at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,
[https://www.press.bmwgroup-sport.com/sport/pressDetail.html?title=bmw-team-rll-finish-1-2-at-laguna-seca-%E2%80%93-lucas-luhr-and-john-edwards-take-the-win&outputChannelId=52&id=T0215842EN&left_menu_item=node__10200 "BMW Group Press Release, April 5, 2015".] as well as podium finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The year 2016 saw tough challenges for the Rahal Letterman Team as the development of the M6 BMW continued with Edwards and teammates securing a solitary podium.
For 2017 Edwards drove for BMW for his 6th year teamed with
Martin Tomczyk
Martin Tomczyk (born 7 December 1981) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver.
He was the DTM champion in 2011, third in 2007, fourth in 2006 and fifth in 2004, having won eight races.
Racing career
After a karti ...
, a seasoned veteran having raced in DTM for 16 seasons and was the DTM Champion in 2011. The pair was joined by
Kuno Wittmer and
Nicky Catsburg
Nicky Catsburg (born 15 February 1988 in Amersfoort) is a Dutch professional racing driver, for BMW and General Motors works driver for Corvette Racing
Corvette Racing is an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and ...
for the endurance events. He and Tomczyk won Laguna Seca.2018
For 2018 John Edwards drove for BMW for his 7th consecutive year teamed with
Jesse Krohn
Jesse Kurki-Suonio (born 3 September 1990), more commonly known as Jesse Krohn, is a Finnish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver.
He is notable for winning the Finnish, Northern European Zone (NEZ) and Estonian Formula Re ...
and joined by
Augusto Farfus
Augusto Farfus Jr. (born 3 September 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco.
Early years
Born in Curitiba, Farfus first tasted racing in minibike races and won the local championshi ...
and Nicky Catsburg for the endurance events. Highlights were limited to podiums and two poles for Edwards driving the new BMW M8.
For 2019 BMW factory driver John Edwards is once again paired with Jesse Krohn in the United Sportscar Championship. The pair will be joined with Alex Zanardi and Colton Herta for the endurance events beginning with the 24 hours of Daytona. Edwards will also race the 24 hour races at the
Nürburgring
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
and
Spa-Francorchamps
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...
. Edwards, Nicky Catsburg, and
Marco Wittmann
Marco Wittmann (born 24 November 1989) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver.
He currently resides in Markt Erlbach. Wittmann has competed in such series as Formula Three Euroseries and Formula BMW ADAC/Europe.
...
began the year with strong start racing for
Rowe Racing
ROWE Racing is the motor racing team of the German lubricant
A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces ...
with a victory at the first VLN at the Nurburgring.
Motorsports career results
American Open-Wheel Racing Results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Atlantic Championship
Star Mazda Championship
Sports car racing results
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
Rolex Sports Car Series
American Le Mans Series
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John
Living people
1991 births
Racing drivers from Louisville, Kentucky
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
Atlantic Championship drivers
Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
BMW M drivers
Forsythe Racing drivers
Newman Wachs Racing drivers
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
Rowe Racing drivers
Motopark Academy drivers
Schnitzer Motorsport drivers
Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers