Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior physician at Cuckfield and Brighton hospitals.
He is currently the majority shareholder and Chief Executive of
MotorSport Vision
MotorSport Vision (MSV) is a motorsport organisation and an operator of six UK venues. MSV has a portfolio ranging from major two- and four-wheel championships to organising the PalmerSport corporate driving event.
History
MotorSport Vision w ...
(MSV), a company that runs six UK motorsport circuits, the PalmerSport corporate driving event at Bedford Autodrome and several racing championships including
British Superbikes and
GB3.
Prior to his business life, Palmer was active in Formula One between 1983 and 1989, and drove for
Tyrrell,
Williams,
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
, and
Zakspeed
Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit.
1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...
. He won 14
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
points from 83 starts. He also raced a
Group C
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs.
It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...
Porsche in sports car events between 1983 and 1990, winning the
1984 1000 km of Brands Hatch with co-driver
Jan Lammers
Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing h ...
and taking second place at the
1985 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the fourth round of the 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on 15 and 16 June 1985.
During Thursday's practice, Briton ...
with co-drivers
James Weaver and
Richard Lloyd.
Palmer helped develop the
McLaren F1
The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to ...
road car, and drove one to a new
speed record for production cars.
Racing career
Early career
Following his education at
Brighton College
Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...
, Palmer raced an
Austin Healey Sprite
The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 until 1971. The Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958, two days after that year's Monaco ...
and a
Marcos Marcos may refer to:
People with the given name ''Marcos''
*Marcos (given name)
Sports
;Surnamed
* Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century)
* Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer
* Nélson Marcos, Portug ...
in club events while he was a medical student at
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
. He went on to work as a doctor at Cuckfield and Brighton hospitals, and opted for a professional driving career after he had participated in
Formula Ford
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...
from 1978 to 1980. He won the
British Formula 3 Championship
The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...
in 1981, and landed a
Williams Formula One test drive in 1982. The following year he won the
European Formula Two Championship
The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curren ...
, and the
British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...
awarded him their Gold Star.
Formula One
Palmer joined
Williams as a test driver for the 1982 and 1983 seasons whilst racing in F2, and made his Formula One debut at
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...
on 25 September 1983, driving a
Williams in the
European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...
. This drive was a 'thank you' from
Frank Williams and
Patrick Head
Sir Patrick Michael Head (born 5 June 1946) is a British motorsport executive who is the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineer ...
. He finished 13th out of 26 starters. Moving to the Skoal Bandit
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
March team in 1984, his six finishes yielded one 8th place, three 9th, one 10th, and one 13th. He joined
Zakspeed
Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit.
1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...
in 1985, starting in eight races and retiring from all except the
1985 Detroit Grand Prix
The 1985 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 23, 1985, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the sixth round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship and the fourth Detroit Grand Prix. The race was held over 63 laps of the s ...
, where he finished 11th. Sixteen starts with the same team in 1986 resulted in eight retirements and a best finish of 8th in Detroit.
In 1987, Palmer talked with
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
boss
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
about becoming the team's No. 2 driver to double World Champion
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...
. Dennis ultimately signed
Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...
, and Palmer joined Tyrrell a week before the season's opening race in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Although outpaced by its turbocharged competitors, Tyrrell's naturally-aspirated Cosworth-powered car proved reliable, and it was nimble on tighter circuits. Palmer won championship points in three races, and it was in the
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
that he achieved his career-best fourth-place finish. He also won the
Jim Clark Cup
The 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1987 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contes ...
, a championship for drivers of
normally aspirated
Normality is a behavior that can be normal for an individual (intrapersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms to the most common beh ...
cars. He stayed with Tyrrell for the next two seasons, during which his best results were two 5th-place finishes and three 6th. At the end of 1989 he signed as McLaren's test driver.
Sportscars
Between 1983 and 1990 Palmer competed in the
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...
at the wheel of a Group C Porsche. With co-driver
Jan Lammers
Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing h ...
he won the
1984 1000 km of Brands Hatch. At Le Mans, his best result from five starts was second place in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, with co-drivers
James Weaver and
Richard Lloyd.
Post F1
In 1991 Palmer came seventh in the
British Touring Car Championship
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...
, driving a
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races automobile, cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advan ...
BMW. Also that year he became a pit lane reporter for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
F1 commentary team. Following
. At the end of 1996 the
...