Josef Král (born 15 June 1990 in

Dvůr Králové nad Labem Dvůr Králové nad Labem (, german: Königinhof an der Elbe) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It lies in the Elbe river valley. Dvůr Králové nad Labem is kn ...

) is a professional

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 ...

from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

Career

Karting & early career

Král began his motorsport career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

back in 1998, and during the following seven years he achieved notable success, winning the Czech Republic ICA Junior title in 2003 and the Czech ICA 100 Championship the following year, as well as numerous other titles. In 2005, Král made his

Formula Racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single ...

debut, finishing third in the Czech Formula 1400 series.

Formula BMW

In 2006, Král made the step up to

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

, competing in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual m ...

series. Driving for Micánek Motorsport, he scored forty points during the year to be classified in twelfth place. At the end of the year, Král switched to Josef Kaufmann Racing to contest the Formula BMW World Final, held in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. He originally finished as runner-up to team-mate

Christian Vietoris Christian Vietoris (; ; born 1 April 1989) is a German racing driver. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, most recently for HWA Team. Vietoris has also been a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert W ...

, but was subsequently disqualified from the race. Král continued in Formula BMW for 2007, this time switching to the UK series with Räikkönen Robertson Racing. He scored a total of thirteen podium places in eighteen races, including six wins, to finish as runner-up to Swede

Marcus Ericsson Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (; born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. Ericsson previously ...

. He also took part in two Formula BMW ADAC races, taking a single podium position. Král once again took part in the end-of-season Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, this time driving for Mücke Motorsport. Again, he finished second on the road behind team-mate

Philipp Eng Philipp Eng (born 28 February 1990 in Salzburg) is an Austrian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. Career Karting Eng started karting in 2003, by competing in Intercontinental A Junior karts, competing in the Andrea Mar ...

, but was disqualified for a technical infringement.

A1 Grand Prix

In February 2008, Král made his debut for

A1 Team Czech Republic A1 Team Czech Republic is the defunct Czech team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Although no official announcement was made, the team's flag icon was removed from the A1GP website, and they do not appear in the 2008–09 season r ...

in the South African round of the

2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season The 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season was the third in the relatively short history of the championship. Teams All teams used same A1 Grand Prix car including Zytek-powered, Cooper Avon-shod and Lola A1GP chassis. The following 22 teams are c ...

. After qualifying towards the back of the grid for both races, he finished eighteenth in the sprint race before retiring from the feature event.

International Formula Master

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, Král joined Team JVA to contest the

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Euro ...

series. He finished the season in sixth place, taking three podium places, including a debut win at

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 123 ...

. He remained in the championship for

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, this time switching to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

team JD Motorsport. After taking podium places in Valencia, Brno and

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 hos ...

, Král won his first race of the season at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone ...

, which acted as a support race for the

2009 Hungarian Grand Prix The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydíj 2009) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 July 2009 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, north of Budapest, Hungary. It was the tenth race of the 2009 Formula O ...

. He added another win at

en route to third in the championship.

GP2 Series

In October 2009, Král made his debut in a GP2 car, testing for both

Ocean Racing Technology Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased ...

and

Piquet GP Piquet GP, formerly known as Minardi Piquet Sports or Minardi by Piquet Sports and Piquet Sports is a motor racing team. The team's history can be traced back to when the GP Racing team was founded in 1997, and also to when Piquet Sports was crea ...

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Later the same month, he signed with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

team

Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was s ...

to contest the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series. This relationship continued into the main series in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, when Král teamed up with his former Formula BMW rival Ericsson. During the sprint race at

, Král's car was launched into the air after he collided with Rodolfo González, before landing heavily and hitting the tyre barriers. Král sustained two fractured vertebrae as a result, and was replaced by

Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career Fo ...

until he recovered. After missing ten races, Král returned to action at the final round of the championship, where he scored his first series points. Král moved to the

Arden International Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently runs teams in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and F4 British Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship ...

team for 2011, partnered by 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship runner-up

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British motorsport commentator and columnist, covering the Formula One World Championship on BBC Radio 5 and F1TV. Prior to his media career, Palmer was a racing driver and the 2014 GP2 Series c ...

. He finished tenth in the

Asia series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), ...

. In the main series, he scored his first podium in the

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

sprint race. Another podium finish at

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 hel ...

saw him improve to 15th place in the championship. He moved to reigning teams' champion,

Addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvill ...

, for the 2012 season, alongside

Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youn ...

, but was replaced by

Dani Clos Daniel Clos Álvarez (born 23 October 1988) is a Spanish professional racecar driver who was, in 2012, the test driver for the now defunct HRT Formula One team. Career Karting Born in Barcelona, Clos was a fairly successful karter at the ...

after the first round of the championship. He then returned to the seat for the fourth round of the series. After a run of pointless weekends, he took his first series victory in the sprint race at

, only to be dropped for the following round of the championship in favour of Jake Rosenzweig. He finished 17th in the championship.

Formula One

Král tested a Formula One car for the first time at the season-ending "young drivers" test in Abu Dhabi, with

Hispania Racing HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group Th ...

. Král revealed in June 2013 that he had a contract in place to race in the

2013 Formula One season The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th Formula One World Championship, recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racin ...

with

HRT F1 HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group Th ...

before the team went into administration and eventually closed.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete GP2 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Final results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kral, Josef 1990 births Living people People from Dvůr Králové nad Labem Czech racing drivers International Formula Master drivers A1 Team Czech Republic drivers Formula BMW UK drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers GP2 Asia Series drivers GP2 Series drivers Auto GP drivers 24H Series drivers Super Nova Racing drivers Arden International drivers Campos Racing drivers Sportspeople from the Hradec Králové Region Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers JD Motorsport drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers Double R Racing drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Charouz Racing System drivers