Walter Grubmüller (born 13 January 1989 in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
) is an Austrian racing driver.
Career
Karting
Beginning his karting career in his native Austria in 2000, Grubmüller did not move up into the major international series until 2002, with an appearance at the South Garda Winter Cup. Competing in the
ICA Junior class in 2003, Grubmüller finished seventh in the European Championship, and finished tied 24th with
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
's Samuel Curridor, in the
Italian Open Masters The Italian ACI Karting Championship is a kart racing series based in Italy. Until 2010 it was called Italian Open Masters.
Champions
Source:
Formula A/ KF1
Intercontinental A/ KF2/ OK/OKN
Intercontinental A Junior/ KF3/KFJ/ OKJ/OKJN
Interc ...
. Grubmüller continued at the ICA Junior level in 2004, combining a karting campaign with appearances in the Formula Renault Monza series. He moved to MGM Racing to drive one of their
Birel
Birel S.p.A. of Lissone (near Milan, Italy) started building karts in the late 1950s after many years as a bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized b ...
karts, finishing eighth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and third behind
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 KF2, Intercontinental A Junior karts, competing in the Andre ...
and Marco Wittmann in the Italian Open Masters.
Formula Renault
Grubmüller entered four races of the
Formula Renault
Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to auto racing, motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before mov ...
Monza series in 2004, for 1600cc-specification cars. He amassed eight points over those races, while competing for the BVM Minardi team. Moving to Jenzer Motorsport for 2005, Grubmüller competed in the
Eurocup and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
championships before competing in the Italian winter series later in the season. He failed to score any points in the pan-European series, with a best finish of 13th at
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
. He scored three points in the main Italian series, and added twelve in the Winter Series. His best result of the season came in the four-race Winter Series, with fourth at
Adria
Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...
. Grubmüller stayed with Jenzer into 2006, and continued in both the pan-European and Italian championships. Results slowly improved, despite not scoring any points before he completed a mid-season move to Twincam Motorsport. A fifth and an eighth first time out at
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...
were his only points-scoring finishes as he finished 19th in the championship. He also finished 20th in the Italian championship, with a best result of sixth at
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...
.
Formula Three
After three
Asian Formula Three races in 2006 and four races in
Australian Formula Three in early 2007, Grubmüller moved to
British Formula 3
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 sea ...
for the
2007 season. His father Walter had bought into the
Hitech Racing
Hitech Grand Prix (formerly Hitech Racing, currently racing as Hitech TGR for sponsorship reasons) is a British motor racing team. It was founded by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle in 2002 and relaunched by Oliver Oakes in 2015. Currently, Hite ...
team, and installed his son as one of the drivers alongside
Marko Asmer
Marko Asmer (born 30 July 1984) is an Estonian former racing driver, who won the British Formula 3 Championship title in 2007. Asmer is also the first Estonian to test a Formula One car, having tested for the Williams BMW team in 2003, after ...
. Grubmüller finished only four of the races in the points, while Asmer won eleven races to lift the series title. In the international races, Grubmüller finished 18th at the
Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...
, while he failed to finish at the
Masters of Formula 3
The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Circuit Zolder, ...
event at
Zolder
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
History
Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...
. At the end of the season, Grubmüller competed in three more Asian F3 races for Aran Racing, achieving two podiums for a ninth place championship finish.
Asmer left the team so Grubmüller had a new team-mate for the
2008 campaign.
Max Chilton
Maximilian Alexander Chilton (born 21 April 1991) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to .
Born and raised in Redhill, Surrey, Chilton is the younger brother of racing driver Tom Chilton. He competed in the GP ...
joined the Austrian, and once again Grubmüller was outpaced by his team-mate. His consistency did improve over the course of the season but failed to crack the podium as his best finish was fourth, coming at the
1000 km of Monza-supporting rounds, and finished fourteenth in the championship. He was edged out by just a single point by
John Martin at the final round at Donington. He impressed in Macau, finishing as top Hitech driver in eighth beating both Chilton and
Roberto Merhi
Roberto Merhi Muntan (born 22 March 1991) is a Spanish racing driver, who competes in the GT300 class of Super GT for LeMans. Merhi competed in Formula One at 14 Grands Prix in .
Merhi previously competed in Formula E for Mahindra and who ...
, who joined the team for a one-off drive.
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
saw a great change in Grubmüller's results, and became a surprise championship contender. Hitech had originally planned to run just Grubmüller in the series, but Sam Abay was signed up in the run up to the opening round. Sadly for Hitech, Abay could not acquire a work permit for the UK, and had to return to Australia. Grubmüller achieved his first two podiums in Formula Three at that first round, at
Oulton Park
Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...
. Before the second round,
Renger van der Zande Renger is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Annemarie Renger (1919–2008), German politician
* Thomas Renger (born 1972), German sitting volleyball player
* Renger van der Zande (born 1986), Dutch racing driv ...
was signed up to drive a second Hitech car, to help Grubmüller. He took his first win at Hockenhim, before adding a second win at Donington. However,
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( , ; born 1 July 1989) is an Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Ricciardo won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.
Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australi ...
had a significant enough lead to claim the title with a round to spare in the
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...
. Van der Zande had also moved ahead of Grubmüller in the standings, but with van der Zande returning to the
Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...
to compete for Motopark Academy in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Grubmüller had the chance to seal the runner-up spot, at the final round 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 hosts ...
which was being held on the same weekend. Grubmüller did so with two fifth places, allowing him to overhaul his team-mate by ten points.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Towards the end of 2008, Grubmüller tested a
Formula Renault 3.5 Series car for the first time with leading British team
P1 Motorsport
P1 Motorsport was a Great Britain, British racing team based in Norfolk, England. They formerly compete in the World Series by Renault. In 2013, the team was purchased by Strakka Racing owner-driver Nick Leventis and was renamed to P1 by Strakka ...
at the
Paul Ricard
Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...
circuit in France. The relationship continued in 2009 when Grubmüller tested for the team again at
Motorland Aragón
MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a race track used for motorsports located in Alcañiz, Spain.
The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural busin ...
and Barcelona and in January 2010, it was announced that he would drive for the team in the
2010 season, racing alongside fellow rookie
Jan Charouz
Jan Charouz (born 17 July 1987) is a Czech former auto racing driver. He won the 2009 Le Mans Series season and 2006 F3000 International Masters season, as well as taking fourth place in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2010 he was the Renault ...
.
Racing record
Karting career summary
Career summary
† – As Grubmüller was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete British Formula Three Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Macau Grand Prix results
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grubmuller, Walter
1989 births
Living people
Racing drivers from Vienna
Austrian racing drivers
World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers
Italian Formula Renault 1.6 drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Australian Formula 3 Championship drivers
Asian Formula Three Championship drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Toyota Racing Series drivers
Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers
Auto GP drivers
P1 Motorsport drivers
Hitech Grand Prix drivers
Jenzer Motorsport drivers
BVM Racing drivers
Charouz Racing System drivers