Stefan Johansson
For over two decades Stefan Johansson has been one of the top drivers in the world of international motorsports. He has been successful in Formula One, IndyCar and Le Mans style sports cars, winning both the 1997 12 hours of Sebring (Ferrari) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Porsche).
Throughout his career Stefan has driven for some of the most prestigious teams and manufacturers in the world including: Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Audi and Acura. Over the years he has accumulated a superlative degree of knowledge and experience regarding race team operations as well as technical issues. Stefan remains very active with his driving career and is constantly evaluating opportunities to use his experience and knowledge about the sport.
When not overseeing his business interests or tending to his own racing career, Stefan is something of a Renaissance man with interest in art, design, business and music. He is an accomplished painter with several exhibitions under his belt. In design his talent runs the gamut from creating all the watches for his H III watch company to the furniture for the race shop and logos for his products. Well liked in the racing and business community, Stefan is key in generating world wide business contacts which continue to expand the SJM networking portfolio.
"I have been blessed with a wonderful life, being able to do for a living what I love to do more than anything else. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most creative minds and greatest teams in the world and raced against some of the best drivers in the history of the sport. I have been in a position to race at all the most demanding and famous race tracks around the world such as Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Monaco to name a few. Every car and track presented their own challenge.
The beauty of this sport is the never ending search for ultimate perfomance both from yourself and your equipment. The challenges presented to the teams and the drivers are huge and the pressure is enourmous, and it never really lets up. It is interesting how people react in different ways to these challenges. For me personally, when you stretch yourself to a point where you have never been before, beyond your fears, there is an enourmous sense of freedom." - Stefan Johansson
Career in Brief
1980: British Formula 3 champion. Made his debut in Formula 1 racing for AVS Shadow.
1981: Number 3 in Formula 2 racing for the Toleman team.
1982: Drove a Spirit-Honda in F2.
1983: Six F1 races for Spirit-Honda with seventh place as his best result. Raced for Joest Racing in Group C and made sixth place at Le Mans.
1984: Six F1 races, three for the Tolemans-Hart team and three for the Tyrell-Ford team. Fourth place was his best result. Runner-up in the Japanese F2 championship and winner in the 12-hour-race at Sebring.
1985: Contract with Ferrari. Runner-up in both the Canadian and the American GP and finished seventh in the championship.
1986: Fifth place in the World Championship with Ferrari after finishing four times at the podium.
1987: F1 racing with the McLaren-TAG Porsche team, finishing in sixth place in the World Championship.
1988: F1 with the Legier-Judd team. Winner of endurance race (1,000 kilometers) in Group C at Spa
1989: Tenth place in the F1 World Championship after finishing third in the Portugese GP. Racing team: Onyx.
1990: F1 with the Onyx team. Broke the contract and performed some tests for different teams. Participated in the Le Mans race driving for Mazda.
1991: F1 racing with the AGS and Footwork teams. Group C racing in Europe and Japan, finishing sixth at Le Mans with Mazda.
1992: Debut in Indy Car racing with Bettenhausen, finishing third. Was named 'Rookie of the Year'.
1993: Indy Car racing, with third place as his best result.
1994: Eleventh place in the Indy Car Championship. Started all of a total of sixteen races.
1995: Indy Car racing, finishing thirteenth in the World Championship with Team Alumax/Bettenhausen.
1996: Indy Car season with Bettenhausen.
1997: 1997: Winner of the Le Mans 24-hour-race and the 12-hour-race at Sebring. Ran his own team in Indy Light.
1998: Ran his own team in Indy Light.
1999: Third place at Sebring and in the 24-hour-race at Daytona.
2000: Ran his own team Johansson-Matthews in ALMS and at Le Mans
2001: Ran his own team Johansson Motorsports in ALMS and at Le Mans
2002: Drove for Champion Racing in ALMS and at Le Mans
2003: Ran his own team American Spirit in CART and drove at Le Mans where he finished 3rd.
2004: Drove for Champion Racing in ALMS and at Le Mans
2005: GrandAm series for Ganassi and the first race of GP Masters
2006: GP Masters complete series and selected sports car events with Cheever and CITGO reams in the U.S. and Zytek team in Europe
2007: American Le Mans Series with Highcroft Racing/Acura in the US and with the Zytek team in Europe
Stefan Johanssons Blog
