James Dominic Grunwell (born 4 February 1989) is a British racing driver, who has lived most of his life in Thailand.
James Dominic Grunwell (born 4 February 1989) is a British racing driver, who has lived most of his life in Thailand.
In early 2003, James entered his first official race where the Champion Racing Team was formed under the support of Champion Ferodo.
At the age of 14, James entered The Thailand Under 18 100cc Veloil Challenge and won its championship. He then later entered the Thailand Nationals in the Yamaha class and won 2 out of 4 races with podiums in the other 2. He continued to enter kart races with the 2003 kart, and still managed to finish the season 4th in the internationally recognized Intercon ‘A’ Class. James finished on the podium in every race he entered.
Towards the end of 2004, James had an opportunity of a test drive with AIM Racing, one of Thailand’s leading racing teams. He passed with flying colors as the fastest rookie ever to take the test. He was immediately entered for the last two races of 2004 as a guest driver. He drove a specially designed Thai built car that ran with 12 valve, 1600cc, Toyota racing engines that produces top speeds of up to 160 km/h. He competed in 4 out of 6 races in the new season, finishing first twice and had a podium place in the rest.
In December 2004, James was invited for a test drive in a Formula BMW, with the Meritus Racing Team in Malaysia. Again he passed the test and was offered a drive with them in 2005. He entered the Formula BMW scholarship programme and missed out by one place for the scholarship. James and his sponsors decided to concentrate on karting in Thailand.
Grunwell won all the races in Thailand Rotax Max Junior series. He later entered the World Finals in Langkawi for Rotax Max. In Langkawi, James finished in the top 5 in all races and started 4th on the grid in the final. He was the highest placed Thai driver ever.
At the end of 2005, James again joined the Formula BMW Asia scholarship program and this time – having matured a little and with some more experience – passed with flying colors. He won one of 4 prestigious BMW Scholarship prizes worth USD 50,000 and managed to get bonus points for setting the fastest lap out of 20 competitors.
In 2006 Meritus Racing Team took James on as a Rookie driver to compete in the Formula BMW Asia series where he finished 3rd in the Rookie Championship and 4th overall.
In 2007 Grunwell spent a second year in Formula BMW Asia for Meritus Racing Team. He finished third in points with three wins among 12 podium finishes. In 2008 Grunwell raced in Formula V6 Asia for Team Meritus and won the championship, capturing four wins and finishing on the podium in all but two of the twelve races. However, despite the 2008 success, Grunwell has not appeared in a professional motor race since that time.
All through 2005 and 2006, James has been featured in many magazines and newspapers. James also appeared with his Concept Car at the Bangkok 7th Rugby Tournament on behalf of his sponsors Champion Ferodo, where he did a demonstration drive by and helped present the prize to the winners of the tournament.
In 2007, The Pizza Company became one of the main sponsors for James in the Formula BMW Asia Series followed by Comcon Services Thailand and Image Makers Asia, and James has been actively promoting both companies in Thailand and abroad.
James is based in Thailand and is currently racing throughout Asia where he currently leads the Formula BMW Asian Championship after winning races in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Ho-Pin Tung is a Dutch-born racing driver who races with a Chinese license.
Marchy Lee Ying-Kin is a racing driver from Hong Kong. Born in 1976 in Hong Kong, Marchy started his racing career at just 9 years old and has become one of the top racecar drivers in Hong Kong.
Niall Quinn is an Irish motor racing driver, currently living in County Meath, Ireland.
Jazeman Firhan bin Jaafar is a Malaysian racing driver.
Christopher James Wootton is an Australian racing driver.
Hamad Al Fardan, is a Bahraini racing driver. He is the first Bahraini to drive at GP2 Series level.
Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez is a Mexican racing driver. His most recent races were the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing and the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship for CrowdStrike Racing by APR. He is also a development driver for Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and the CEO-Founder of EDASI Drive, the official F1 merchandising distributor for Latin America.
Emmet O'Brien is an Irish auto racing driver.
Hamza Dirani حمزة ديراني is a Jordanian race car and kart racing driver. In addition to competing successfully in karting in Jordan, Lebanon, Dubai and Egypt, in 2005, he joined Meritus Racing to race in the Formula BMW Asia racing series and be the first Jordanian to participate in Formula Racing. He finished all his races in the top ten. He is also an entrepreneur, having established his own karting business in 2006.
Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat is a Russian professional racing driver competing under an Italian licence for Lamborghini Iron Lynx in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, and part-time for SS-Green Light Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Kvyat competed in Formula One between 2014–2017 and 2019–2020. He became the second Formula One driver from Russia and is the most successful of the four Russian drivers to date, with three podiums.
Oliver "Oli" James Webb is a British auto racing driver. He is a 2004 Karting Champion, 2007 Formula BMW Scholarship winner, 2010 Formula 3 competitor, 2014 European Le Mans series Champion, 2015 Dubai 24 Hour Champion, and W Motors Ambassador.
Michael James Lewis is an American race car driver born on December 24, 1990, in Laguna Beach, California to parents Steve Lewis and Loretta Lewis. As a young, up-and-coming Race Car Driver, Michael has competed in a diverse number of racing vehicles including Formula 3, Formula BMW, Ford Focus Midgets, Touring Cars, Late Model Stock Cars, Quarter Midgets, & Go-Karts. Michael also officially tested a Formula One car for Scuderia Ferrari F1 in the F60 chassis on November 15, 2011. Michael's passion for racing is paramount and he enjoys every aspect of his racing career. The Laguna Beach, California native is known for his professionalism, work ethic, and he lives every day for motorsport.
Hannes van Asseldonk is a Dutch racing driver, currently driving in the British Formula 3 Championship for Fortec Motorsports.
Eftihios "Tio" Ellinas is a Cypriot race car driver. Ellinas began racing go-karts at the age of seven, and from 2003 - 2009 won 10 kart racing championships in Cyprus, in 2005 winning the ROK Cup International Final. He was the winner of Grand Prix Shootout in the UK in 2009 competing against 50 other top young drivers from all over the world.
Natasha Seatter is a Malaysian racing driver.
Aditya Patel is an Indian racing driver that represents Audi India Motorsport. Prior to this, he has competed in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, Polo Cup, Formula BMW Pacific and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
Zubair Hoque is an English racing driver.
Arjun Maini is an Indian professional racing driver, currently competing in the DTM. He has previously also competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing and Campos Racing. He was the winner of Force India's 'One in a Billion' driver hunt in 2011.
Johnathan Hoggard is a British racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Jenzer Motorsport.
Esteban Muth is a Belgian-German racing driver who currently drives for Walkenhorst Motorsport in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.