Jonathan Summerton

Last updated
Jonathan Summerton
Nationality Flag of the United States.svg American
Born (1988-04-21) April 21, 1988 (age 35)
Kissimmee, Florida
American Le Mans Series
Years active2012–2013
Teams Rahal Letterman Racing
BMW
Starts4
Wins1
Poles0
Fastest laps3
Previous series
2009–2010
2008–2009
2006–2008
2006–2007
2004–2005
2004–2005
Indy Lights
Atlantic Championship
A1 Grand Prix
Formula Three Euro Series
Formula BMW USA
Formula BMW ADAC

Jonathan Summerton (born April 21, 1988, in Kissimmee, Florida) is an American race car driver. [1]

Contents

Early racing

Jonathan Summerton began racing karts at the age of 14 and by the end of the year had begun racing Skip Barber Series cars. In 2004 he began racing in Formula BMW USA and won the Formula BMW USA Scholarship to race in the USA where in his first year with several wins and fastest laps he came second in the championship. The following year he entered the BMW international series where he finished second at Spa-Francorchamps and finished tenth in the championship. In 2006 he competed in Formula Three Euro Series where he finished 3rd at Spa, 2nd at LeMans, and won the final Hockenheim race. He then finished ninth in the championship.

A1 Grand Prix

In 2007 he made starts in the A1 Grand Prix series for A1 Team USA and took second in the feature race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. For the rest of 2007 he drove a partial season in F3 EuroSeries after being the test driver in the debut of the new Volkswagen engine for RC Motorsport and tested a Champ Car Atlantic Series car for Derrick Walker. He returned to A1 Team USA for the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season. Summerton captured A1 Team USA's first A1GP victory in the feature race at Shanghai. [2] The American team would eventually finish 12th in the championship, with Summerton finishing 2nd in the final sprint race of the campaign, at Brands Hatch.

Atlantics and Indy Lights

For the 2008 season, Summerton raced in the Atlantic Championship for Newman Wachs Racing winning two races and finishing 3rd in points. He was signed by the USF1 team to be its main driver but the team later folded due to lack of funding. For the 2009 season he signed with RLR/Andersen Racing to race in the Firestone Indy Lights Series in addition to competing in Atlantics races with Genoa Racing. He later switched teams and returned to Newman Wachs Racing after Genoa shut down and finished in a first-place tie to teammate John Edwards, but lost the tiebreaker. His Indy Lights season came to an end with a crash at the Milwaukee Mile and the team brought on pay drivers to complete the season in the #9 car. He finished second in his first Indy Lights start on the Streets of St. Petersburg and was in the top-five in the championship at the time of his departure, even leading the championship after the first three races of the season. [3] He made one start in 2010 for Walker Racing before being replaced by Dan Clarke.

Sports car racing

After two years on the sidelines, Summerton was signed to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring along with fellow BMW drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Müller in the GTLM class. Winning his first race the coveted 12 hours of Sebring in their class and 18th overall. Summerton set fastest race laps at 2 events along with finishing at Petit LeMans 3rd place. [4]

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

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

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2006 ASL Mücke Motorsport Dallara F305/028 Mercedes HOC1
1

Ret
HOC1
2

11
LAU
1

4
LAU
2

7
OSC
1

17
OSC
2

Ret
BRH
1

12
BRH
2

10
NOR
1

3
NOR
2

13
NÜR
1

24
NÜR
2

16
ZAN
1

6
ZAN
2

17
CAT
1

Ret
CAT
2

Ret
BUG
1

2
BUG
2

4
HOC2
1

8
HOC2
2

1
9th32
2007 RC Motorsport Dallara F306/028 Volkswagen HOC1
1
HOC1
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
NOR
1
NOR
2
MAG
1
MAG
2
MUG
1
MUG
2
ZAN
1
ZAN
2
NÜR
1

18
NÜR
2

15
CAT
1

16
CAT
2

Ret
NOG
1

14
NOG
2

12
HOC2
1
HOC2
2
NC†0

† – As Summerton was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516171819202122DCPoints
2006–07 USA NED
SPR
NED
FEA
CZE
SPR
CZE
FEA
BEI
SPR
BEI
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
IDN
SPR
IDN
FEA
NZL
SPR
NZL
FEA
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
RSA
SPR

Ret
RSA
FEA

Ret
MEX
SPR

5
MEX
FEA

2
SHA
SPR

5
SHA
FEA

Ret
GBR
SPR

9
GBR
SPR

6
9th42
2007–08 NED
SPR
NED
FEA
CZE
SPR
CZE
FEA
MYS
SPR

12
MYS
FEA

10
ZHU
SPR

12
ZHU
FEA

10
NZL
SPR

7
NZL
FEA

14
AUS
SPR

5
AUS
FEA

Ret
RSA
SPR

10
RSA
FEA

Ret
MEX
SPR

5
MEX
FEA

3
SHA
SPR

21
SHA
FEA

1
GBR
SPR

2
GBR
SPR

12
12th56

American open-wheel racing results

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

Atlantic Championship

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
2008 Newman Wachs Racing LBH
4
LS
6
MTT
12
EDM1
6
EDM2
1
ROA1
Ret
ROA2
1
TRR
2
NJ
3
UTA
2
ATL
Ret
3rd224
2009 Genoa Racing SEB
3
UTA
6
NJ1
1
NJ2
2
2nd182
Newman Wachs Racing LIM
4
ACC1
2
ACC2
Ret
MDO
1
TRR
3
MOS
1
ATL
1
LS
2

Indy Lights

YearTeam123456789101112131415RankPoints
2009 RLR/Andersen Racing STP1
2
STP2
4
LBH
4
KAN
7
INDY
12
MIL
16
IOW WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI HMS 17th162
2010 Walker Racing STP
8
ALA LBH INDY IOW WGL TOR EDM MDO SNM CHI KTY HMS 28th24

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References

  1. "Newman Wachs to return, joins 2017 USF2000 series". 15 August 2016.
  2. Krefting, Kevin (April 13, 2008). "Summerton Gives USA First Win". SpeedTV.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  3. "RLR/Anderson Racing Back in Indy Lights Points Lead". RLR/Andersen PR. April 28, 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2015 via Auto Racing Daily.
  4. Griffin, Keith (March 18, 2012). "BMW Team RLL claims Second Straight 12 Hours of Sebring GT Win". TorqueNews. Retrieved October 25, 2015.