John Fitzpatrick: Porsche Champion From Touring Cars to Le Mans-Era Endurance Racing

John Fitzpatrick is a British former racing driver who won the British Saloon Car Championship in 1966. He later became one of the leading Porsche drivers of his era, winning the European GT title in 1972 and 1974 and the IMSA GT Championship in 1980.

Who is John Fitzpatrick?

John Fitzpatrick was born in Birmingham on 9 June 1943. He is a former racing driver who won many titles, and he now works in motorsport as a consultant on corporate events and driver management. His memoir, which carries the title Fitz-My Life at the Wheel, appeared in 2016.

His career moved through touring cars, sports cars and endurance racing. He became known for his skill with German machinery, driving Porsche 911s, BMWs and Porsche 935s, and he won the Porsche Cup in 1972, 1974 and 1980.

Fitzpatrick's career spans British touring cars, European GT and endurance racing, and the IMSA series in America.

How did Fitzpatrick start in the British Saloon Car Championship?

Fitzpatrick had little racing experience when he entered the British Saloon Car Championship. From 1963 Team Broadspeed employed him to race an Austin Mini Cooper S in the final rounds of the year, and he picked up points before retiring twice at the end of the season.

For 1964 he switched to Cooper Car Company, a works-supported squad. He won his first class race at the opening round and took a second class win at the fourth meeting, and he ended the championship runner-up to Jim Clark.

He returned to Broadspeed in 1965, with three podiums including a class win in a Morris Mini Cooper S. In 1966 Broadspeed ran two 1000cc Ford Anglias for Fitzpatrick and Peter Proctor. Proctor crashed badly at Goodwood and was replaced by Anita Taylor, and Fitzpatrick won the championship overall.

He was second overall in 1967, before Broadspeed moved to Ford Escorts. In 1968 the Escort struggled early, since its homologation only came at the third race of the season, but Fitzpatrick took four class wins in mid-season and finished sixth overall. In 1969 he added three more class wins and finished seventh.

In 1970 and 1971 he took a further fifteen class wins and finished third in the 1970 championship. The new regulations that year seemed to push him toward endurance racing, and after 1971 he raced full-time in that field.

What were his first European endurance seasons?

In 1971 Fitzpatrick joined the works Ford team, Ford Koln, for the European Touring Car Championship, partnering Jochen Mass in the endurance events. The pair finished fourth at Monza in a Ford Escort RS 1600, and he later won the Austria-Trophaee at the Salzburgring.

He ended 1971 with a win at the Jarama 4 Hours, alongside Mass.

How did the 1972 season build his reputation?

In 1972 Fitzpatrick moved to BMW Team Schnitzer for another attack on the ETCC title. With Rolf Stommelen and Hans Heyer he won the Grosser Preis der Tourenwagen, also known as the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring, and he finished sixth overall in the championship.

That same year he drove a Porsche 911 S for the Kremer team in the inaugural European GT Championship. He won five of the nine races on the way to the title. His nearest rival, Claude Haldi, finished on sixty-one points to his one hundred and twenty-five. He also won the Porsche Cup.

Back in the ETCC he returned to Ford Koln and its Ford Capri RS 2600. He won the Austria-Trophaee again, alongside Dieter Glemser, and took a second place at the Spa 24 Hours.

What did the 1974 and 1975 seasons bring?

In 1974 Fitzpatrick won the European GT title for the Gelo team by nine points, after winning three races. The title fight was a close one between the Kremer and Gelo teams, and he won the Porsche Cup for a second time.

In 1975 he went back to Schnitzer and won a third Austria-Trophaee. He then rejoined Gelo for the European GT season, but the title went to Tebernuma Racing's Hartwig Bertrams and his RSR.

What happened in the 1976 World Championship for Makes?

In 1976 the World Championship for Makes arrived with silhouette cars, but only Porsche was ready. Fitzpatrick drove a BMW 3.5 CSL entered by Hermetite Products. At Silverstone's 6 Hours he won with Tom Walkinshaw, finishing 20 metres ahead of Bob Wollek and Hans Heyer.

That win came after the works Porsches of Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx ran into trouble, along with a turbo BMW driven by Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson. The car was supplied by BMW Motorsport, although it was outdated and fragile.

Outside Europe he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in a BMW 3.0 CSL for BMW of North America. He began with Walkinshaw, yet after their car retired he switched to the sister entry of Peter Gregg and Brian Redman, which won by 14 laps.

He then finished second in the RAC Tourist Trophy and won the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst. He shared a Holden Torana L34 with Bob Morris, a Ron Hodgson Motors car, and nursed it home trailing smoke over the final laps. The problem was later traced to a failed oil seal. Oil leaked into the clutch and made it slip, which slowed the car on the steeper parts of Mount Panorama.

How was Fitzpatrick's Bathurst career?

Fitzpatrick was a regular at Bathurst. He raced an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV with Fred Gibson in 1975 and won with Morris in 1976. He then took Toranas and Falcons with Morris and Allan Moffat, and most of those races ended without a finish.

His best result came in 1981, when he and Morris finished second in an XD Falcon. His last planned appearance was in 1982, when a front wheel failed in Saturday practice and the car crashed into the wall, which kept it from starting the race.

What were the 1977 and 1978 seasons?

In 1977 Fitzpatrick returned to Kremer Racing and co-drove with Wollek to three podiums in five world championship races. He also raced for Broadspeed in a Jaguar XJ12C, but that programme was delayed when British Leyland did not confirm whether it would continue.

With Tim Schenken he raced eight times for Jaguar and finished only once, 16th at Brno, after an exploding tyre. In 1978 he raced for the Luigi Team and BMW Italia, winning the Mugello 100 Giri with Umberto Grano.

Three weeks before that, he had won the Mugello 6 Hours for Gelo Racing in a Porsche 935 with Toine Hezemans and Hans Heyer. At Watkins Glen the 6 Hours win came with Hezemans, with Peter Gregg replacing Heyer. He scored seven podiums that season and won the ADAC-Trophy at Zandvoort.

What did 1979 bring?

For 1979 Fitzpatrick dropped the ETCC and concentrated on Group 5 racing with Gelo Racing and its Porsche 935. The DRM season produced no wins, but he retained the Mugello 6 Hours with new partners Wollek and Manfred Schurti.

He also won the Silverstone 6 Hours with Heyer, by more than seven laps, and he shared the ADAC 1000 km win with Wollek and Schurti later in the year.

How did the IMSA years go?

In 1980 Dick Barbour Racing hired Fitzpatrick as its lead driver for the Porsche 935K3, and he won the IMSA GT Championship by taking seven of the fourteen races. His title came ahead of Gregg, the 1979 champion.

His wins included the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix, both alongside Barbour, and a World Championship round at Mosport Park with Redman. In Europe he won the ADAC Norisring Trophy in a Barbour car, and he finished eighth overall. When Barbour's car was unavailable in Europe, he drove the Jagermeister Kremer version and took three more wins.

Why did Fitzpatrick found his own team?

In 1981 Dick Barbour faced financial setbacks, so Fitzpatrick founded John Fitzpatrick Racing, backed by Sachs. He was owner and driver in the team's first season, assisted by the Kremer brothers, and he won the Camel GT race at Road Atlanta in the second round of the year.

He also won the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix that year with Jim Busby. The team's 935K4 then won at Mid-Ohio, Lime Rock and Road America in 1982, a season in which John Paul Jr. raced against Ted Field and Danny Ongais in an Interscope Lola.

At Riverside in 1982 the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix gave Fitzpatrick his third win in four seasons, shared with David Hobbs and Derek Bell. The team's other 935 was driven by Rolf Stommelen, who crashed after a lap on fresh tyres and hit a wall. The team did not know how serious the accident was. It moved Bell into the winning car, and the all-English line-up went on to win, unaware that Stommelen had died.

What did the later team years bring?

Away from North America, Fitzpatrick drove a Jaguar XJS for Tom Walkinshaw Racing in a few ETCC events. His best result was a home victory in the Donington 500, where TWR's tactics included a second Jaguar blocking the leading BMW.

With sponsorship from J. David he bought two Porsche 956s for the World Endurance Championship, becoming a privateer who fielded a multi-car 956 team. The team was also the first to race a 956 in the United States, where the car ran in the Can-Am series because IMSA's Camel GT series had banned it on safety grounds.

On its first American outing, the 956 won at Elkhart Lake. Back in Europe, Fitzpatrick and Derek Warwick won the 1000 km race at Brands Hatch with an updated 956, making the team only the second to beat the works team.

What happened to the team after Skoal Bandit?

In 1984 Guy Edwards brought Skoal Bandit sponsorship to the team, which also added a Porsche 962 alongside a new 956. The 962 was unpopular with the drivers and was sold early in 1985. The only other win that year came at the Norisring in a DRM round, with Thierry Boutsen.

After Skoal Bandit withdrew at the close of 1984, the team struggled for money. One car was leased to Manuel Lopez with Canal 9 Peru sponsorship and was written off at Silverstone. Two cars backed by 100s cigarettes were entered for the 1985 Le Mans 24 Hours, but the rebuilt car crashed heavily in practice.

At the 1985 Norisring round of the World Endurance Championship the works Porsches were absent, which left Derek Bell without a drive. Fitzpatrick offered him one. Bell started near the back and finished 11th in a 956, while Hans Stuck came 15th after electrical trouble. That result decided the 1985 world title in Bell's favour.

Following the Mugello 1000 km, where he took fourth with Hobbs and Boutsen, Fitzpatrick stopped driving to concentrate on team organisation. He moved to Spain, and in 1986 he sold the team, including its cars, transporters and equipment, to Jochen Dauer.

A planned expansion into CART, with March chassis and J. David sponsorship, never came to fruition.

What does the career summary show?

What is Fitzpatrick's legacy?

Fitzpatrick's career spans British touring cars, European GT and endurance racing, and the IMSA series in America. His titles include the 1966 British Saloon Car Championship, the European GT titles of 1972 and 1974 and the 1980 IMSA GT Championship.

He also won at Daytona, Bathurst and Silverstone, and his own team ran Porsches in Europe and the United States. Since leaving the sport he has worked as a consultant, and he published his book in 2016.