Johnny Mowlem

Johnny Mowlem (born 12 February 1969) is a professional British racing driver.

During his career Mowlem was ranked amongst the best sports car/GT drivers in the world.

Mowlem famously fell off his chair whilst commentating at the 2023 Le Mans 24hr race, having competed in every class of world championship sports car racing.

Mowlem started his racing career in 1990, at age 19, when he competed in Formula Ford 1600 at Brands Hatch.

He raced for Jackie Stewart's Staircase of Talent team in the British Formula Vauxhall Lotus class before moving up to the British Formula 3 championship in 1995, winning four times.

Mowlem began his career in single seaters racing up to Formula 3 level and got his big break when he was chosen personally by triple Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart to join his "staircase of "talent" team in the junior single seater formula, alongside drivers of the calibre of Dario Franchitti, Allan McNish and Gil de Ferran. He switched to sportscars in 1996, winning the Class 1 championship of the British Porsche Cup and then gained international recognition the following year when he won all 17 races of the British Porsche Cup to become British champion. This launched his professional career in World Sportscars. Later in his career he gained further international attention for his work as a driver of the hybrid-powered Ginetta Zytek prototype racer in the ALMS in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, Mowlem was a Lotus Racing factory driver, driving the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and in the International GT Open Series for sports cars in Europe.

Mowlem then switched to sports cars in 1996, racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in 1996 and 1997, winning the class 1 championship in 1996 and then generating his first major media attention in 1997 by winning all 17 races to become British champion for the second time.

He earned the pole position for 14 of the 17 events.

Winning this championship by remaining un-defeated throughout an entire season earned him international recognition and the Gregor Grant Award for outstanding achievement in motorsport at the International Autosport Awards.

In the 1998 season, Johnny Mowlem along with co-driver David Murry competed in the GT class in the ALMS finished first in the GT class at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Mowlem also finished second in the GT class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1999.

That same year, Mowlem and with co-driver David Murry competed in the GT class in the ALMS finished first in the GT class at Laguna Seca Raceway, setting the fastest GT lap of the race with a new track record.

The 2000 season included second place class finishes in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

By then Mowlem was a full-time competitor in the North American-based ALMS while living in the UK.

In 2001, Mowlem continued his ALMS career.

He drove with a number of co-drivers in the GT and GT1 class.

At Sebring, Mowlem was teamed with Petersen Motorsports but the team withdrew the car following the death of co-driver Bob Wollek following a non-racing incident in the Sebring area.

Mowlem posted the fastest lap by a GT1 car during the Le Mans race.

Mowlem partnered with Randy Pobst to finish second in the GT class at Le Mans in 2002.

He partnered with international stars Tony Stewart and Jan Lammers to drive a factory Crawford race car in the Daytona Prototype category at Daytona.

An engine failure stopped the trio after 15 hours.

Mowlem was part of another team that withdrew from competition at Sebring in 2008.

The Corsa Motorsports Ferrari team withdrew due to concerns over the tires the team was using.

He took part in the London Marathon, completing the distance, as part of a charity fundraiser by the British Racing Drivers Club in 2010.

The BRDC effort raised eighty thousand pounds.

Mowlem's effort was all the more remarkable as his training was limited by a torn Achilles tendon suffered three months earlier.

Mowlem was hurt while playing soccer.

He ran the London Marathon again in 2011 lowering his personal best to the 3hr 45m mark.

He is the 2013 European Le Mans Series GT champion, having previously won the British Porsche Cup championship in 1996 and 1997.

He has class victories in both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, and has earned podiums at virtually all of the world's major sports car races, including the Le Mans 24 hours and the 1000 km Nürburgring.

He has also achieved overall podium finishes at the Daytona 24 hours as well as at Petit Le Mans.

His latest driving championship came in the European Le Mans Series in 2013.

Mowlem raced in the ALMS series every year that sanctioning body held races.

Mowlem also operates his own driving academy, working with both corporate clients and drivers wishing for a career in racing.

Mowlem's career has been followed for over the last decade in his home country through a series of documentary television programs that air on the Television network Sky Sports Television.

Mowlem, who was born in London, was raised in Majorca, Spain from the age of one until he was seventeen years old.

He attended Leeds University where he achieved a joint Honors BA degree in Spanish and Economics.

Divorced in 2021, he was married to actress Fiona McLean for 24 years and has two children; a son named Reece and a daughter, Sereina.

Mowlem has a tremendous fitness ethic.

Mowlem was inducted into the University of Leeds Sporting Hall of Fame in October 2018.