Ricardo Zonta facts for kids
Zonta in 2007, as a Stock Car Brasil driver
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| Born | Ricardo Luiz Zonta 23 March 1976 Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil |
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| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||||||
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
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| Active years | 1999–2001, 2004–2005 | ||||||||||
| Teams | BAR, Jordan, Toyota | ||||||||||
| Entries | 38 (36 starts) | ||||||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Wins | 0 | ||||||||||
| Podiums | 0 | ||||||||||
| Career points | 3 | ||||||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||||||
| First entry | 1999 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last entry | 2005 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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Ricardo Luiz Zonta (born March 23, 1976) is a professional racing driver from Brazil. He currently races full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series. He drives the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport.
Contents
Ricardo Zonta's Racing Journey
Starting in Karts
Ricardo Zonta was born in Curitiba, Brazil. He started his racing career in karting when he was just 11 years old in 1987. He won his very first race soon after. The next year, he finished second in the Curitiba Karting Championship. In 1991, he won the championship title! He continued karting until 1992, finishing fourth in the São Paulo Karting Championship.
Moving to Single-Seaters
In 1993, Ricardo moved on to single-seater cars, which are open-wheel race cars. He finished 6th in the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship. In 1994, he came in fifth in the Brazilian Formula Three Championship. Just one year later, in 1995, Ricardo Zonta won both the Brazilian and South American Formula Three Championships. This showed everyone how talented he was!
Racing in Europe
Ricardo moved to Europe in 1996 to continue his racing career. He competed in the International Formula 3000 Championship for Draco Racing. He won two races and finished fourth overall in the championship. That same year, he also became the first Brazilian to race in International Touring Cars with Mercedes.
In 1997, Ricardo had an amazing year. He won three races and became the champion of the Formula 3000 series! For his great efforts, he received the "Golden Helmet" award for being the best international driver. After winning the championship, the Jordan Formula One team chose him as their official test driver. In 1998, he also tested with the McLaren Formula One team. He also won the FIA GT Championship (GT1 class) and another "Golden Helmet" award for his worldwide success.
In October 1998, right after winning the FIA GT championship, Ricardo Zonta signed with the B.A.R. Formula One racing team. He became one of their main drivers for the 1999 season, even though other teams like Jordan and Sauber wanted him too.
Ricardo Zonta in Formula One
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In 1999, Ricardo Zonta started his Formula One journey with the new team BAR. His teammate was Jacques Villeneuve, who had won the World Championship in 1997. Unfortunately, Ricardo injured his foot in an accident during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix. This meant he had to miss three races. He also had a big accident at Spa-Francorchamps. He finished the season without scoring any championship points.
Ricardo stayed with BAR for the 2000 season. He scored his very first world championship point by finishing sixth in the first race of the season. He had another big accident when his car's front suspension broke during testing at Silverstone. But he kept racing and scored more points in the Italian and United States Grands Prix. He finished 14th in the championship that year.
For the 2001 season, Olivier Panis took Ricardo's place at BAR. Ricardo then became the third driver for the Jordan team. He filled in for the injured Heinz-Harald Frentzen for one race. He also raced again when Frentzen left the team, but he was not chosen to race for the rest of the season.
In 2002, Ricardo decided to focus on the Telefónica World Series, which he won! After that, he was hired as a test driver for the Toyota F1 team in 2003 and continued in that role in 2004. Towards the end of 2004, he got to race in four Grands Prix for Toyota. In Belgium, he was doing really well, running in fourth place, but his engine broke down just three laps from the end. For the Japanese Grand Prix, the team hired Jarno Trulli, so Ricardo didn't race. However, he was able to compete in his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished 13th.
He continued as a test driver for Toyota in 2005. At the US Grand Prix that year, he stepped in for the injured Ralf Schumacher. But Toyota, along with six other teams using Michelin tires, had to pull out of the race because of safety worries. Ricardo continued as Toyota's third and test driver in 2006. He was then confirmed as a test driver for the Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season.
After Formula One
In 2007, while still working for the Renault F1 team, Ricardo Zonta started racing in the Stock Car Brasil series. In 2008, he competed in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race with Peugeot Sport. He drove the #9 car with Franck Montagny and Christian Klien.
Today, Ricardo also races in the Grand Am Championship in America with Krohn Racing. He is also the owner and a driver for RZ Motorsport in Stock Car Brasil.
Personal Life
Ricardo Zonta has two relatives, Billy and Brendon, who are also racing drivers. Billy used to compete in the Sprint Race series but had to stop racing in 2016 due to illness. Brendon is currently active in the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race series, driving the No. 7 Ford Mustang in the AM class.
Images for kids
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Zonta in 2007, as a Stock Car Brasil driver
See also
In Spanish: Ricardo Zonta para niños
