Billy Monger

Billy Monger
Nationality United Kingdom British
Born (1999-05-05) 5 May 1999 [1]
Charlwood, Surrey, United Kingdom [2]
BRDC Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season 2016
Current team JHR Developments
Car no. 23
Starts 33
Wins 0
Poles 1
Fastest laps 1
Best finish 12th in 2016

Billy Monger (born 5 May 1999)[1] is a British racing driver who raced in British F4 in 2016 and 2017. He is also referred to by the nickname "Billy The Whizz".[3][4][5] Prior to that he was a successful Ginetta Junior racer and prior to that again he was heavily involved in kart racing all over the UK and the Channel Islands.

Career

In 2016, Monger joined the F4 British Championship with JHR Developments.[6] There he took three podiums and finished 12th in the championship. He remained with the team for the 2017 season. On 16 April 2017, Monger was involved in a high-speed crash at the Donington race, as a result he had the lower part of both of his legs amputated.[7][8] A JustGiving page was set up by his team JHR Developments to raise money for Monger, raising over £500,000 in the first 24 hours. A number of F1 drivers have shown their support towards Monger, including Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Jolyon Palmer and Nico Hülkenberg.[9][10]

In June 2017, it was announced that Monger would return to competition in November of 2017, sharing a Group CN Ligier JS53 Evo 2-Honda with quadruple amputee Frédéric Sausset in a round of the V de V Challenge Endurance Proto at the Autódromo do Estoril in Portugal, as part of a programme with the eventual aim of fielding a team of three disabled drivers at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours.[11] In July 2017 Monger made his return to the track when he tested a Fun Cup Volkswagen Beetle adapted with additional hand controls at Brands Hatch.[12]

In February 2018, Monger drove a single seater racing car for the first time since his crash when he tested a BRDC British Formula 3 car for the Carlin team at Oulton Park.[13] The following month Monger confirmed that he would be racing for Carlin in the opening meeting of the 2018 BRDC Formula 3 series at the same venue.[14] He finished third at Oulton Park in a car adapted for him including a throttle on the steering wheel.[15]

In June 2018, Monger drove a Formula 1 racing car for the first time when he tested a Sauber C30 built by Tour-De-Force Power Engineering for Heritage F1 at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby. The car had been specially converted to match the hand controls present in the Carlin BRDC British Formula 3 car he races. A documentary feature about Monger's first Formula 1 drive was shown as part of Sky F1s coverage of the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 Ginetta Junior Championship JHR Developments 20 2 1 1 7 325 5th
2016 F4 British Championship JHR Developments 27 0 1 0 3 78 12th
2017 F4 British Championship JHR Developments 6 0 0 0 2 44 14th
Ford F4 Challenge Cup 6 4 0 1 4 100 6th
2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Carlin 21 0 2 3 3 274 6th*

* Season still in progress.

See also

  • Alex Zanardi, another open-cockpit open-wheel racing driver who lost both legs in a racing crash

References

  1. 1 2 Chris Kitching (25 April 2017). "Teen racing driver Billy Monger breaks silence after horrific accident that saw him lose his lower legs". The Mirror (London).
  2. ↑ Dave Whitfield; Sophie Evans; Stephen Jones (20 April 2017). "Racing driver Billy Monger to be 'woken from coma in days' as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button help raise £350,000". The Mirror (London).
  3. ↑ Sophie Evans (20 April 2017). "Teenage British F4 racing driver Billy Monger loses both lower legs after horror Motorsport crash at Donington Park". The Mirror (London).
  4. ↑ Alan Baldwin (2017). "Motor racing-Hamilton hopes Zanardi can inspire injured British teen". Newswire. Wards Auto.
  5. ↑ "F1 Russian GP: F1 teams show support for Billy Monger in Sochi". Crash.net. 28 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Paice, Simon (25 February 2016). "Monger stays with JHR for MSA Formula move". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Formula 4: British driver Billy Monger suffers leg injuries in crash - BBC Sport (16 April 2017)
  8. ↑ Formula 4: British driver Billy Monger has legs amputated - BBC News (19 April 2017)
  9. ↑ "Help raise £260000 to Help Billy Monger beat life changing injuries, after being involved in one of the most horrific crashes Motorsport has seen". JustGiving.
  10. ↑ Formula 4: Jenson Button pledges £15,000 to support British driver Billy Monger - BBC Sport (20 April 2017)
  11. ↑ Watkins, Gary (17 June 2017). "Billy Monger to make racing return as Sausset targets Le Mans". autosport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Billy Monger crash: Amputee teen racer back behind wheel". bbc.co.uk. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  13. ↑ Saunders, Nate (7 February 2018). "Double amputee Billy Monger completes first single-seater car test". ESPN (UK TV channel). Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Mackley, Stefan (27 March 2018). "Billy Monger's racing return confirmed for BRDC British F3 opener". autosport.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "Billy Monger: Double amputee hails 'surreal' podium finish on British F3 debut". BBC Sport. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.