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Born in
Brentwood, England, on 25 June 1964, Johnny Herbert started racing in
go-karts at the age of ten. He won three titles between 1978 and 1982
and then moved on to Formula Ford 1600 and 2000.
Thanks to his success at the Formula Ford Festival in 1985, Herbert
made his debut in Formula 3 the following year and in 1987 he secured
the British title.
Herbert raced in Formula 3000 in 1988 where he won at Jerez in Spain.
Formula 1 scouts were aware of the Englishman’s talent and he duly
made his debut with Benetton in 1989, finishing fourth.
Over the course of the season Herbert also raced for Tyrell. The next
year he turned out twice for Lotus, a team he would stay with until
1994, finishing in the points on numerous occasions.
At the same time as his F1 drives in ’90 and ’91, Herbert also took
part in the Japanese F3000 championship. In 1991 he also scored one of
the biggest wins of his career by claiming the Le Mans 24 Hour with
Mazda. In 1994 he raced for Lotus, Ligier and Benetton again.
He remained with Benetton until 1995, flanking Michael Schumacher: it
was to be his best in F1. He won two races: Silverstone and Monza,
finishing fourth overall. Herbert then joined Sauber from 1996 to 1998
where his best placings were two third spots at Monte Carlo and
Hungary.
He signed for Stewart in 1999, securing himself a better-performing
car. That season he earned the third F1 win of his career at the
European GP at the Nürburgring. In 2000, Stewart was bought by Jaguar
but the new car did not prove to be as good as expected and did not
bring any results of note.
He opted out of Formula 1 and switched to the Sport category. In
Europe and the USA he got behind the wheel of an Audi, Bentley and
then an Audi again. Since 2001 he has won the Sebring 12 Hour and
three ALMS races. He has also twice finished second at the Le Mans 24
Hour.
Herbert is one of the few drivers who can claim to have won at
legendary circuits like Le Mans, Monza, Silverstone, Nürburgring and
Sebring.
He is married to Rebecca and has two childrens. They live in Monaco.
In his spare time, he enjoys computers. His drink of choice is
cappuccino and pasta with tomatoes and basilic his favourite food. |
