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The fearless
one
The young Columbian returns to Europe with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in 2001
after two sensational seasons in America's CART Championship Series. By
winning the title in his debut year, Juan Pablo proved beyond doubt that
he is one of the biggest new talents to arrive in world motorsport and now
he's back working with familiar faces at WilliamsF1.
Few drivers have arrived in Formula One surrounded by the hype and
anticipation as Juan Pablo, but Frank Williams puts these expectations
into perspective: "During the first four test sessions of 2001, Juan Pablo
has demonstrated a strong potential for success in Formula One. He is
clearly talented and competitive by instinct, but to predict instant
success would be unwise."
In May 2000, Juan Pablo claimed an iconic achievement as the first
victorious rookie in the Indy 500 for 34 years. The last debutant before
him to win on the legendary oval track had been Graham Hill in 1966.
Montoya's victory was no fluke. He dominated the event by clocking up the
most, and by far the fastest, lead laps. After crossing the finishing line
and drinking the obligatory winner's milk, he was to rub salt into the
wounds of the vanquished: "I had a lot of fun today. I was joking with my
team manager Chip Ganassi over the radio. I never took the risk of not
winning this race."
With the same team and in the same stealth-like manner, Montoya snatched
the crown in the 1999 Champ Car Series. With seven victories and two other
placings among the top three he emerged as the best rookie the series had
ever seen, even equalling Nigel Mansell's record seven pole positions. The
British driver, though new to America's top-echelon race series in 1993,
had 13 years of Formula One experience under his belt.
Kindergarten kid in a go-kart
Juan Pablo's training behind the wheel had its classic beginnings in
Colombia when he was five - on the karting track. Uncle Diego had
introduced this pursuit into the family: the high point of his career was
eighth place in the 1983 Le Mans. Father Pablo, an architect from Bogota,
supported his son's ambitions from the very first lap and continues to do
his utmost today.
Juan Pablo, born on 20th September 1975 in Bogota, raked in numerous
karting successes and titles up until 1992. He then competed in various
Formula and even Touring Car categories in South America. The next step in
his career took him to Europe.
Europe beckons
In 1995 he entered his first Formula race in Europe and ended the season
third in the British Formula Vauxhall Championship. In 1996 he made his
mark in the British Formula 3 by gleaning two victories as well as fourth
place in the F3 European Championship at Zandvoort in Holland. That was to
be his calling card for Formula 3000.
When he shot straight into second place in 1997, Frank Williams invited
him and three other drivers to take a Formula One test based upon a quest
to identify candidates for what was, at the time, a forthcoming driver
development programme. Juan Pablo clearly demonstrated his potential and
in collaboration with Super Nova racing, WilliamsF1 brokered a deal to
enter him into the 1998 Formula 3000 Championship. In addition, he was
simultaneously employed as F1 test driver for WilliamsF1.
By the end of 1998 he had pocketed the F3000 title with a record number of
points and race wins. With Jacques Villenueve on his way to British
American Racing for 1999, WilliamsF1 urgently required a second driver to
partner Alex Zanardi and while Juan Pablo looked very promising, it was
felt that he was not completely ready. Patrick Head explains: "We suddenly
found ourselves with Alex Zanardi signed up, and no one else. Juan Pablo
was obviously very talented as a test driver, but when Frank and I
discussed it, we thought that to have Alex fresh back from Indy racing,
without recent experience of F1 and F1 tyres, and then Juan Pablo as a
rookie, was going to be too big a step for 1999. With that in mind, we
agreed we had to have a current experienced F1 driver. Ralf indicated to
us that he was available, or his management did, so we did the deal."
Thus the next two years saw Juan Pablo racing on the other side of the
Atlantic with tremendous success, but also with a clear goal in mind - he
wanted to race in Formula One.
An outstanding talent ...
Juan Pablo very soon settled into the US racing scene. One of his
self-professed strengths is being able to rapidly memorise the race lines
of new circuits. "He's a complete natural," says Ganassi's former racing
engineer Mo Nunn, corroborating the judgment of Williams and Sears.
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