Josef Král (born 15 June 1990 in Dvůr Králové nad Labem) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic and current Formula 1 commentator on Czech TV station Nova Sport 5.

Josef Král
NationalityCzech Republic Czech
Born (1990-06-15) 15 June 1990 (age 34)
Dvůr Králové, Czech Republic
24H Series career
Debut season2016
Current teamScuderia Praha
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number11
Starts3
Wins1
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish17th in 2016
Previous series
2016
201012
200911
200809
2007–08
2007
200607
2005
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
GP2 Series
GP2 Asia Series
International Formula Master
A1 Grand Prix
Formula BMW UK
Formula BMW ADAC
Czech Formula 1400

Career

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Karting & early career

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Král began his motorsport career in karting back in 1998, and during the following seven years he achieved notable success, winning the Czech Republic ICA Junior title in 2003 and the Czech ICA 100 Championship the following year, as well as numerous other titles.

In 2005, Král made his Formula Racing debut, finishing third in the Czech Formula 1400 series.

Formula BMW

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In 2006, Král made the step up to Formula BMW, competing in the German ADAC series. Driving for Micánek Motorsport, he scored forty points during the year to be classified in twelfth place. At the end of the year, Král switched to Josef Kaufmann Racing to contest the Formula BMW World Final, held in Valencia. He originally finished as runner-up to team-mate Christian Vietoris, but was subsequently disqualified from the race.[1]

Král continued in Formula BMW for 2007, this time switching to the UK series with Räikkönen Robertson Racing. He scored a total of thirteen podium places in eighteen races, including six wins, to finish as runner-up to Swede Marcus Ericsson. He also took part in two Formula BMW ADAC races, taking a single podium position.

Král once again took part in the end-of-season Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, this time driving for Mücke Motorsport. Again, he finished second on the road behind team-mate Philipp Eng, but was disqualified for a technical infringement.[2]

A1 Grand Prix

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In February 2008, Král made his debut for A1 Team Czech Republic in the South African round of the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season.[3] After qualifying towards the back of the grid for both races, he finished eighteenth in the sprint race before retiring from the feature event.

International Formula Master

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In 2008, Král joined Team JVA to contest the International Formula Master series. He finished the season in sixth place, taking three podium places, including a debut win at Oschersleben.[4]

He remained in the championship for 2009, this time switching to Italian team JD Motorsport.[5] After taking podium places in Valencia, Brno and Brands Hatch, Král won his first race of the season at the Hungaroring, which acted as a support race for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.[6] He added another win at Oschersleben en route to third in the championship.

GP2 Series

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In October 2009, Král made his debut in a GP2 car, testing for both Ocean Racing Technology and Piquet GP at Jerez in Spain. Later the same month, he signed with British team Super Nova Racing to contest the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series.[7] This relationship continued into the main series in 2010, when Král teamed up with his former Formula BMW rival Ericsson.[8] During the sprint race at Valencia, Král's car was launched into the air after he collided with Rodolfo González, before landing heavily and hitting the tyre barriers. Král sustained two fractured vertebrae as a result, and was replaced by Luca Filippi until he recovered. After missing ten races, Král returned to action at the final round of the championship, where he scored his first series points.

Král moved to the Arden International team for 2011, partnered by 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship runner-up Jolyon Palmer.[9] He finished tenth in the Asia series. In the main series, he scored his first podium in the Monaco sprint race. Another podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps saw him improve to 15th place in the championship. He moved to reigning teams' champion, Addax, for the 2012 season, alongside Johnny Cecotto, but was replaced by Dani Clos after the first round of the championship.[10] He then returned to the seat for the fourth round of the series.[11] After a run of pointless weekends, he took his first series victory in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, only to be dropped for the following round of the championship in favour of Jake Rosenzweig.[12] He finished 17th in the championship.

Formula One

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Král tested a Formula One car for the first time at the 2010 season-ending "young drivers" test in Abu Dhabi, with Hispania Racing.[13]

Král revealed in June 2013 that he had a contract in place to race in the 2013 Formula One season with HRT F1 before the team went into administration and eventually closed.[14]

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Czech Formula 1400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 3rd
2006 Formula BMW ADAC Micánek Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 40 12th
2007 Formula BMW UK Räikkönen Robertson Racing 18 6 1 6 13 636 2nd
Formula BMW ADAC ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg 2 0 0 0 1 56 25th
2007–08 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Czech Republic 2 0 0 0 0 10 19th
2008 International Formula Master Team JVA 16 1 0 0 3 29 6th
2009 International Formula Master JD Motorsport 16 2 1 3 6 62 3rd
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series Super Nova Racing 8 0 0 0 1 8 11th
2010 GP2 Series Super Nova Racing 10 0 0 0 0 3 24th
Formula One HRT F1 Team Test driver
2011 GP2 Series Arden International 18 0 0 0 2 15 15th
GP2 Asia Series 4 0 0 0 1 8 10th
GP2 Final 2 0 0 0 0 0 16th
2012 GP2 Series Barwa Addax Team 16 1 0 0 1 27 17th
2013 Auto GP Zele Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 23rd
2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Scuderia Praha 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 13 30th
24H Series - A6
2017 24H Series - A6 Scuderia Praha
2018 24H GT Series - A6 Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha
2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 7 23rd
24H GT Series - A6
2021 24H GT Series - GT3 MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha
2023 Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali - Trofeo Pirelli (Pro) Scuderia Praha 2 0 0 0 1 15 9th

Complete Formula BMW ADAC results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
2006 Micánek Motorsport HOC
1

8
HOC
2

11
LAU
1

11
LAU
2

13
NÜR
1

9
NÜR
2

20
OSC
1

13
OSC
2

4
OSC
1

10
OSC
2

9
NOR
1

9
NOR
2

10
NÜR
1

11
NÜR
2

11
ZAN
1

9
ZAN
2

5
HOC
1

5
HOC
2

10
12th 40
2007 ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg OSC1
1
OSC1
2
LAU
1
LAU
2
NOR
1
NOR
2
NÜR1
1
NÜR1
2
ZAN
1
ZAN
2
OSC2
1
OSC2
2
NÜR2
1
NÜR2
2
CAT
1
CAT
2
HOC
1

13
HOC
2

2
25th 56

Complete Formula BMW UK results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
2007 Räikkönen Robertson Racing BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

18
ROC
1

1
ROC
2

1
THR
1

3
THR
2

1
CRO
1

3
CRO
2

1
OUL
1

1
OUL
2

2
DON
1

5
DON
2

2
SNE
1

2
SNE
2

1
BRH
1

10
BRH
2

2
KNO
1

4
KNO
2

3
2nd 636

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2007–08 Czech Republic NED
SPR
NED
FEA
CZE
SPR
CZE
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
ZHU
SPR
ZHU
FEA
NZL
SPR
NZL
FEA
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
RSA
SPR

18
RSA
FEA

Ret
MEX
SPR
MEX
FEA
SHA
SPR
SHA
FEA
GBR
SPR
GBR
SPR
19th 10

Complete International Formula Master results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2008 Team JVA VAL
1

17
VAL
2

9
PAU
1

16
PAU
2

10
BRN
1

12
BRN
2

12
EST
1

13
EST
2

14
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
OSC
1

7
OSC
2

1
IMO
1

8
IMO
2

2
MNZ
1

7
MNZ
2

3
6th 29
2009 JD Motorsport PAU
1

Ret
PAU
2

13
VAL
1

2
VAL
2

4
BRN
1

3
BRN
2

DSQ
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

5
HUN
1

1
HUN
2

Ret
SPA
1

7
SPA
2

Ret
OSC
1

6
OSC
2

1
IMO
1

4
IMO
2

2
3rd 62

Complete GP2 Series results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2010 Super Nova Racing CAT
FEA

12
CAT
SPR

19
MON
FEA

13
MON
SPR

8
IST
FEA

15
IST
SPR

14
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
YMC
FEA

8
YMC
SPR

5
24th 3
2011 Arden International IST
FEA

13
IST
SPR

6
CAT
FEA

9
CAT
SPR

21
MON
FEA

6
MON
SPR

2
VAL
FEA

8
VAL
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

23
SIL
SPR

20
NÜR
FEA

18
NÜR
SPR

11
HUN
FEA

9
HUN
SPR

17
SPA
FEA

8
SPA
SPR

3
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

17
15th 15
2012 Barwa Addax Team SEP
FEA

14
SEP
SPR

9
BHR1
FEA
BHR1
SPR
BHR2
FEA
BHR2
SPR
CAT
FEA

20
CAT
SPR

16
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

10
VAL
FEA

DSQ
VAL
SPR

11
SIL
FEA

16
SIL
SPR

10
HOC
FEA

12
HOC
SPR

13
HUN
FEA

24
HUN
SPR

17
SPA
FEA

4
SPA
SPR

1
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
MRN
FEA
MRN
SPR
17th 27

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 Super Nova Racing YMC1
FEA

5
YMC1
SPR

3
YMC2
FEA

9
YMC2
SPR

Ret
BHR1
FEA

21
BHR1
SPR

11
BHR2
FEA

16
BHR2
SPR

10
11th 8
2011 Arden International YMC
FEA

6
YMC
SPR

2
IMO
FEA

13
IMO
SPR

9
10th 8

Complete GP2 Final results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 DC Points
2011 Arden International YMC
FEA

20
YMC
SPR

12
16th 0

References

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  1. ^ "DELL Formula BMW World Final 2006 – Race". press.bmw-motorsport.com. 2006-11-26. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  2. ^ "Formula BMW World Final 2007 – Eng wins Formula BMW World Final and a Formula 1 drive". press.bmw-motorsport.com. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  3. ^ "Youngster in for Czech Republic". a1gp.com. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  4. ^ "International Formula Master 2008". driverdb.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  5. ^ "Kral joins JD Motorsport for 2009 season". f1sa.com. 2009-02-06. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  6. ^ "IFM: Series Hungaroring race one report". motorsport.com. 2009-10-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  7. ^ "Super Nova signs Kral for GP2 Asia". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  8. ^ English, Steven (2010-01-14). "Super Nova signs Ericsson, Kral". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  9. ^ "Kral and Palmer join Arden for 2011 GP2 season". gp2series.com. GP2 Series. 2011-01-26. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  10. ^ "Clos to replace Kral at Addax for GP2 Series's race in Bahrain". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
  11. ^ Mallett, Thomas (2012-05-10). "Guerin replaces Hartley at Ocean Racing for Barcelona's GP2 race". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
  12. ^ Freeman, Glenn (2012-09-06). "Jake Rosenzweig replaces Josef Kral at Addax for Monza". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  13. ^ English, Steven (15 November 2010). "Valsecchi, Kral to test for Hispania". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  14. ^ "Josef Kral tenía un contrato con HRT sobre la mesa para esta temporada". motorpasionf1.com (in Spanish). Motor Pasion F1. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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