Josef Král


Josef Král is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic.

Career

Karting & early career

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

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.
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.

A1 Grand Prix

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. 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

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.
He remained in the championship for 2009, this time switching to Italian team JD Motorsport. 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. He added another win at Oschersleben en route to third in the championship.

GP2 Series

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. This relationship continued into the main series in 2010, when Král teamed up with his former Formula BMW rival Ericsson. 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. 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. He then returned to the seat for the fourth round of the series. 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. He finished 17th in the championship.

Formula One

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

Racing record

Career summary

Complete GP2 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
2010Super Nova RacingCAT
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
24th3
2011Arden InternationalIST
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
15th15
2012Barwa Addax TeamSEP
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
17th27

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

YearEntrant12345678DCPoints
2009–10Super Nova RacingYMC1
FEA
5
YMC1
SPR
3
YMC2
FEA
9
YMC2
SPR
Ret
BHR1
FEA
21
BHR1
SPR
11
BHR2
FEA
16
BHR2
SPR
10
11th8
2011Arden InternationalYMC
FEA
6
YMC
SPR
2
IMO
FEA
13
IMO
SPR
9
10th8