Ricardo Luiz Zonta (; born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport.
Early career Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter. The following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, and in 1991, he won the title. He continued karting until 1992, finishing fourth in the São Paulo Karting Championship before progressing to single-seaters for 1993. He finished sixth in the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship, and then in 1994, came fifth in the Brazilian Formula Three Championship. A year later, Zonta won both the Brazilian and South American Formula Three Championships.
Moving to Europe in 1996, Zonta competed in the International Formula 3000 Championship for Draco Racing, winning two races and finishing fourth overall. In the same year, he became the first Brazilian to compete in International Touring Cars, with Mercedes. In 1997, he won three races and the Formula 3000 championship. He also took home the "Golden Helmet" award for best international driver for his efforts. The Jordan Formula One team signed him as their official test driver following his championship, and in 1998, he was signed by McLaren boss Ron Dennis. Zonta tested with the McLaren Formula One team in 1998, and concurrently won the FIA GT Championship (GT1 class) and the "Golden Helmet" award in the "world prominence" category.
In October 1998, immediately after winning the FIA GT championship, Zonta signed up with the B.A.R. Formula One racing team as one of its race drivers for the 1999 season, after rejecting offers from Jordan and Sauber.
Formula One career
In 1999, Zonta started as a Formula One racing driver alongside 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve at new team BAR. He injured his foot in an accident during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, and was forced to miss three races. He also had a large accident at Spa-Francorchamps, and finished the season with no championship points. Zonta remained with BAR for the 2000 season, scoring his first world championship point with a sixth place in the opening race. He had another large accident when his front suspension broke during testing at Silverstone, but continued the season, scoring points in both the Italian and United States Grands Prix, to finish 14th in the championship. Replaced by Olivier Panis for the 2001 season, Zonta became the third driver for the Jordan team, replacing the injured Heinz-Harald Frentzen for one race, and then again when Frentzen was sacked, but was overlooked to replace him for the remainder of the season.
In 2002, Zonta decided to focus on the Telefónica World Series, which he won. He was then hired as test driver for the Toyota F1 team in 2003, retaining the position in 2004. Toward the end of the season, the team sacked Cristiano da Matta from a race seat, and Zonta drove in four Grands Prix. In Belgium, he was running in fourth place three laps from the finish when his engine failed. In Suzuka the team hired Jarno Trulli and Zonta had to sit the event out, but the team allowed him to compete in his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, which he finished in 13th. He continued as a test driver for Toyota in 2005, alongside veteran French pilot Olivier Panis. At the US Grand Prix later that year, he stood in for the injured Ralf Schumacher and took his place on the grid, only for Toyota, like the other six Michelin-shod teams, to withdraw from the race due to safety concerns. 2006 saw Zonta continue with Toyota as the team's third and test driver. He was confirmed as test driver for the Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season on 6 September 2006.Grandprix.com article, retrieved September 6, 2006
After Formula One In 2007, Zonta entered the Stock Car Brasil series in parallel with the work for the Renault team.Gazeta do Povo, retrieved April 3, 2007 In 2008, he contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot Sport, driving the No. 9 car alongside Franck Montagny and Formula One tester Christian Klien.
Zonta is also driving in the Grand Am Championship in America with Krohn Racing, while also being the team owner and driver of RZ Motorsport in Stock Car Brasil.
Personal life Two of Zonta's relatives, Billy and Brendon, are also racing drivers. Billy used to compete in the Sprint Race series until he was forced to retire in 2016 after being diagnosed with cancer. Brendon is currently active in Sprint Race's continuation series NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race, driving the No. 7 Ford Mustang in the AM class.
Racing career Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 1993 Formula Chevrolet ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1994 Formula 3 Sudamericana ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1995 Formula 3 Sudamericana Cesário Fórmula 13 6 5 7 9 76 1st 1996 International Formula 3000 Championship Draco Engineering 10 2 1 2 4 27 4th International Touring Car Championship Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG 2 0 0 0 0 0 29th 1997 International Formula 3000 Championship Super Nova Racing 10 3 4 4 5 77 1st 1998 FIA GT Championship AMG Mercedes 10 5 4 1 9 77 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC 1999 Formula One British American Racing 12 0 0 0 0 0 22nd 2000 Formula One Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda 17 0 0 0 0 3 14th 2001 Formula One B&H Jordan Honda 2 0 0 0 0 0 19th 2002 World Series by Nissan Gabord Competicion 18 9 8 9 14 268 1st 2003 Porsche Supercup Porsche AG 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Formula One Panasonic Toyota Racing Test Driver 2004 Formula One Panasonic Toyota Racing 5 0 0 0 0 0 22nd 2005 Formula One Panasonic Toyota Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2006 Formula One Panasonic Toyota Racing Test Driver 2007 Stock Car Brasil L&M Racing 12 0 0 1 0 13 29th Formula One ING Renault F1 Team Test Driver 2008 Stock Car Brasil L&M Racing 6 0 0 0 0 23 24th 24 Hours of Le Mans Peugeot Sport Total 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd 2009 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 9 0 1 0 1 48 16th 2010 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 11 0 0 0 0 36 20th FIA GT1 World Championship Reiter Engineering 12 3 1 0 4 75 8th 2011 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 12 0 0 2 1 51 15th FIA GT1 World Championship Sumo Power GT 6 0 0 0 0 9 28th 2012 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 12 0 0 0 0 89 13th 2013 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 12 1 0 1 1 144 7th FIA GT Series BMW Sport Trophy Team Brasil 10 0 0 0 0 29 15th 2014 Stock Car Brasil RZ Motorsport 21 0 0 0 1 108 14th 2015 Stock Car Brasil Shell Racing 21 0 0 0 2 147 13th 2016 Stock Car Brasil Shell Racing 21 0 1 0 1 130 16th 2017 Stock Car Brasil Shell V-Power 22 2 0 2 3 174 11th 2018 Stock Car Brasil Shell V-Power 21 1 1 2 3 184 8th 2019 Stock Car Brasil Shell V-Power 21 0 0 0 1 155 14th 2020 Stock Car Brasil RCM Motorsport 18 2 1 0 5 278 2nd 2021 Stock Car Brasil RCM Motorsport 24 1 1 1 7 307 4th 2022 Stock Car Pro Series RCM Motorsport 23 1 1 4 6 262 5th 2023 Stock Car Pro Series RCM Motorsport 24 3 2 4 5 280 3rd 2024 Stock Car Pro Series RCM Motorsport 25 0 0 1 5 864 4th 2025 Stock Car Pro Series RCM Motorsport 23 0 0 0 0 428 23rdNASCAR Brasil SeriesR.Mattheis Motorsport 19 0 0 2 0 88 15th 2026 Stock Car Pro Series Full Time Gazoo Racing 14 0 0 0 0 280 22nd* * Season still in progress.
Complete International Formula 3000 results (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 DC Points 1996 Draco Engineering NÜR PAU PER HOC SIL SPA MAG EST MUG HOC 4th 27 1997 Super Nova Racing SIL PAU HEL NÜR PER HOC A1R SPA MUG JER 1st 39
Complete International Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pts 1996 Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG Mercedes C-Class V6 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 EST1 EST2 HEL1 HEL2 NOR1 NOR2 DIE1 DIE2 SIL1 SIL2 NÜR1Ret NÜR213 MAG1 MAG2 MUG1 MUG2 HOC1 HOC2 INT1 INT2 SUZ1 SUZ2 29th 0
Complete FIA GT Championship results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points 1998 AMG Mercedes GT1 Mercedes-Benz CLK LM Mercedes-Benz M119 6.0L V8 OSC SIL HOC DIJ HUN SUZ DON A1R HMS LAG 1st 77
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps AMG-Mercedes Jean-Marc Gounon Christophe Bouchut Mercedes-Benz CLK LM GT1 31 DNF DNF Peugeot Sport Total Franck Montagny Christian Klien Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 379 3rd 3rd
Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Pts. British American Racing BAR 01 Supertec V10 AUS BRA SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR AUT15 GER HUN BEL ITA EUR MAL JPN 22nd 0 Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda BAR 002 Honda V10 AUS BRA SMR GBR ESP EUR MON CAN FRA AUT GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN MAL 14th 3 B&H Jordan Honda Jordan EJ11 Honda V10 AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 19th 0 Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF104 Toyota V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER 22nd 0 Toyota TF104B HUN BEL10 ITA CHN JPN BRA Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF105 Toyota V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN NC 0 Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete World Series by Nissan results (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 Points 2002 Gabord Competición VAL11 VAL12 JAR1 JAR2 ALB1 ALB2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MAG1 MAG2 CAT1 CAT2 VAL21 VAL22 CUR1 CUR2 INT1 INT2 1st
Complete Stock Car Pro Series results