# Ralph Firman

Ralph David Firman Jr. (born 20 May 1975) is an Irish former racing driver who earlier in his career raced under a British licence. His father, Ralph Firman Sr., co-founded the Van Diemen racecar constructor with Ross Ambrose, father of V8 Supercars champion Marcos, then more recently founded RFR. He is married to Aldís Kristín Árnadóttir, an Icelandic UK-educated lawyer. Ralph's sister, Natasha, is also a racing driver.

## Career
### Formula Three

Educated at Gresham's School between 1988 and 1993, Firman went straight into motor racing on leaving school. Despite leading much of the 1995 British F3 championship, he lost the title at the final round to Oliver Gavin. However, he continued in the championship in 1996 and captured the title at his second attempt.

#### Macau Grand Prix controversy

Firman won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 1996 under controversial circumstances. At the end of round 1, Firman finished ahead of German Formula 3 champion Jarno Trulli. In round 2, he was overtaken by Trulli on the last lap. Firman was running with a broken front wing. Just as Jarno Trulli was on the way to victory, Firman crashed at the hairpin corner, blocked the track and caused a red flag. The race officials counted the results to the previous lap when Firman was ahead of Trulli, thus giving him the win.

### Formula Nippon

Firman then moved to Japan, culminating in the 2002 Formula Nippon championship, before returning to Europe.

### Formula One

Firman secured a seat in Formula One for the 2003 season at the Jordan team, alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. He participated in 14 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix. He scored one championship point, in the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix. This point was the first for a Republic of Ireland driver since Derek Daly in 1982. He was injured in a huge crash during practice for the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix which forced him to sit out that and the next race, in which he was replaced by Zsolt Baumgartner.
In November 2003, Firman drove a Jordan-Ford EJ13 at Macau's Guia Circuit as part of the Macau Grand Prix's 50th anniversary celebrations, the first time that a contemporary F1 machine had been seen in action around the tight and tricky Guia circuit. Firman clocked an impressive 1:59.4 seconds lap, 13 seconds quicker than F3 poleman Fabio Carbone managed on the same day.

### Post-Formula One

Firman has also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and was an official test driver for the A1 Grand Prix series in August 2004.
In August 2005, it was announced that he would be the driver for A1 Team Ireland. He had previously been seen to be in competition for the Great Britain seat.
In 2007, Firman, along with Daisuke Ito, won the Japan Super GT GT500 class championship with the Aguri Suzuki co-owned ARTA team. Firman and Ito won the championship before the final race of the season, a first in the series' competitive history.

### Retirement from racing

Firman retired from racing in 2013, and now runs a British engineering company.

## Racing career
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Poles | Wins | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 1993 | Formula Vauxhall Junior | ? | ? | 9 | 11 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 1994 | Formula Vauxhall Lotus | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 4th |
| 1995 | British Formula Three Championship | Paul Stewart Racing | 18 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 176 | 2nd |
| 1995 | Masters of Formula 3 | Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 10th |
| 1995 | Macau Grand Prix | San Miguel Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
| 1995 | Formula One | Marlboro McLaren Mercedes | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver |
| 1996 | British Formula Three Championship | Paul Stewart Racing | 15 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 188 | 1st |
| 1996 | Macau Grand Prix | San Miguel Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st |
| 1996 | Masters of Formula 3 | Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
| 1997 | Formula Nippon Championship | Team TMS | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 8th |
| 1997 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Team TMS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 24th |
| 1997 | Macau Grand Prix | San Miguel Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
| 1998 | Formula Nippon Championship | Team Nova | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8th |
| 1999 | Formula Nippon Championship | Team Nova | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 4th |
| 1999 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Team Taeivon Ralliart | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 42 | 6th |
| 2000 | Formula Nippon Championship | Team Taeivon Ralliart | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9th |
| 2000 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Toyota Team Sard | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 12th |
| 2001 | Formula Nippon Championship | Nakajima Racing | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 4th |
| 2002 | Formula Nippon Championship | Nakajima Racing | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 62 | 1st |
| 2002 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Nakajima Racing | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 74 | 2nd |
| 2003 | Formula One | Jordan | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19th |
| 2004 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Racing for Holland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC |
| 2005 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 2nd |
| 2005-06 | A1 Grand Prix | Ireland | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 68 | 8th |
| 2006 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 7th |
| 2007 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 91 | 1st |
| 2007-08 | A1 Grand Prix | Ireland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6th |
| 2008 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 8th |
| 2009 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 81 | 2nd |
| 2010 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 11th |
| 2012 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 16th |
| 2013 | Super GT | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 11th |
| Sources: ||||||||||

### Complete British Formula 3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
| 1995 | Paul Stewart Racing | Mugen | SIL 1 | SIL 1 | THR Ret | THR 2 | DON Ret | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | DON Ret | DON 1 | OUL 9 | BRH 1 | BRH 1 | SNE Ret | PEM 1 | PEM 7 | SIL DSQ | SIL 12 | THR 7 | 2nd | 176 |
| 1996 | Paul Stewart Racing | Mugen | SIL 4 | SIL 2 | THR 3 | DON DNS | BRH 1 | BRH 1 | OUL 1 | DON 2 | SIL 2 | THR 2 | SNE 6 | SNE C | PEM 13 | PEM 5 | ZAN 5 | ZAN 4 | SIL 4 | | 1st | 188 |

### Complete Formula Nippon 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 |
| 1997 | Team TMS | SUZ Ret | MIN 4 | FUJ 15 | SUZ 6 | SUG 2 | FUJ 13 | MIN Ret | MOT 5 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 11 | 8th | 12 |
| 1998 | Team Nova | SUZ 12 | MIN Ret | FUJ Ret | MOT 14 | SUZ Ret | SUG 2 | FUJ C | MIN 4 | FUJ 3 | SUZ 7 | 7th | 13 |
| 1999 | Team Nova | SUZ Ret | MOT 3 | MIN 2 | FUJ 9 | SUZ Ret | SUG 6 | FUJ 10 | MIN 9 | MOT 8 | SUZ 1 | 4th | 21 |
| 2000 | Team Nova | SUZ Ret | MOT 11 | MIN Ret | FUJ 6 | SUZ 7 | SUG 2 | MOT 10 | FUJ 13 | MIN 5 | SUZ Ret | 9th | 9 |
| 2001 | Nakajima Racing | SUZ 5 | MOT Ret | MIN 2 | FUJ 6 | SUZ Ret | SUG Ret | FUJ 7 | MIN 8 | MOT 1 | SUZ 1 | 4th | 29 |
| 2002 | Nakajima Racing | SUZ 1 | FUJ 2 | MIN Ret | SUZ 1 | MOT 9 | SUG 1 | FUJ 2 | MIN 2 | MOT 1 | SUZ 3 | 1st | 62 |
| Source: ||||||||||||||

### Complete JGTC/Super GT results

| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 1997 | Team TMS | Porsche 911 GT2 | GT500 | SUZ 13 | FUJ 7 | SEN 13 | FUJ 13 | MIN | SUG DNQ | | | | 24th | 4 |
| 1999 | Team Taeivon Ralliart | Mitsubishi FTO | GT300 | SUZ 2 | FUJ Ret | SUG 5 | MIN Ret | FUJ 3 | TAI 8 | MOT 7 | | | 6th | 42 |
| 2000 | Toyota Team SARD | Toyota Supra | GT500 | MOT 10 | FUJ Ret | SUG 6 | FUJ 2 | TAI Ret | MIN 8 | SUZ 16 | | | 12th | 25 |
| 2002 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX | GT500 | TAI 1 | FUJ 11 | SUG Ret | SEP 1 | FUJ 12 | MOT 14 | MIN 6 | SUZ 1 | | 2nd | 74 |
| 2005 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | OKA 4 | FUJ 12 | SEP 2 | SUG 6 | MOT 16 | FUJ 8 | AUT 1 | SUZ 12 | | 2nd | 61 |
| 2006 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | SUZ 3 | OKA 7 | FUJ 8 | SEP 1 | SUG 8 | SUZ 6 | MOT 15 | AUT 11 | FUJ 14 | 7th | 68 |
| 2007 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | SUZ 12 | OKA 1 | FUJ 9 | SEP 6 | SUG 1 | SUZ 2 | MOT 12 | AUT 1 | FUJ 8 | 1st | 94 |
| 2008 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | SUZ 14 | OKA 3 | FUJ Ret | SEP 11 | SUG 15 | SUZ 13 | MOT 2 | AUT 3 | FUJ 12 | 8th | 49 |
| 2009 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | OKA 3 | SUZ 14 | FUJ 3 | SEP 3 | SUG 14 | SUZ 12 | FUJ 1 | AUT 4 | MOT 1 | 2nd | 81 |
| 2010 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda HSV-010 GT | GT500 | SUZ Ret | OKA 6 | FUJ 11 | SEP 11 | SUG 12 | SUZ 1 | FUJ C | MOT 7 | | 11th | 29 |
| 2012 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda HSV-010 GT | GT500 | OKA 6 | FUJ Ret | SEP 12 | SUG Ret | SUZ 7 | FUJ 9 | AUT 11 | MOT 13 | | 16th | 12 |
| 2013 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda HSV-010 GT | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 8 | SEP 8 | SUG 1 | SUZ 12 | FUJ 8 | AUT 14 | MOT 15 | | 11th | 31 |
| Sources: |||||||||||||||

### 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 | WDC | Pts |
| 2003 | Jordan Ford | Jordan EJ13 | Ford V10 | AUS Ret | MAL 10 | BRA Ret | SMR Ret | ESP 8 | AUT 11 | MON 12 | CAN Ret | EUR 11 | FRA 15 | GBR 13 | GER Ret | HUN WD | ITA | USA Ret | JPN 14 | 19th | 1 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||||||||

### Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2004 | Racing for Holland | Tom Coronel Justin Wilson | Dome S101-Judd | LMP1 | 313 | DNF | DNF |
| Sources: ||||||||

### Complete A1 Grand Prix 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 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
| 2005–06 | Ireland | GBR SPR | GBR FEA | GER SPR 9 | GER FEA 6 | POR SPR 19 | POR FEA 3 | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | MYS SPR 7 | MYS FEA 9 | UAE SPR 4 | UAE FEA Ret | RSA SPR 4 | RSA FEA Ret | IDN SPR 6 | IDN FEA Ret | MEX SPR Ret | MEX FEA Ret | USA SPR 5 | USA FEA 6 | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | 8th | 68 |
| 2007–08 | Ireland | NED SPR 8 | NED FEA 6 | CZE SPR | CZE FEA | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | ZHU SPR | ZHU FEA | NZL SPR | NZL FEA | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | SHA SPR | SHA FEA | GBR SPR | GBR SPR | | | 6th | 94 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||||||||||