# Björn Wirdheim

Björn Karl Mikael Wirdheim (born 4 April 1980) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He is the son of Örnulf Wirdheim, also a racing driver. Björn began racing karts, competing in his first race, at the age of 10. His main achievement to date is becoming the International Formula 3000 Champion in 2003.

## Career

Born in Växjö, Wirdheim began racing karts at age ten, until the age of fifteen, winning the Southern Swedish Karting Championship. In 1996, he progressed to single-seaters in Swedish Formula Ford 1600 Junior Championship where he took the championship title in 1997 with 17 wins. In 1998 and 1999 he raced in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship, achieving two podium finishes.

### International Formula 3000

In 2000, he switched to the German Formula Three Championship. Then, during 2001 in addition to winning at Nürburgring and A1-Ring, he took three pole positions including one at Macau Grand Prix. For the season of 2002 Wirdheim switched, this time to International Formula 3000, joining Arden International. He finished fourth overall, in addition to being named Rookie of the Year, and helping Arden to win the team title in the championship.
Wirdheim stayed with Arden in the following season of 2003 that would prove successful both for the team and driver. He dominated the championship so much that an obligatory pit stop for tire change was introduced at the end of the season in an attempt to level the advantage, but Arden managed to do better pit-stops overall than other teams and still came out on top. Wirdheim became the first Swede to win the championship in its 19-year history, breaking Justin Wilson's previous record of most points won in one season of the series. However, at Monaco, when driving to an easy win on the streets of Monte Carlo, Wirdheim slowed down to wave at his pit-crew believing he already had taken the chequered flag and was overtaken by Nicolas Kiesa, metres away from the actual finish line.
At the end of 2003, Wirdheim had been noticed by several Formula One team bosses, giving him opportunity to test with both Jordan and BAR. After turning down an offer to drive Champ Car, Wirdheim signed with Jaguar as third driver performing the Friday testing for the team at Formula One Grand Prix weekends during the 2004 season.

### Champ Car

For the 2005 season, Wirdheim turned to the Champ Car World Series to join the HVM racing team. Run by former Pacific F1 team boss Keith Wiggins, the team was underfunded after losing its previous Herdez backing, and a lack of testing made it difficult for the team to be competitive. After mediocre results, Wirdheim and the team decided to part ways after 11 races into the season.

### Recent career

Wirdheim has since competed in the Japanese Formula Nippon series. Driving for Team Dandelion, a team with two constructors' championships and one drivers' title, Wirdheim finished 6th in the 2006 championship, with one second place as best and continued with the team in 2007. He has raced in Super GT since 2006, finishing 2nd in the championship in 2013 and 2014. In 2016 he will dovetail his Super GT commitments with a drive for Flash Engineering in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.
While taking up a new challenge in 2018 as a Formula 1 TV-commentator for Viasat, Wirdheim has made guest appearances in Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. In 2018 Wirdheim also won the 1966-1972 class of the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco in a March 711.

## Racing record
### 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 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
| 2002 | Arden Team Russia | INT 5 | IMO 7 | CAT 8 | A1R 2 | MON Ret | NÜR 6 | SIL 6 | MAG Ret | HOC 2 | HUN 4 | SPA Ret | MNZ 1 | 4th | 29 |
| 2003 | Arden International | IMO 1 | CAT 2 | A1R 2 | MON 2 | NÜR 13 | MAG 2 | SIL 1 | HOC 2 | HUN 2 | MNZ 1 | | | 1st | 78 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||

### Complete Formula One participations

(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
| 2003 | Jordan Ford | Jordan EJ13 | Ford V10 | AUS | MAL | BRA | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | EUR | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | ITA | USA TD | JPN | | | - | - |
| 2004 | Jaguar Racing | Jaguar R5 | Cosworth V10 | AUS TD | MAL TD | BHR TD | SMR TD | ESP TD | MON TD | EUR TD | CAN TD | USA TD | FRA TD | GBR TD | GER TD | HUN TD | BEL TD | ITA TD | CHN TD | JPN TD* | BRA TD | – | – |
| Source: ||||||||||||||||||||||||
* Was entered as third driver, but did not run due to bad weather.

### Complete Champ Car results

(key)
| Year | Team | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Rank | Points | Ref |
| 2005 | HVM Racing | 4 | LBH 12 | MTY 8 | MIL 15 | POR 9 | CLE 15 | TOR 15 | EDM 15 | SJO 8 | DEN 11 | MTL 13 | LVG 6 | SRF | MXC | 14th | 115 | |

### Complete Formula Nippon results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 2006 | Dandelion Racing | FUJ 4 | SUZ 2 | MOT 4 | SUZ Ret | AUT 6 | FUJ 6 | SUG 6 | MOT 11 | SUZ 9 | 6th | 13.5 |
| 2007 | Dandelion Racing | FUJ 4 | SUZ 13 | MOT 11 | OKA 11 | SUZ 2 | FUJ 8 | SUG Ret | MOT 7 | SUZ 8 | 9th | 17 |
| Source: |||||||||||||

### Complete Super GT results

| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 2006 | Team LeMans | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ Ret | MOT | AUT | FUJ | 23rd | 11 |
| 2007 | Team LeMans | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 4 | OKA 14 | FUJ 3 | SEP 9 | SUG DNS | SUZ 9 | MOT 3 | AUT 8 | FUJ 16 | 9th | 38 |
| 2008 | Team LeMans | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 9 | OKA 13 | FUJ 6 | SEP 8 | SUG 7 | SUZ 6 | MOT 4 | AUT 14 | FUJ 3 | 13th | 39 |
| 2009 | Team LeMans | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | OKA 10 | SUZ 4 | FUJ 6 | SEP 14 | SUG 5 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 5 | AUT 10 | MOT 4 | 12th | 35 |
| 2010 | Team LeMans | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | SUZ 2 | OKA 5 | FUJ 3 | SEP 4 | SUG 3 | SUZ 11 | FUJ C | MOT 12 | | 4th | 51 |
| 2011 | Kondo Racing | Nissan GT-R | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 7 | SEP 4 | SUG 4 | SUZ 10 | FUJ 11 | AUT 5 | MOT 12 | | 10th | 29 |
| 2012 | Kondo Racing | Nissan GT-R | GT500 | OKA 11 | FUJ 14 | SEP Ret | SUG 10 | SUZ 3 | FUJ 13 | AUT 4 | MOT 11 | | 15th | 22 |
| 2013 | Gainer | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 1 | FUJ 6 | SEP 3 | SUG 13 | SUZ 6 | FUJ 7 | FUJ 2 | AUT 4 | MOT 1 | 2nd | 80 |
| 2014 | Gainer | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 3 | FUJ 2 | AUT 3 | SUG Ret | FUJ 2 | SUZ 10 | BUR 8 | MOT 1 | | 2nd | 78 |
| 2015 | Gainer | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 12 | FUJ 3 | CHA 4 | FUJ 3 | SUZ 11 | SUG 3 | AUT Ret | MOT 3 | | 5th | 52 |
| 2016 | Gainer | Mercedes-AMG GT | GT300 | OKA 4 | FUJ Ret | SUG 4 | FUJ 7 | SUZ Ret | CHA 9 | MOT 4 | MOT 10 | | 9th | 32 |
| 2017 | Gainer | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 18 | FUJ 2 | AUT 22 | SUG 1 | FUJ 17 | SUZ 9 | CHA 8 | MOT 7 | | 6th | 45 |
| 2019 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SUZ | CHA | FUJ 23 | AUT | SUG | MOT | | NC | 0 |
| Sources: |||||||||||||||

### Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
| 2013 | Greaves Motorsport | LMP2 | Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | SÃO 4 | COA | | SHA 5 | BHR 3 | 17th | 18 |
| 2013 | GAINER International | LMP2 | Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | | | | | | FUJ 3 | | | 17th | 18 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||

### Complete European Le Mans Series results

| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
| 2015 | Greaves Motorsport | LMP2 | Gibson 015S | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 1 | IMO 4 | RBR 4 | LEC 1 | EST 2 | | 1st | 93 |
| 2016 | Krohn Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 4 | IMO 6 | RBR | LEC | SPA | EST | 16th | 20 |
| Source: |||||||||||||

### Complete Scandinavian 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 | DC | Points |
| 2016 | Flash Engineering | Saab 9-3 | SKÖ 1 | SKÖ 2 | MAN 1 2 | MAN 2 4 | AND 1 5 | AND 2 4 | FAL 1 4 | FAL 2 Ret | KAR 1 5 | KAR 2 1 | SOL 1 2 | SOL 2 Ret | KNU 1 4 | KNU 2 3 | 4th | 220 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||