Anastasius von Sonnen

**Anastasius von Sonnen** (born 6 July 1992) is an Austrian professional racing driver currently competing in the Champ Car World Series for Kearny-Fuchida Drive Force. Von Sonnen is best known for his tenure in the GP1 Championship in Japan, where he finished runner-up in the points standings three times, in 2017, 2020, and 2021.

To date, von Sonnen is the most successful driver from Europe to compete in the GP1 Championship, having earned 16 wins, 38 podiums, and 11 pole positions in his time in the top tier Japanese open wheel championship. Additionally, he is only the second driver from Austria to make an appearance at the Indianapolis 500, behind only Eliza Kohl, who competed from 2009 until 2013.

## Champ Car career

### 2020

Kearny-Fushida Drive Force announced von Sonnen as their driver for the 2020 Indianapolis 500, marking both the team's, and von Sonnen's first appearance in a race in the United States. The team confirmed that von Sonnen would contest all three rounds of the 2020 Firestone Triple Crown, which included the 500 mile races at Pocono Raceway, and Auto Club Speedway. Honda, who supply the team with engines in GP1, also were to supply the team with engines in the U.S.

In his Champ Car debut, von Sonnen qualified 27th for the 107th Indianapolis 500. With only 33 entries, none of the entered cars were at risk of being bumped from the field, which permitted the team to be more conservative in its qualifying approach. Even in this approach, they outqualified two of the more experienced Honda drivers in the field, with Cat Devil Racing's Diego Jaramillo qualifying in 29th, and three time Indianapolis 500 winner, Kunimitsu Kinoshita qualifying in 30th. The race itself would be quiet for von Sonnen, who finished 18th, five laps off the race winner, due to wall contact that saw the team need to replace suspension parts. Heavy winds were a significant issue in the race, with numerous drivers caught out by them during the event.

The following races in the Triple Crown would treat von Sonnen way better. Despite qualifying only 24th, von Sonnen would capture a lot of attention during the Pepsi 500 at Pocono Raceway, storming to an electrifying third place finish, and his first career Champ Car podium finish. He additionally led 24 laps during the event, more than the race winner, Sakura Ishibashi, and the runner-up, Lucien Lachapelle, who also scored his first career Champ Car podium in the race.

The final race of the season was the Intel 500, at Auto Club Speedway in California. Qualifying remained an issue for the team, with von Sonnen qualifying last of the 33 cars in the field. It would be the first time in his career that he started last based on qualifying performance alone. But, like his previous performances earlier in the year, von Sonnen performed in stellar fashion during the race, climbing up through the field to finish fourth behind Sakura Ishibashi, the 2020 Indycar World Champion, Andrew Draco, and Stephanie Porter-Kelley. All three of the drivers that finished ahead of him were championship contenders in the season, and von Sonnen's singular lap in the lead contributed to 1 of 109 lead changes in the race.

### 2021

Kearny-Fushida Drive Force confirmed that von Sonnen would be repeating his racing schedule in 2021, contesting the full GP1 Championship calendar, in addition to competing in the 2021 Firestone Triple Crown. Likewise, the team would be using Honda power in both competitions.

Approaching the 108th Indianapolis 500, eyes would be on the team and von Sonnen, who held a poor track record in qualifying for Champ Car events in 2020. In 2021, 38 cars were entered for the race, meaning five cars would fail to qualify. Pressure amplified in the first stage of time trials for Indianapolis, where von Sonnen could only muster a four lap average of 38.7488, which was slowest of the 38 cars attempting to qualify for the event. On the second and final day of time trials, von Sonnen would improve drastically, jumping from 38th to 29th with a four lap average of 38.6708, securing his spot in the 2021 Indianapolis 500. After starting 28th due to a penalty for Nicole Liechti, von Sonnen would have his day ended early due to a crash on lap 13. The race would mark von Sonnen's first retirement from a Champ Car race.

The Pepsi 500 at Pocono Raceway would not treat von Sonnen much better. He qualified 31st of 38 cars, surviving the bump qualifying process wile the likes of Camyron Jackson, and Cristine Espinoza, did not. But, like with Indianapolis, his race would be cut short, this time on lap 17, due to another accident, attributed to a tire failure. In the first two Champ Car races of 2021, von Sonnen had only completed 30 laps, or 75 miles, of race distance. For comparison, a GP1 race is approximately 120 miles in length.

The misfortunes of the 2021 Champ Car campaign did not rub off on von Sonnen's GP1 pursuits, which saw von Sonnen finish 2nd in the points standings behind Asada Kito, who was also making his first foray into Champ Car competition in 2021 with Obsidian Racing Team. With the GP1 Championship for 2021 now concluded, von Sonnen focused on the final Champ Car race of the season, the Intel 500 at Auto Club Speedway. The team secured their spot in the race through the qualifying duel races, which saw von Sonnen start the Intel 500 from 31st on the grid. The early portion of the race treated von Sonnen way kinder than the likes of Indianapolis or Pocono, but a clutch failure would end his day on lap 109, leaving him with a 29th place finish to end out the season.

### 2022

After the misfortunes of the 2021 season, Kearny-Fushida Drive Force announced it was entering the Champ Car World Series as a full time competitor for the 2022 season, again with von Sonnen behind the wheel. The team would enter a partnership with Dragon Motorsports, which would help provide car development data during the season, something the team severely lacked in 2021. With both von Sonnen, and his main rival from GP1, Asada Kito, both moving to Champ Car for 2022, it left GP1 without a defending champion or vice champion for the first time in the series' history.

The team caught eyes when they were announced as being the first team to receive the new IR-22 chassis from Andromeda Automotive Initiative, with the team receiving their equipment a week before Team Impulse, and Swift Knight Autosport received theirs.