Johnny Mowlem

Born in London, Mowlem was raised in Mallorca, Spain, from the age of one until seventeen. He read Spanish and Economics at the University of Leeds, graduating with a joint Honours BA degree. In October 2018 he was inducted into the University of Leeds Sporting Hall of Fame.

Mowlem began racing in Formula Ford 1600 at Brands Hatch in 1990. Jackie Stewart subsequently selected him for the Staircase of Talent programme, where he competed in British Formula Vauxhall Lotus alongside drivers including Dario Franchitti, Allan McNish and Gil de Ferran. He progressed to the British Formula Three Championship in 1995, taking four victories during the season.

In 1996 Mowlem switched to sportscars, winning the Class 1 championship of the British Porsche Carrera Cup. His 1997 campaign elevated him to a different status: he won every race in the season — all 17 — taking 14 pole positions. No British Porsche Cup champion had previously gone undefeated across an entire season. The achievement brought him the Gregor Grant Award for outstanding achievement in motorsport at that year's International Autosport Awards, and opened the door to a professional international career.

Mowlem entered the American Le Mans Series in 1999, finishing second in the GT3 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and winning the GT class at Laguna Seca. In 2000 he started the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time, finishing second in class in a Porsche 911 GT3-R for Skea Racing International, and took second in class at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Through 2002 to 2005 he scored multiple overall and class podiums at Daytona, culminating in the GT class victory at the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Robin Liddell, Mike Fitzgerald and the Policastro family. He finished third in the ALMS GT1 drivers' championship in both 2004 and 2005.

In 2006 Mowlem drove a factory Zytek LMP1 prototype in the final two ALMS rounds, teamed with Stefan Johansson and Haruki Kurosawa. The crew finished second overall at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

The 2007 12 Hours of Sebring produced one of Mowlem's most celebrated results. Sharing a Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT2 with Mika Salo and Jaime Melo, the trio won the GT2 class by two-tenths of a second — the smallest margin of victory ever recorded in GT2 class racing at Sebring. At Le Mans the same year the same car led the GT2 class by three laps with seven hours remaining before Melo's accident ended the run.

In 2009 Mowlem drove the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09HS hybrid prototype in the ALMS P1 class, one of the earliest competitive hybrid racing cars in North American competition. He had conducted much of the car's development testing before the season and qualified it third for the Lime Rock Park round, finishing third in class.

Mowlem joined Lotus as a factory driver in 2010. The most prominent engagement came in 2011, when he led the Lotus factory entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — a Lotus Evora GTE co-driven with Jonathan Hirschi and James Rossiter — to seventh in class, the car's first major endurance event. That year he also won the Vallelunga 6 Hours Silver Cup in a Lotus GT4 and finished third at the Dubai 24 Hours alongside Greg and Leo Mansell.

Driving a Ferrari 458 Italia for RAM Racing alongside Matt Griffin in 2013, Mowlem won the European Le Mans Series GTE drivers' championship. The pair won three class races and finished no lower than second across the season.

Mowlem started the 24 Hours of Le Mans ten times between 2000 and 2020. Machinery included a Porsche 911 GT3-R, a Saleen S7-R, a Creation CA07 LMP1 prototype, the Lotus Evora GTE and a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. His best result at the Circuit de la Sarthe was second in class in 2000.

Mowlem continued competing in Britcar during the mid-2010s with FF Corse in Ferrari machinery. He operates a driving academy for corporate clients and aspiring professionals. In 2010 he ran the London Marathon for the BRDC's chosen charity despite training through a torn Achilles tendon, with the effort raising eighty thousand pounds. By early 2016 his recorded career totals stood at 40 wins, 44 second places and 41 third places, 35 pole positions and 35 fastest laps from 223 starts. According to DriverDB, his career total across all recorded series reached 278 race starts.