James Dominic Grunwell (born 4 February 1989) is a British racing driver, who has lived most of his life in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

2003

In early 2003, James entered his first official race where the Champion Racing Team was formed under the support of Champion Ferodo. At the age of 14, James entered The Thailand Under 18 100cc Veloil Challenge and won its championship. He then later entered the Thailand Nationals in the

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

class and won 2 out of 4 races with podiums in the other 2. He continued to enter kart races with the 2003 kart, and still managed to finish the season 4th in the internationally recognized Intercon ‘A’ Class. James finished on the podium in every race he entered.

2004

Towards the end of 2004, James had an opportunity of a test drive with AIM Racing, one of Thailand’s leading racing teams. He passed with flying colors as the fastest rookie ever to take the test. He was immediately entered for the last two races of 2004 as a guest driver. He drove a specially designed Thai built car that ran with 12

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

, 1600cc,

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

racing engines that produces top speeds of up to 160 km/h. He competed in 4 out of 6 races in the new season, finishing first twice and had a

podium A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...

place in the rest. In December 2004, James was invited for a test drive in a

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

, with the Meritus Racing Team in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Again he passed the test and was offered a drive with them in 2005. He entered the

scholarship programme and missed out by one place for the scholarship. James and his sponsors decided to concentrate on karting in Thailand.

2004–2006

Grunwell won all the races in

Rotax Max Junior series. He later entered the World Finals in Langkawi for

Rotax Max The Rotax Max 125 Engine is a two-stroke engine designed by Rotax, part of Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), to provide cost-effective but high speed kart racing. Built in Austria, the engine is liquid cooled, equipped with a balance shaf ...

. In Langkawi, James finished in the top 5 in all races and started 4th on the grid in the final. He was the highest placed Thai driver ever. At the end of 2005, James again joined the

Asia scholarship program and this time – having matured a little and with some more experience – passed with flying colors. He won one of 4 prestigious BMW Scholarship prizes worth USD 50,000 and managed to get bonus points for setting the fastest lap out of 20 competitors. In 2006 Meritus Racing Team took James on as a Rookie driver to compete in the

Asia series where he finished 3rd in the Rookie Championship and 4th overall.

2007–2008

In 2007 Grunwell spent a second year in Formula BMW Asia for Meritus Racing Team. He finished third in points with three wins among 12 podium finishes. In 2008 Grunwell raced in

Formula V6 Asia Formula Asia V6 Renault, renamed Formula V6 Asia in 2007 by Motorsport Asia, was launched in 2006 Formula V6 Asia by Renault season, 2006 and regulated by Motorsport Asia. It was a Formula Renault, Formula Renault 3.5 that include also World Serie ...

for Team Meritus and won the championship, capturing four wins and finishing on the podium in all but two of the twelve races. However, despite the 2008 success, Grunwell has not appeared in a professional motor race since that time.

Advertising and sponsorship

All through 2005 and 2006, James has been featured in many magazines and newspapers. James also appeared with his Concept Car at the Bangkok 7th Rugby Tournament on behalf of his sponsors Champion Ferodo, where he did a demonstration drive by and helped present the prize to the winners of the tournament. In 2007, The Pizza Company became one of the main sponsors for James in the

Asia Series followed by Comcon Services Thailand and Image Makers Asia, and James has been actively promoting both companies in Thailand and abroad. James is based in

and is currently racing throughout

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

where he currently leads the Formula BMW Asian Championship after winning races in

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Sources

*

*Boudreau, Mar

F1 Prospect, January 28, 2006, Accessed July 31,

External links

Official Web SiteJames' Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunwell, James 1983 births Living people British racing drivers British expatriates in Thailand Formula V6 Asia drivers Formula BMW Asia drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Team Meritus drivers