Rick Parfitt Jr

Richard 'Rick' Parfitt Jr is a British musician and racing driver whose greatest success is a championship title in the 2017 British GT Championship, together with Seb Morris in Team Parker Racing's Bentley Continental GT3. In 2013, Parfitt was a champion in the GT4 class of the same competition, driving a Ginetta for Optimum Motorsport.

Rick Parfitt Jr. is a son of late Rick Parfitt (1948-2016), who was a member of world's famous band Status Quo. Rick Junior also has his own band, named The RPJ Band.

Rick Parfitt Jr is a rock musician, same as his late father

Rick gained notable success in karting

Born in 1974, Rick Parfitt Jr started his racing career relatively late, in 1996, entering karting competitions. He was pretty successful, gaining some national and international titles and winning some big races, such were Le Mans 24h du Karting or Dubai 24h. Since then, his goal is to compete in 24 hours of Le Mans in a car category.

British GT4 class champion in 2013

In 2011, he left karting to enter the Ginetta GT5 Challenge with HHC Motorsport, driving a Ginetta G40. Next year, he was driving for Piranha Motorsport, finishing ninth in the points.

In 2013, Rick progressed to the GT4 class of the British GT Championship, driving the #44 Ginetta G50 for Optimum Motorsport. His co-driver was Ryan Ratcliffe. They were race winners three times, winning the GT4 championship title just two points ahead of the closest rival.

In 2013, Rick was the GT4 class champion

Progressing to GT3 class in 2015

Parfitt spent one more season in the GT4 class, driving the #42 Ginetta G55 for Century Motorsport in 2014. He and Tom Oliphant have won the last race of the season at Donington Park, finishing fourth in the final GT4 standings.

In 2015, Parfitt stayed in a Ginetta G55 but progressed to the GT3-spec car, driving the #44 car for the factory-backed Team LNT. His partners through a season were Tom Oliphant and Ryan Ratcliffe. Without wins or podiums, with fourth place at Snetterton as the best result, Rick finished 20th in the points.

Rick has short but successful racing cereer

British GT champion with Team Parker Racing in 2017

For the 2016 British GT season, Parfitt joined Team Parker Racing to drive the #31 Bentley Continental GT3 together with Seb Morris. Their only victory came in the second race of the fourth round at Oulton Park. They were on a podium five more times, finishing third in the championship standings.

In 2017, Parfitt and Morris improved their results, winning three times, two times in two-hour races at Rockingham and Brands Hatch, the third time in a three-hour race at Silverstone.  Such results brought them a championship title not only in the Pro-Am class but as the overall winners of the 2017 British GT Championship.

Rick Parfitt - two-time British GT champion

Travelling to Daytona in January 2018

Parfitt's exceptional results brought him also a crown of the Sunoco 240 Challenge champion, in a competition which provides an accurate assessment and comparison of performances across multiple championships. He becomes the first amateur to win that award. The prize is a travel to Florida in January 2018 to drive a GT4 car in the 4-hour BMW Endurance Challenge support race during the Daytona 24 Hours event.

Later in 2018, Parfitt was defending his British GT championship title in the #1 Bentley Continental GT3, sharing a car with Ryan Ratcliffe (eight races) and Seb Morris (one race). His only podium of the season was the second place at Spa-Francorchamps and he finished tenth in the championship points.

In 2019, Rick and Seb stayed together in a Bentley but changed a team, joining JRM Racing. They won the season-opening race at Oulton Park and finished ninth in the points at the end of the season.

Photos: rpjracing.co.uk, britishgt.com,