Jonathan Bomarito

Jonathan Bomarito is an American racing driver who currently competes with Mazda in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Bomarito is active in the sports car racing since 2010.

Prior to that, he was successful in open-wheel racing, finishing second in the 2008 Atlantic Championship and the champion in the 2003 US Formula Ford Championship.

Jonathan Bomarito

Formula Ford champion early in a career

Born in January 1982 in Monterrey, California, Jonathan Bomarito started his racing career as a teenager in karting competitions.

In 2001, he recorded few racing attempts in the Formula Dodge National Championship but he completely switched to car racing in 2003, spending a full season in the US Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship with PR1 Motorsports. He was a race winner five times, winning the championship title ahead of Westley Barber and Charlie Kimball.

Formula Atlantic debut in 2004, Daytona 24h debut in 2005

In 2004, Bomarito stepped into Toyota Atlantic Championship, driving a Swift-Toyota for Transnet Racing. Scoring one podium, he was ninth in the points. He also made one start in the Star Mazda Championship in 2004 and two starts in 2005.

In February 2005, Bomarito made a one-off appearance in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series by joining Ten Motorsports at Daytona 24 Hours. His partners in the #19 Riley-BMW were Memo Gidley, Michael McDowell and Michael Valiante.

Jonathan Bomarito in 2008

Runner-up in the 2008 Atlantic Championship

In 2006, Bomarito returned to Champ Car Atlantic Championship and rejoined PR1 Motorsports. He scored his first series win at season's finale at Road America to finish sixth in the points. Next year, he again scored one victory, finishing fifth in the points.

For the 2008 Atlantic Championship season, Bomarito joined Mathiasen Motorsports. He was a race winner three times, finishing second in the points behind Markus Niemela. It was Bomarito's last full season in open-wheel racing. In 2009, he participated in three races of the Atlantic Championship and recorded one-off attempt in the Indy Lights Series, switching his career to sports car racing.

Jonathan Bomarito started to race with Mazda in 2008

GT class victory at 2010 Daytona 24 Hours

Bomarito had one-off attempts in Grand-Am Rolex Series in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, he was driving a Mazda RX-8 for Racers Edge Motorsports at Watkins Glen 6 Hours. In 2009, he was at the wheel of Speedsource Mazda RX-8 at Daytona 24 Hours.

Bomarito joined Speedsource for the full season in the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Series, driving the #70 Mazda RX-8. He opened a season with GT class victory at Daytona 24 Hours, sharing a car with Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell and Nick Ham. Later in the season, he and Tremblay scored one more victory at New Jersey to finish third in the final standings.

Driving a Mazda RX-8 until 2012

In 2011, Bomarito was third again in the Rolex Sports Car Series. He and Sylvain Tremblay were the race winners again at New Jersey in the #70 Mazda RX-8 GT. It remained their only win of the season.

In 2012, Bomarito and Tremblay were partners for the third consecutive year in the #70 Mazda RX-8 GT. They were race winners at Barber Motorsports Park, finishing fourth in the final standings of GT class.

Jonathan Bomarito was driving for SRT Motorsports in 2013 and 2014

Two seasons with SRT Motorsports

In October 2012, Bomarito joined SRT Motorsports to drive the #93 SRT Viper GTS-R at Petit Le Mans, a round of the American Le Mans Series. In 2013, he joined SRT Motorsports to drive full time in the American Le Mans Series. Sharing a car with Kuno Wittmer, he scored two podiums to finish ninth in GT class standings.

In June 2013, Bomarito made a debut at 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the #93 SRT Viper GTS-R in GTE Pro class. He was sharing a car with Kuno Wittmer and Tommy Kendall. They finished 31st overall and 9th in class.

Bomarito stayed one more season with SRT Motorsports, driving the #91 and #93 SRT Viper in GTLM class of the IMSA United SportsCar Championship. He was a race winner two times (Indianapolis, Austin), ending a season as a vice-champion behind his teammate Kuno Wittmer.

Jonathan Bomarito in 2015

Racing with Mazda prototypes since 2015

In 2015, Bomarito rejoined Speedsource to drive diesel-powered  #70 Mazda Skyactiv Prototype. He participated in six races, finishing best in the sixth place of Prototype class at Laguna Seca. The #70 crew retired both at Daytona 24h and Sebring 12h.

In 2016, Bomarito and Tristan Nunez spent a full season in the #55 Mazda Prototype. They reached one podium, finishing third at Belle Isle Circuit. At the end of the season, they were 7th in the points. In 2017, Bomarito participated in seven IMSA Championship races with new Mazda RT24-P prototype but also joined Visit Florida Racing at Petit Le Mans where he was driving a Ligier LMP2 prototype. He scored two podiums with Mazda (Long Beach and Watkins Glen), finishing 8th in the points.

Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell

Two victories in 2019 IMSA CHampionship

For the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship season, Mazda and Joest Racing became partners, forming the Mazda Team Joest. Bomarito has been announced as a full-time driver of the #55 Mazda RT24-P DPi prototype, mostly with Harry Tincknell. He finished 10th in the points after scoring one podium (Petit Le Mans).

In 2019, he spent another season in the #55 Mazda DPi. Maiden victory in the Prototype class came in the sixth round at Watkins Glen and then one more in the eighth round at Road America. His partner in both races was Harry Tincknell. At the end of the season, Bomarito was sixth in the points.

Photos: motorsport.com,