John Filippi

John Filippi is a racing driver from France who began his career in single-seaters but later switched to the touring cars. He spent four seasons in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and then raced in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup in 2018.

During all those years in world's top touring car competitions, his biggest success was the second place among independent drivers in the 2014 WTCC season.

John Filippi began his career in karting

John Filippi began his career in karting

Born in February 1995 in Bastia, a town and principal port on Corsica island, John started his racing career at the age of twelve in karting competitions. In 2009, Filippi debuted at international level, racing in the European KF3 Championship but without too much success.

Filippi continued to race karting, mainly at the national level, until the end of 2001. The results weren’t impressive but John was able to score a couple Top 10 finishes in the French and Grand Prix Open Championships.

Switch to single-seaters

In 2012 John started a new chapter of his career. He has competed in the amateur series called ’V de V Challenge’ in which drivers use old Formula Renault and Formula Masters cars. He raced in six events that year and finished 25th overall.

John Filippi, V de V Series, Catalunya Circuit, 2013

The following campaign in the same series was much better. He won 11 out of 18 races that year driving the Bossy Racing’s modified Tatuus N T07. Those results caught the eyes of the teams from more competitive series, so Filippi debuted in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He got the chance with the RC Formula during the final round in Barcelona, but the results were poor in both races.

Surprising move to the WTCC

The future didn’t look bright for the youngster from Corsica at that moment. However, he surprisingly got a chance to enter the 2014 World Touring Cars Championship with Campos Racing. John jumped into the seat of TC2 specificated SEAT Leon. His first season in the series was marked by the 8th place in the main race at Marrakech when Filippi became the youngest-ever pilot who scored points in the WTCC.

Filippi debuted in WTCC driving the Campos Racing's SEAT in 2014

He also won the class in the opening race in Japan before finishing 18th in the Championship and 2nd in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy what sounds like a good achievement but that year only two drivers drove a full season in the TC2 class.

Progress to the TC1 category

When Dusan Borkovic left Campos Racing, Filippi was promoted to TC1 class in 2015. The team switched from SEAT to Chevrolet Cruze and Filippi continued his slow but constant progress. That year he scored points in three races – Marrakech, Nurburgring, Shanghai -  before taking the 18th place overall and 8th in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy.

John Filippi driving a Campos Racing's Chevrolet at Nurburgring

In the 2016 WTCC season, Filippi picked up points on five occasions, in Slovakia, Hungary, Morocco, and twice in Argentina. Legendary WTCC champion Yvan Muller became a coach of his talented compatriot who again finished 18th in the standings, this time with 9 points in his books. In the WTCC Trophy, Filippi progressed to the 5th place.

One season with SLR, back to Campos Racing in 2018

In 2017, John moved from Campos Racing to Sebastien Loeb Racing, to drive Citroen C-Elysee alongside teammates Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton. He was the regular point-scorer over the season, finishing 12th in the final standings and seventh among independent drivers. His best result was fourth place in two races, nearly missing a podium in China and Qatar.

In 2018, Filippi rejoined Campos Racing in the inaugural season of the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup, driving the #27 Cupra Leon TCR. Scoring no wins or podiums, he finished 26th in the points.

John Filippi's Citroen C-Elysee in 2017

Photo: motorsportgp.pl, john-filippi.com, wikimedia.org, fiawtcc.com