About Joakim Bonnier
Joakim "Jo" Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was a Swedish racing driver and team owner, who competed in Formula One from 1956 to 1971. Bonnier won the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix with BRM. Born and raised in Stockholm, Bonnier was the son of geneticist Gert Bonnier and born into the wealthy Bonnier family, the controlling family of the eponymous Bonnier Group. Bonnier competed in Formula One for Maserati, Scuderia Centro Sud, BRM, Porsche, Rob Walker Racing and Ecurie Bonnier, winning the Dutch Grand Prix with BRM to become the first Swedish Formula One Grand Prix winner and finishing eighth in the World Drivers' Championship that year. Outside of Formula One, Bonnier entered 13 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1957 to 1972, finishing runner-up in 1964 alongside Graham Hill, driving the Ferrari 330P. During the latter, Bonnier died when his Lola T280 collided with traffic and left him critically injured. Until his death, Bonnier had been the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. In the first outing at the Karlskoga Sweden GP, Bonnier had the pole but an off course excursion on the first lap caused him to finish second to David Piper in a Ferrari 330P3/4. He also won the 1960 German Grand Prix with a Porsche 718, a race held for Formula Two in preparation for the rule change of 1961.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.