31/5/1942
Record updated 30-May-06
A car trader from Frauenfeld in Switzerland, Vonlanthen began racing in Formula Vee in 1968 and, driving a Tecno, won the 1972 Swiss F3 championship.
He went into Formula 2 in 1973 with a GRD, taking a third place in the Rome GP, but this was easily his best result until he came second in the opening round of the 1975 series at Estoril in a March 742-BMW, when most of the front-runners fell by the wayside.
His brief Formula 1 career lasted just three races in 1975, Jo driving a works Ensign in the International Trophy before switching to Williams for the Swiss GP at Dijon. After taking a distant 14th place in this non-championship race, Vonlanthen made the grid in his Williams for the Austrian GP only because both Henton and Wilson Fittiplaldi had practice mishaps.
He returned to Formula 2 on an irregular basis in 1976, but never really featured.
POPULAR DRIVERS FROM CH
Jo Vonlanthen
Jo Siffert
Marc Surer
Clay Regazzoni
Ottorino Volonterio
Benoît Musy
Herbert Müller
Silvio Moser
Rudi Fischer
Max de Terra