Jonathan Aberdein

Jonathan David Aberdein (born 14 February 1998) is a South African racing driver who last competed in the 2023 European Le Mans Series for Inter Europol Competition.

Beginning his single-seater career in 2016, Aberdein was the inaugural champion of the Formula 4 UAE Championship in early 2017. He also competed in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in 2016 and 2017, and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2018.

Aberdein then moved to sportscar racing, competing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2019 and 2020 before switching to endurance prototypes. He finished second overall in the 2021 European Le Mans Series LMP2 class with United Autosports before moving to the FIA World Endurance Championship for 2022, finishing third in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A second European Le Mans Series season in 2023 was his most recent racing endeavor.

Career 2016–2018: Junior single-seaters Aberdein's first single-seater championship was the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, driving for Motopark. The following year, he won the 2016–17 Formula 4 UAE Championship title with 14 wins out of 18 races. However, he only finished ninth overall in the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, although he took four podiums during the season.

Aberdein graduated to European Formula 3 for 2018, remaining with Motopark for a third year following an extensive testing programme with the team. He took three podiums across the season, two at Silverstone and one at the Red Bull Ring, and finished 12th in the standings.

2019–2020: Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Aberdein switched to touring cars for the 2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Aberdein's first experience in DTM was in 2017, when he took part in a rookie test for Audi at the Lausitzring.

Aberdein was announced to be competing in the 2019 season with Audi Sport Team WRT the following March. He finished the season in tenth overall, with 67 points and a best race result of fourth at Assen and the Nürburgring.

For the 2020 season, Aberdein was originally set to serve as Audi's reserve driver in DTM and Formula E, a deal which likely would have included just one race appearance in place of Robin Frijns at the Norisring. Instead, he moved to BMW Team RMR for a sophomore DTM campaign. He was unable to improve on his results from the previous year, again taking a best race result of fourth at Zolder, and finished 11th in the standings.

2021–2023: LMP2 endurance racing In 2021, Aberdein moved to the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series, competing alongside Tom Gamble and Philip Hanson at United Autosports. With four podiums, including a win at the season-ending race in Portugal, the trio ended up finishing second in the standings. In addition, he joined the team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Nico Jamin and Manuel Maldonado, though the race would conclude in a retirement due to a crash with the sister United car caused by Maldonado.

2022 saw Aberdein team up with Ed Jones and Oliver Rasmussen to drive for Jota Sport in the World Endurance Championship. Following a fifth place at Sebring, the team would be forced to retire at Spa-Francorchamps. The team bounced back strongly at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing third in class and joining the sister car, which took victory, on the podium. Aberdein, Jones, and Rasmussen took another third place at the penultimate race in Fuji, eventually ending up sixth in the teams' standings.

Aberdein made a brief return to GT racing in 2022 alongside his endurance campaign, competing in the first two rounds of the ADAC GT Masters for Mercedes-AMG–affiliated Mann-Filter Team Landgraf. With three podiums in the first three races, he finished 20th in the overall standings. He also competed in the opening round of the 2022 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie with Team Sorg Rennsport, finishing eighth in the VT2 FWD class.

For 2023, Aberdein returned to the European Le Mans Series. Competing in the LMP2 class for Inter Europol Competition, Aberdein drove alongside Olli Caldwell and Rui Andrade in the team's No. 43 entry. With one podium at Paul Ricard but three retirements out of the six races, the team finished seventh in the standings.

Personal life Aberdein is the son of Chris Aberdein, who was an Audi works driver in South Africa in the 1990s.

Racing career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2016 ADAC Formula 4 Championship Motopark 24 0 0 0 1 49 14th Formula 4 UAE Championship - Trophy Event Team Motopark 3 3 2 1 3 N/A NC 2016–17 Formula 4 UAE Championship Team Motopark 18 14 12 11 16 368 1st 2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship Motopark 21 0 0 1 4 94 9th 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Motopark 30 0 0 1 3 108 12th 2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Audi Sport Team WRT 18 0 0 0 0 67 10th 2020 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters BMW Team RMR 18 0 0 0 0 62 11th 2021 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 United Autosports 6 1 0 0 4 86 2nd 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Jota Sport 6 0 0 1 2 70 8th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210000N/A 3rd Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2 FWD Team Sorg Rennsport 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC ADAC GT Masters MANN-FILTER Team Landgraf 4 0 1 0 3 56 20th 2023 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Inter Europol Competition 6 0 0 0 1 33 7thSource:

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Points 2016 Motopark OSC11 OSC12 OSC13 SAC1 SAC2 SAC3 LAU1 LAU2 LAU3 OSC21 OSC22 OSC23 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 14th 49 2017 Motopark OSC11 OSC12 OSC13 LAU1 LAU2 LAU3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 OSC21 OSC22 OSC23 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 SAC1 SAC2 SAC3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 9th 94

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2016–17 Team Motopark DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC14 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 YMC24 YMC31 YMC32 YMC33 YMC34 1st

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2018 Motopark Volkswagen PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 12th 109

‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

Year Entrant Chassis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points 2019 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi RS5 Turbo DTM HOC1 HOC2 ZOL1 ZOL2 MIS1 MIS2 NOR1 NOR2 ASS1 ASS2 BRH1 BRH2 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 10th 67 2020 BMW Team RMR BMW M4 Turbo DTM SPA1 SPA2 LAU1 LAU2 LAU1 LAU2 ASS1 ASS2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZOL1 ZOL2 ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 11th 62

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2021 United Autosports LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT RBR LEC MNZ SPA ALG 2nd 86 2023 Inter Europol Competition LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC ARA SPA ALG POR 7th 33

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2021 United Autosports Nico Jamin Manuel Maldonado Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 75 DNF DNF 2022 Jota Sport Ed Jones Oliver Rasmussen Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 368 7th 3rd

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2021 United Autosports LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SPA ALG MNZ LMS BHR BHR NC 0 2022 Jota Sport LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEB SPA LMS MNZ FUJ BHR 8th 70 Complete ADAC GT Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2022 Mann-Filter Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo OSC1 OSC2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LAU1 LAU2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 20th 56