Jonathan Aberdein
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South African
FIA Gold| Jonathan Aberdein | |
|---|---|
 Jonathan Aberdein in 2021 | |
| Nationality | South African |
| Born | 14 February 1998 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Relatives | Chris Aberdein (father) |
| European Le Mans Series | |
| Racing licence | FIA Gold |
| Years active | 2021, 2023 |
| Teams | United Autosports, Inter Europol Competition |
| Starts | 12 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 5 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 2nd in 2021 |
| Previous series | |
| 2022 2022 2019-2020 2018 2017 2016-17 2016 | ADAC GT Masters World Endurance Championship Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters FIA European F3 ADAC Formula 4 Formula 4 UAE Championship ADAC Formula 4 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2016-17 | Formula 4 UAE Championship |
Jonathan 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.
Aberdein began his racing career by karting primarily in South Africa before moving to single-seaters in 2016. He 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.
2016–2018: Junior single-seaters
Aberdein’s first single-seater championship was the 2017 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.[1]
Aberdein graduated to European Formula 3 for 2018, remaining with Motopark for a third year following an extensive testing programme with the team.[1] He took three podiums across the season.[2]
2019–2020: Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
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Aberdein’s first experience in DTM was in 2017, when he took part in a rookie test for Audi at the Lausitzring.[1] He took part in another test in December 2018, this time for Audi’s customer teams at Jerez.[3]
Aberdein was announced to be competing in the 2019 season with Audi Sport Team WRT the following March.[2] He finished the season in 10th overall, with 67 points and a best race result of fourth at Assen and the Nürburgring.[4]
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’ve included just one race appearance in place of Robin Frijns at the Norisring.[5] Instead, he moved to BMW Team RMR for a sophomore DTM campaign.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8] With four podiums, including a win at the season-ending race in Portugal, the trio ended up finishing second in the standings.[9] 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.[10][11]
2022 saw Aberdein team up with Ed Jones and Oliver Rasmussen to drive for Jota Sport in the World Endurance Championship.[12] Following a fifth place at Sebring, the team would be forced to retire at Spa-Francorchamps.[13] 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.[14][15] Aberdein, Jones, and Rasmussen took another third place at the penultimate race in Fuji, eventually ending up sixth in the teams' standings.[16]
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.[17] With three podiums in the first three races, he finished 20th in the overall standings.[18] He also competed in the opening round of the 2022 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie with Team Sorg Rennsport, finishing eighth in the VT2 FWD class.[19]
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.[20] With one podium at Paul Ricard but three retirements out of the six races, the team finished seventh in the standings.[21]
