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Christine Giampaoli Zonca (born 22 July 1993), more commonly known by her nickname Christine GZ, is an Italian-Spanish rally and off-road race driver. After an off-road racing career in America, competing with the team Dynamic Racing, Zonca raced in Europe with the Avatel Telecom Race Team.[1] In late 2020, Zonca scored a third place in the Andalucia Rally round of the FIA World Cross Country Championship.
| Christine GZ | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Christine GZ in 2022 | |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Full name | Christine Giampaoli Zonca |
| Born | July 22, 1993 Pondicherry, India |
| Extreme E career | |
| Debut season | 2021 |
| Former teams | Xite Energy Racing, Veloce Racing, Carl Cox Motorsport |
| Starts | 13 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 9th in 2021 |
Biography
editGZ was born to Italian parents in Pondicherry, India, where she lived for eight years before moving to Milan, Italy, and then to Tenerife, Canary Islands.[2] She completed a degree in motorsports technology at Birmingham City University.[3][4]
She initially worked at her neighbor's garage.[citation needed] The first chassis she bought was a 1988 Golf MKII, followed by a 1989 Rally Corolla that she named "Lolla".[2][5]
In 2016, she was a member of an all-female rally team competing in the Rally Catalunya.[6]
In 2020, GZ re-launched her racing career after a COVID lockdown. Together with the Avatel Telecom and co-driver Edu Blanco she competed in the Andalucía Rally. Christine completed the rally with 3rd place. She was racing with the Avatel Telecom Racing Team during the 2021 season reaching 2nd place at the T1N Cross-Country Spanish Championship this year.[citation needed]
On 15th December, 2020, she was announced to have signed with the formerly known Hispano Suiza now Xite Energy Team to compete in the new all-electric off-road racing championship Extreme E along with Oliver Bennett. She made her debut at the 2021 Desert X-Prix in Al-'Ula, Saudi Arabia, where she finished 5th. The team was re-branded Xite Energy Racing ahead of round 2. At the end of the 2021 season GZ and Bennett classified 9th. She also became a TV presenter for Italian broadcaster Sport MediaSet, covering the FIA Formula E World Championship and driving the BMW i8 Safety Car on the Circuit de Monaco. In addition, she also took part in the Eco Rallye Mallorca, driving the Porsche Taycan.[7]
She participated in the Spanish date Baja Aragón of the FIA World Cup Cross-Country Bajas with her co-driver Ricardo Torlaschi finishing 5th at the T3 category.
She competed in the 2023 season of the all-electric off-road racing championship Extreme E for Carl Cox Motorsport with Timo Scheider as her teammate.[8] She was replaced by Lia Block, daughter of the late Ken Block, at round 5 for the rest of the season.[9] She returned for the final two rounds of the season as the series championship reserve driver after regular reserve driver Tamara Molinaro replaced Hedda Hosås at JBXE.[10][11] She has previously competed for Veloce Racing[12] and Xite Energy Racing.
Racing record
editComplete Extreme E results
edit(key)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Hispano-Suiza Xite Energy Team | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES Q 5 |
DES R 5 |
9th | 55 | ||||||||
| Xite Energy Racing | OCE Q 6 |
OCE R 6 |
ARC Q 9 |
ARC R 8 |
ISL Q 9 |
ISL R 9 |
JUR Q 9 |
JUR R 9 | ||||||
| 2022 | Veloce Racing | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES WD |
ISL1 8 |
ISL2 9 |
COP 10 |
ENE | 18th | 7 | |||||
| 2023 | Carl Cox Motorsport | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES1 7 |
DES2 9 |
HYD1 3 |
HYD2 DNS |
ISL-I1 |
ISL-I2 |
ISL-II1 |
ISL-II2 |
COP1 |
COP2 |
15th | 23 |
* Season still in progress.
References
edit- ^ Garcia, Jesus (3 October 2020). "Christine GZ Partners with Avatel to Race the Andalucia Rally". DriveTribe. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Christine Giampaoli Zonca Biography". ChristineGZ.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "Motorsports Technology student is a rally star". Birmingham City University. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ Krith, Anna (15 June 2017). "Christine Giampaoli Zonca: The Italian "thunder" behind the wheel". Anna Krith's Lifestyle. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "Intervista esclusiva a Christine Giampaoli Zonca: "Punto alla Dakar 2020"". Rallyssimo (in Italian). 28 August 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "FC client Christine Giampaoli Zonca makes rallying history". Full Contact Law. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "El Eco Rallye Mallorca, una cita revolucionaria". Ultima Hora (in Spanish). 5 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ "Carl Cox Motorsport Extreme E: Introducing Timo & Christine - our Dream Team!". Carl Cox Motorsport. 2 March 2023.
- ^ Wilde, Dominik (4 July 2023). "Lia Block joins Carl Cox Motorsport for Extreme E in the Island X Prix". NBC Sports. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ "Christine GZ returns as Championship Driver for Season 3 finale". Extreme E - The Electric Odyssey. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ Wilde, Dominik (22 November 2023). "Molinaro joins JBXE for Chile Extreme E finale". RACER. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ^ "Veloce Racing announces Christine Giampaoli Zonca for 2022 season". extreme-e.com. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
External links
edit
- Christine Giampaoli Zonca Website
- Christine GZ on Twitter