Christine GZ
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| 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 |
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.
Biography[edit]
GZ was born to Italian parents in Pondicherry, India, where she lived for eight years before moving to Milan, Italy, and then to the 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 2014, GZ won her first title, the overall Championship of the Canaries.[2] 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 a 3rd place. She was racing with the Avatel Telecom Racing Team during the 2021 season reaching the 2nd place at the T1N Cross-Country Spanish Championship this year.[citation needed]
On 15 December 2020 she was announced to have signed with formerly known as Hispano Suiza 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[edit]
Complete 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 c "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