Mowlem to retire “on own terms” from professional ranks

British sportscar racing veteran Johnny Mowlem will retire from professional motorsport to focus on his sports mentoring agency – despite his current IMSA team boss, BAR1 Motorsports’ Brian Alder, asking him to reconsider.

Mowlem, 47, has driven for BAR1 for the past two seasons in the Prototype Challenge division of the IMSA series, his highlights being back-to-back Rolex 24 poles at Daytona.

His final race as a professional will be with the team in October’s Petit Le Mans.

Team boss Adler said: “[Mowlem] told me the week before the IMSA Road America race that he had decided to stop at the end of this season.

“After that race I did briefly try and talk him into changing his mind, especially after his race performance in comparison to the other pro PC drivers, as I felt he still had more to give, but he wants to leave on his own terms and I respect that.

“Johnny really helped us as a team get back from a difficult year in 2014. His back-to-back Daytona pole positions in 2015 and ’16 were exceptional‎, especially this year when we set the overall fastest prototype time in monsoon qualifying conditions.” 

The bulk of Mowlem’s career has been in the United States, but he also won the 2013 European Le Mans GTE class title in a Ram Racing Ferrari.

“I've had a decent career, winning some major sportscar races and championships,” said Mowlem. “And I've been fortunate enough to drive for some great factory and privateer teams in pretty much every class of sportscar racing.

“I still love the pure thrill of driving and I doubt that will ever leave me, but this opportunity has arisen at a time when I have simultaneously felt some of my motivation waning slightly and I have to look at my longer-term future. 

“This year has still been fun and I've had some great highlights with BAR1 and Brian Alder but it's time to move on to the next phase.”