| Christine GZ | |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Full Name: | Christine Giampaoli Zonca |
| Birth Date: | 22 July 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Pondicherry, India |
| Current Series: | Extreme E |
| First Year: | 2021 |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Former Teams: | Xite Energy Racing, Veloce Racing, Carl Cox Motorsport |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Podiums: | 0 |
| Poles: | 0 |
| Starts: | 13 |
| Best Finish: | 9th |
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.
GZ 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. The first chassis she bought was a 1988 Golf MKII, followed by a 1989 Rally Corolla that she named "Lolla".[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.
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.
(key)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Hispano-Suiza Xite Energy Team | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES Q | DES R | 9th | ||||||||||
| Xite Energy Racing | OCE Q | OCE R | ARC Q | ARC R | ISL Q | ISL R | JUR Q | JUR R | |||||||
| 2022 | Veloce Racing | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES | ISL1 | ISL2 | COP | ENE | 18th | 7 | ||||||
| 2023 | Carl Cox Motorsport | Spark ODYSSEY 21 | DES1 | DES2 | HYD1 | HYD2 | ISL-I1 | ISL-I2 | ISL-II1 | ISL-II2 | COP1 | COP2 | 15th | 23 |