Jean-Karl Vernay

Jean-Karl "J. K." Vernay (born 31 October 1987) is a French professional racing driver. He was 2010 Indy Lights and 2017 TCR International Series champion. He has won races at the World Touring Car Cup, where he finished fifth in 2018 and won the WTCR Trophy in 2020.

Jean-Karl Vernay
Vernay in 2009
NationalityFrance French
Born (1987-10-31) 31 October 1987
Villeurbanne (France)
Super GT (GT500)
Years active2014
TeamsDome Racing
Car number18
Previous series
2013
2012
2011
2010
2007-2009
2006-07
2006
2005		FIA WEC (LMGTE Am)
Porsche Carrera Cup France
Formula Renault 3.5
Indy Lights
F3 Euroseries
A1 Grand Prix
French Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Campus France
Championship titles
2020
2018
2017
2012
2010
2005		WTCR Trophy
TCR Benelux Series
TCR International Series
Porsche Carrera Cup France
Indy Lights
Formula Campus France
Awards
2010Indy Lights Rookie of the Year

Career history

Karting

Formula

In 2005, Villeurbanne-born Vernay drove in the French Formula Campus series and finished 1st with 6 wins and 12 podiums on 14 races. The following year, he finished runner-up and best rookies in the French Formula Renault Championship with 7 podiums.

He drove two rounds as race driver in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season and the last round as practice session driver.

In 2007, Jean-Karl was selected to be part of the Red Bull Junior Team program that offers funding and support for promising young drivers. With Tom Dillmann, they were the first French drivers to take part in the programme. Vernay is still a part of the team, along with fellow Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne.

The same year, he raced in the Formula Three Euroseries with Signature-Plus team finishing 10th. A second place was his best result, with another finish of 3rd in the non-championship Ultimate Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder behind Nico Hülkenberg and team-mate Yann Clairay.[1]

Vernay continued in the series in 2008, continuing with Signature-Plus. He ended up eighth in the championship, with 3 podiums coming at the Norisring, Brands Hatch and Le Mans. He also started his Brands Hatch podium race from pole position, thanks to the series' reverse grid system.

Vernay competed in a third season in 2009 for Signature, with team-mates Mika Mäki and Tiago Geronimi.[2] Vernay finally took his first win in the Euroseries, at the 42nd attempt, winning the sprint race at Hockenheim. He added a second win in the final race of the season, again at Hockenheim, passing Christopher Zanella on the final lap. At the season-ending Macau Grand Prix, Vernay set an outright lap record en route to a victory in the qualifying race, giving him pole position for the main event.[3] However, he lost out to Edoardo Mortara in the main race, after fluffing a gear shift.

Vernay has moved to the United States to race in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2010 for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.[4] He won in his series debut on the Streets of St. Petersburg in a wet race.[5] He followed this up with another win at Barber Motorsports Park and a third-place finish at Long Beach, leaving him 28 points clear at the top of the standings after 3 rounds. Vernay went on to win four races that season and clinched the championship over James Hinchcliffe with one race to go, having to just start the final round.

Vernay is the first Indy Lights champion since 1996's David Empringham to not go on to compete in IndyCar.

Sports cars and touring cars

In 2011 Vernay was the test and reserve driver for Peugeot Sport, testing the Peugeot 908 on several occasions.[6]

In 2012, Vernay won the Porsche Carrera Cup France driving for Sébastien Loeb Racing. Vernay won the 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Am class in 2013 while competing for IMSA Performance Matmut, driving a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR. He also contested in the full 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season. In 2014, Vernay will drive for Weider Modulo Dome Racing in Super GT GT500 class.

In 2016, Vernay will drive a W Racing Team Volkswagen Golf at the TCR International Series.

Racing record
Vernay during the opening round of the 2009 Formula Three Euroseries season at Hockenheim.
Vernay's Audi RS3 LMS car for TCR competition in 2018.

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Formula Campus France La Filière 14 6 2 3 12 219 1st
2006 French Formula Renault 2.0 SG Formula 13 2 3 7 7 108 2nd
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2006-07 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team France 4 0 0 0 0 3 4th‡
2007 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature-Plus 20 0 0 0 1 23 10th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature-Plus 20 0 0 0 3 35 8th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 10th
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature 20 2 0 2 5 47 5th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd
2010 Indy Lights Sam Schmidt Motorsports 13 5 3 2 9 494 1st
2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Pons Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Blancpain Endurance Series Vita4One 2 0 0 0 0 4 31st
American Le Mans Series Signatech Nissan 1 0 0 0 1 0 NC†
2012 Porsche Carrera Cup France Sébastien Loeb Racing 14 6 4 3 13 253 1st
FIA World Endurance Championship Luxury Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am IMSA Performance Matmut 8 1 0 0 3 122 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
European Le Mans Series - LMGTE 3 0 0 0 0 22 10th
Porsche Supercup MRS-GT Racing 9 0 0 0 0 29 13th
2014 Super GT Dome Racing 3 0 0 0 0 11 19th
GT Asia Series Absolute Bentley Racing 3 0 0 1 1 0 NC†
Macau GT Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0 10th
2015 Blancpain Endurance Series Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 5 0 0 0 2 48 6th
GT Asia Series Bentley Team Absolute 2 0 0 0 0 16 33rd
Audi R8 LMS Cup FAW-VW Audi Racing Team 2 1 0 1 1 32 12th
2016 TCR International Series Leopard Racing 22 3 2 4 7 246 3rd
2017 TCR International Series Leopard Racing Team WRT 19 1 0 0 7 226 1st
TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship Team WRT 3 0 0 0 2 64 20th
TCR China Touring Car Championship TeamWork Motorsport 2 1 2 2 2 58 10th
TCR Asia Series 2 1 0 0 1 0 NC†
V de V Endurance Series - LMP3 CMR / Sport Garage 1 0 0 0 0 0 31st
2018 World Touring Car Cup Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team 30 4 2 4 5 245 5th
TCR Europe Touring Car Series Leopard Lukoil Team WRT 12 3 2 4 5 159 2nd
TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship 8 5 2 2 6 163 1st
F4 Chinese Championship FFA Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 30th
Stock Car Brasil Bardahl Hot Car 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Audi Sport Customer Racing Asia by TSRT 1 0 0 0 1 18 11th
2019 World Touring Car Cup Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport 30 0 0 1 3 211 10th
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Phoenix Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
TCR Australia Touring Car Series Melbourne Performance Centre 1 1 1 1 1 42 28th
2020 World Touring Car Cup Team Mulsanne 16 1 0 0 5 194 3rd
2021 World Touring Car Cup Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team 16 2 0 2 4 177 3rd
Pure ETCR Championship Hyundai Motorsport N 5 1 0 0 2 316 2nd
24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd
2022 FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup Hyundai Motorsport N 6 0 0 0 0 254 8th
24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd

† As Vernay was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ‡ Team standings.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2006–07 A1 Team France NED
SPR		 NED
FEA		 CZE
SPR		 CZE
FEA		 CHN
SPR		 CHN
FEA		 MYS
SPR		 MYS
FEA		 IDN
SPR		 IDN
FEA		 NZL
SPR		 NZL
FEA		 AUS
SPR		 AUS
FEA		 RSA
SPR		 RSA
FEA		 MEX
SPR
Ret		 MEX
FEA
20		 CHN
SPR
Ret		 CHN
FEA
8		 GBR
SPR
PO		 GBR
SPR
PO		 4th 67

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2007 Signature-Plus Dallara F306/010 Mercedes HOC
1
7		 HOC
2
4		 BRH
1
16		 BRH
2
12		 NOR
1
5		 NOR
2
Ret		 MAG
1
8		 MAG
2
2		 MUG
1
5		 MUG
2
Ret		 ZAN
1
Ret		 ZAN
2
7		 NÜR
1
12		 NÜR
2
10		 CAT
1
Ret		 CAT
2
Ret		 NOG
1
8		 NOG
2
4		 HOC
1
10		 HOC
2
Ret		 10th 23
2008 Signature-Plus Dallara F308/033 Volkswagen HOC
1
5		 HOC
2
Ret		 MUG
1
25		 MUG
2
Ret		 PAU
1
Ret		 PAU
2
14		 NOR
1
3		 NOR
2
4		 ZAN
1
6		 ZAN
2
4		 NÜR
1
13		 NÜR
2
7		 BRH
1
8		 BRH
2
2		 CAT
1
17		 CAT
2
11		 BUG
1
5		 BUG
2
3		 HOC
1
5		 HOC
2
4		 8th 35
2009 Signature Dallara F308 Volkswagen HOC
1
6		 HOC
2
1		 MUG
1
3		 MUG
2
12		 PAU
1
7		 PAU
2
2		 NOR
1
4		 NOR
2
5		 ZAN
1
6		 ZAN
2
7		 NÜR
1
6		 NÜR
2
15		 BRH
1
13		 BRH
2
8		 CAT
1
Ret		 CAT
2
14		 DIJ
1
18		 DIJ
2
Ret		 HOC
1
3		 HOC
2
1		 5th 47

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points
2010 Sam Schmidt Motorsports STP
1		 ALA
1		 LBH
3		 INDY
13		 IOW
3		 WGL
1		 TOR
1		 EDM
2		 MDO
8		 SNM
1		 CHI
4		 KTY
3		 HMS
15		 1st 494

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2012 Luxury Racing LMGTE Pro Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 SEB
Ret		 SPA LMS SIL SÃO BHR FUJ SHA NC 0
2013 IMSA Performance Matmut LMGTE Am Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL
7		 SPA
6		 LMS
1		 SÃO
4		 COA
3		 FUJ
5		 SHA
2		 BHR
6		 3rd 122

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2013 MRS GT-Racing ESP
12		 MON
11		 GBR
21		 GER
11		 HUN
11		 BEL
14		 ITA
9		 UAE
Ret		 UAE
DSQ		 13th 29

24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2013 France IMSA Performance Matmut France Raymond Narac
France Christophe Bourret		 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am 306 25th 1st

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points
2013 IMSA Performance Matmut LMGTE Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL IMO RBR
7		 HUN
5		 LEC
7		 10th 22

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Pts
2014 Dome Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
5		 FUJ
10		 AUT
7		 SUG FUJ SUZ BUR MOT 19th 11

Complete TCR International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2016 Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR BHR
1
Ret		 BHR
2
DSQ		 EST
1
2		 EST
2
5		 SPA
1
14		 SPA
2
1		 IMO
1
11		 IMO
2
4		 SAL
1
5		 SAL
2
1		 OSC
1
6		 OSC
2
Ret		 SOC
1
5		 SOC
2
2		 CHA
1
5		 CHA
2
8		 MRN
1
1		 MRN
2
6		 SEP
1
5		 SEP
2
5		 MAC
1
2		 MAC
2
2		 3rd 246
2017 Leopard Racing Team WRT Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR RIM
1
6		 RIM
2
3		 BHR
1
3		 BHR
2
4		 SPA
1
4		 SPA
2
1		 MNZ
1
4		 MNZ
2
5		 SAL
1
17†		 SAL
2
DNS		 HUN
1
3		 HUN
2
7		 OSC
1
Ret		 OSC
2
3		 CHA
1
4		 CHA
2
5		 ZHE
1
2		 ZHE
2
12		 DUB
1
3		 DUB
2
15†		 1st 226

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 75% of the race distance.

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2018 Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team Audi RS 3 LMS TCR MAR
1
4		 MAR
2
1		 MAR
3
9		 HUN
1
8		 HUN
2
10		 HUN
3
10		 GER
1
5		 GER
2
7		 GER
3
7		 NED
1
5		 NED
2
Ret		 NED
3
1		 POR
1
5		 POR
2
4		 POR
3
10		 SVK
1
2		 SVK
2
Ret		 SVK
3
Ret		 CHN
1
Ret		 CHN
2
Ret		 CHN
3
12		 WUH
1
1		 WUH
2
5		 WUH
3
15		 JPN
1
6		 JPN
2
13		 JPN
3
10		 MAC
1
1		 MAC
2
Ret		 MAC
3
22†		 5th 245
2019 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS TCR MAR
1
7		 MAR
2
2		 MAR
3
Ret		 HUN
1
4		 HUN
2
2		 HUN
3
10		 SVK
1
4		 SVK
2
12		 SVK
3
Ret		 NED
1
22		 NED
2
15		 NED
3
25		 GER
1
12		 GER
2
9		 GER
3
4		 POR
1
DSQ		 POR
2
4		 POR
3
DSQ		 CHN
1
16		 CHN
2
10		 CHN
3
Ret		 JPN
1
6		 JPN
2
9		 JPN
3
9		 MAC
1
21		 MAC
2
9		 MAC
3
3		 MAL
1
10		 MAL
2
14		 MAL
3
10		 10th 211
2020 Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR BEL
1
5		 BEL
2
7		 GER
1
9		 GER
2
6		 SVK
1
3		 SVK
2
14		 SVK
3
4		 HUN
1
9		 HUN
2
3		 HUN
3
5		 ESP
1
1		 ESP
2
Ret		 ESP
3
6		 ARA
1
8		 ARA
2
2		 ARA
3
3		 3rd 194
2021 Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR GER
1
10		 GER
2
1		 POR
1
Ret		 POR
2
2		 ESP
1
9		 ESP
2
4		 HUN
1
14		 HUN
2
13		 CZE
1
6		 CZE
2
14		 FRA
1
6		 FRA
2
1		 ITA
1
14		 ITA
2
19		 RUS
1
2		 RUS
2
5		 3rd 177

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
2018 Leopard Lukoil Team WRT Audi RS 3 LMS TCR LEC
1
6		 LEC
2
2		 ZAN
1		 ZAN
2		 SPA
1
1		 SPA
2
Ret		 HUN
1
7		 HUN
2
20		 ASS
1
2		 ASS
2
7		 MNZ
1
1		 MNZ
2
1		 CAT
1
6		 CAT
2
7		 2nd 159

References
  1. "Hülkenberg wins F3 Masters as Grosjean stalls". MaximumMotorsport.co.uk. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  2. "Vernay stays at Signature in Euro F3". autosport.com. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  3. Thomas, Stella-Maria; Waite, Lynne (2009-11-21). "Vernay wins caution plagued Macau qualification race". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  4. Sam Schmidt Motorsports signs JK Vernay Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Sam Schmidt Motorsports PR via Motorsport.com, February 22, 2010, Retrieved 2010-02-22
  5. Vernay Wins Wild St. Pete Season-Opener Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, March 28, 2010, retrieved 2010-03-28
  6. "Vernay becomes Peugeot reserve".
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