Neel Jani
Jani in 2021 at Arosa
NationalitySwitzerland Swiss
Born (1983-12-08) 8 December 1983
Rorschach, Switzerland
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2011 (ILMC)
Current teamPorsche GT Team[1]
Racing licence FIA Platinum
Car number1
Previous series
1998–2000
2000
2001–2002
2003–2004
2005–2006
2005–2009
2007
2010		Karting
Formula Lista Junior
Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup
GP2 Series
A1 Grand Prix
Champ Car World Series
Le Mans Series
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2009–2019
TeamsSpeedy Racing Team Sebah, Rebellion Racing, Porsche Team
Best finish1st (2016)
Class wins1

Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983)[2] is a Swiss professional racing driver.[3][4]

He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 programme for the 2014 season driving in the WEC.[5] Previously, Jani drove for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007-2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005-06 and 2008–09. He raced for PKV Racing in the North American Champ Car series in 2007. He is also a GP2 Series race-winner and former Formula One test driver.

He joined Formula E's Faraday Future Dragon Racing squad for the 2017/2018 season but left the team after one weekend. For the 2019-20 Formula E season, he returned with his home brand Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer.

First steps

Born in Rorschach, Jani started his career in karting in 1998 where he stayed for two years before moving up to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001. In the same year, he also raced some races in Italian Formula Renault. He stayed in both for 2002, again only racing part of the Italian Formula Renault season. In 2003, he moved to Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, driving for the Jenzer team. In that year, he finished second by only four points in the championship with Jenzer Motorsport. In 2004, he again raced in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup but changed team, running with the French team DAMS, stating in the Swiss press, "This year, it is win or nothing." He finished fourth in the championship that year, while his old team, Jenzer Motorsport finished second with their rookie driver Ryan Sharp.

GP2

In 2005, he raced in the GP2 Series with Racing Engineering alongside Borja García who he generally outperformed. He won two races, at the Hungaroring and at Monza. He also managed to lead most of the Nürburgring race in a clearly slower car with some effective defensive driving.

Jani competing for A1 Team Switzerland at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.

In 2006, he replaced injured Nicolas Lapierre in the Silverstone and Magny-Cours races for English race team Arden. By doing this, he also secured his place in the record books, being the only person to ever drive in both GP2 and F1 on the same day.

A1 Grand Prix

He then raced in the new A1 Grand Prix series, representing his home nation with A1 Team Switzerland. In the inaugural season of A1GP, the team earned the silver medal for second place, with Jani consistently finishing on the podium, including a win at the Dubai Autodrome of the 2005-06 United Arab Emirates Sprint race.

After not attending the first two rounds of the 2006-07 season, and handing the reins to Sébastien Buemi, Jani took another win later in the season at the 2006–07 Malaysia Sprint race.

Jani drove all the races for Switzerland in the 2007-08 season, taking the championship with four wins and 168 points. The team finished second in the 2008-09 season, again with Jani ever-present.

Formula One

He was linked to a reserve F1 seat with the Sauber team. In 2004 however, he moved back to GP2 the following year. In December 2005 he was confirmed as Scuderia Toro Rosso's third driver, alongside race drivers Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi, a role he held throughout the 2006 season, before departing to pursue a Champ Car career. For the 2008 F1 season, Neel was linked with the test driving role at Red Bull Racing. As his father is from India, Jani was linked to the proposed Indian-backed buyout of BMW Sauber[6] but this did not succeed. In early 2010 he tested for Force India and was rumoured to be involved with the team in 2010. However Force India signed Mercedes driver Paul di Resta as their test and reserve driver.

Jani testing his PKV Racing Champ Car.

In June 2023, it was announced that Jani had signed with Audi as a simulator driver to help them develop their power unit in preparation for their entry into Fomula 1 in 2026.[7]

Champ Car

For 2007, Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series.[8] He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar for 2008,[9] the series was absorbed by the IRL.

Sports car racing

Jani competing in a Lola B12/60 at the 2012 Petit Le Mans.

In 2010, Jani became affiliated with Swiss privateer Rebellion Racing and teamed with Nicolas Prost to race a Lola-Judd LMP1 at the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 2nd at Algarve and 5th at Silverstone. Also, he raced the second half of the FIA GT1 season for Matech in a Ford GT, finishing 7th in a championship race and 8th in other two.

Jani took up full-time WEC racing in 2012 with Rebellion, teaming with Prost and Nick Heidfeld for two seasons, before joining the Porsche works team in 2014 and winning his first LMP1 race at São Paulo, Brazil, finishing third overall in the championship. The 2015 season saw Jani take another win at Bahrain in addition to 5 runner-up spots; again he finished third in the championship.

Jani driving in the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone.

Jani kicked off the 2016 WEC season with a win at Silverstone and a second place at Spa before inheriting the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic fashion when Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota broke down in the lead with only one lap to go in the race.[10]

Return to single-seaters: Formula E

On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Jani would make his debut in FIA Formula E Championship in its fourth season at Faraday Future Dragon Racing with Jérôme d'Ambrosio as his teammate.[11] After two 18th-place finishes at the season opener in Hong Kong, Jani abruptly quit the team focusing instead on his WEC commitments with Rebellion Racing.[12]

In December 2018, Porsche announced that Jani would return to the championship as part of their driver line-up for their maiden season.[13] He raced for Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer till the end of the 2019–20 season, finishing twentieth on the standings.[14] For the 2020-21 Formula E Championship, he was replaced by Pascal Wehrlein.

Personal life

Jani and his wife Lauren have a son.[15]

Career results

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

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
2005–06 Switzerland GBR
SPR
9		 GBR
FEA
Ret		 GER
SPR
2		 GER
FEA
5		 POR
SPR
3		 POR
FEA
2		 AUS
SPR
6		 AUS
FEA
3		 MYS
SPR
2		 MYS
FEA
2		 UAE
SPR
1		 UAE
FEA
Ret		 RSA
SPR
3		 RSA
FEA
2		 IDN
SPR
5		 IDN
FEA
5		 MEX
SPR
2		 MEX
FEA
3		 USA
SPR		 USA
FEA		 CHN
SPR		 CHN
FEA		 2nd 121
2006–07 NED
SPR		 NED
FEA		 CZE
SPR		 CZE
FEA		 BEI
SPR
9		 BEI
FEA
Ret		 MYS
SPR
1		 MYS
FEA
4		 IDN
SPR
10		 IDN
FEA
8		 NZL
SPR		 NZL
FEA		 AUS
SPR		 AUS
FEA		 RSA
SPR
5		 RSA
FEA
4		 MEX
SPR		 MEX
FEA		 SHA
SPR		 SHA
FEA		 GBR
SPR		 GBR
SPR		 8th 50
2007–08 NED
SPR
5		 NED
FEA
3		 CZE
SPR
8		 CZE
FEA
3		 MYS
SPR
1		 MYS
FEA
1		 ZHU
SPR
2		 ZHU
FEA
6		 NZL
SPR
Ret		 NZL
FEA
13		 AUS
SPR
10		 AUS
FEA
2		 RSA
SPR
3		 RSA
FEA
1		 MEX
SPR
3		 MEX
FEA
19		 SHA
SPR
1		 SHA
FEA
5		 GBR
SPR
4		 GBR
SPR
3		 1st 168
2008–09 NED
SPR
5		 NED
FEA
Ret		 CHN
SPR
4		 CHN
FEA
4		 MYS
SPR
1		 MYS
FEA
Ret		 NZL
SPR
2		 NZL
FEA
1		 RSA
SPR
3		 RSA
FEA
1		 POR
SPR
15		 POR
FEA
1		 GBR
SPR
8		 GBR
SPR
3		 2nd 95

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DC Points
2005 Racing Engineering IMO
FEA
6		 IMO
SPR
15		 CAT
FEA
4		 CAT
SPR
5		 MON
FEA
Ret		 NÜR
FEA
6		 NÜR
SPR
13†		 MAG
FEA
5		 MAG
SPR
4		 SIL
FEA
5		 SIL
SPR
6		 HOC
FEA
Ret		 HOC
SPR
22		 HUN
FEA
1		 HUN
SPR
4		 IST
FEA
Ret		 IST
SPR
Ret		 MNZ
FEA
7		 MNZ
SPR
1		 SPA
FEA
16		 SPA
SPR
18		 BHR
FEA
16		 BHR
SPR
13		 7th 48
2006 Arden International Ltd VAL
FEA		 VAL
SPR		 IMO
FEA		 IMO
SPR		 NÜR
FEA		 NÜR
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 MON
FEA		 SIL
FEA
NC		 SIL
SPR
Ret		 MAG
FEA
11		 MAG
SPR
7		 HOC
FEA		 HOC
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 IST
FEA		 IST
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 25th 0
Source:[16]

Formula One

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2006 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR1 Cosworth V10 BHR
TD		 MAL
TD		 AUS
TD		 SMR
TD		 EUR
TD		 ESP
TD		 MON
TD		 GBR
TD		 CAN
TD		 USA
TD		 FRA
TD		 GER
TD		 HUN
TD		 TUR
TD		 ITA
TD		 CHN
TD		 JPN
TD		 BRA
TD		 - -

American Open Wheel

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

Champ Car

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points Ref
2007 PKV Racing LVG
10		 LBH
7		 HOU
15		 POR
12		 CLE
3		 MTT
6		 TOR
2		 EDM
9		 SJO
2		 ROA
10		 ZOL
8		 ASN
5		 SRF
8		 MXC
9		 9th 231 [17]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2009 Switzerland Speedy Racing Team
United Kingdom Sebah Automotive		 Italy Andrea Belicchi
France Nicolas Prost		 Lola B08/60-Aston Martin LMP1 342 14th 12th
2010 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Nicolas Prost
United States Marco Andretti		 Lola B10/60-Rebellion LMP1 175 DNF DNF
2011 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Nicolas Prost
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen		 Lola B10/60-Toyota LMP1 338 6th 6th
2012 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Nicolas Prost
Germany Nick Heidfeld		 Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 367 4th 4th
2013 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Nicolas Prost
Germany Nick Heidfeld		 Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 275 39th 7th
2014 Germany Porsche Team Germany Marc Lieb
France Romain Dumas		 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1-H 348 11th 4th
2015 Germany Porsche Team Germany Marc Lieb
France Romain Dumas		 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 391 5th 5th
2016 Germany Porsche Team France Romain Dumas
Germany Marc Lieb		 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 384 1st 1st
2017 Germany Porsche LMP Team United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Germany André Lotterer		 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 318 DNF DNF
2018 Switzerland Rebellion Racing Germany André Lotterer
Brazil Bruno Senna		 Rebellion R13-Gibson LMP1 375 4th 4th
2019 Switzerland Rebellion Racing Germany André Lotterer
Brazil Bruno Senna		 Rebellion R13-Gibson LMP1 376 4th 4th
2021 Germany Porsche GT Team France Kévin Estre
Denmark Michael Christensen		 Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTE
Pro		 344 22nd 3rd
2023 France Duqueine Team Austria René Binder
Chile Nico Pino		 Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 327 11th 3rd
Source:[16]

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points
2010 Matech Competition Ford GT1 ABU
QR		 ABU
CR		 SIL
QR		 SIL
CR		 BRN
QR		 BRN
CR		 PRI
QR		 PRI
CR		 SPA
QR
20
 SPA
CR
14
 NÜR
QR
8
 NÜR
CR
16
 ALG
QR
20
 ALG
CR
12
 NAV
QR
4
 NAV
CR
7
 INT
QR
7
 INT
CR
8
 SAN
QR
17
 SAN
CR
8
 33rd 14

Complete Superleague Formula results

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

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Position Points
2010 Olympiacos CFP GU-Racing International SIL ASS MAG JAR NÜR ZOL BRH ADR POR ORD BEI† NAV 4th 653
14 1 X
2011 Belgium – RSC Anderlecht Azerti Motorsport HOL BEL 5th 125
4 9 7 2 9 3

† Non Championship round

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2010 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B10/60 Rebellion (Judd) 5.5 L V10 LEC
7		 SPA
Ret		 ALG
2		 HUN
2		 SIL
5		 7th 52
2011 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B10/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 LEC
3		 SPA
7		 IMO
6		 SIL
Ret		 EST
3		 3rd 37
2023 Duqueine Team LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT
1		 LEC
2		 ARA
6		 SPA
6		 POR
5		 ALG
5		 4th 79
Source:[16]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2012 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB
17		 SPA
4		 LMS
3		 SIL
6		 SÃO
4		 BHR
4		 FUJ
4		 SHA
Ret		 4th 86.5
2013 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SIL
5		 SPA
5		 LMS
25		 SÃO COA FUJ SHA BHR 16th 21
2014 Porsche Team LMP1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche 2.0 L V4
(Hybrid)		 SIL
Ret		 SPA
4		 LMS
5		 COA
4		 FUJ
4		 SHA
3		 BHR
2		 SÃO
1		 3rd 117
2015 Porsche Team LMP1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche 2.0 L V4
(Hybrid)		 SIL
2		 SPA
2		 LMS
5		 NÜR
2		 COA
12		 FUJ
2		 SHA
2		 BHR
1		 3rd 138.5
2016 Porsche Team LMP1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) SIL
1		 SPA
2		 LMS
1		 NÜR
4		 MEX
4		 COA
4		 FUJ
5		 SHA
4		 BHR
6		 1st 160
2017 Porsche LMP Team LMP1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) SIL
3		 SPA
4		 LMS
Ret		 NÜR
2		 MEX
2		 COA
2		 FUJ
3		 SHA
3		 BHR
3		 4th 129
2018–19 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Rebellion R13 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 SPA
DSQ		 LMS
4		 SIL
2		 FUJ
3		 SHA
4		 SEB
Ret		 SPA
5		 LMS
4		 5th 91
2021 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR-19 Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 SPA
1		 ALG
3		 MNZ
1		 LMS
2		 BHR
1		 BHR
2		 2nd 166
2023 Proton Competition Hypercar Porsche 963 Porsche 4.6 L Turbo V8 SEB ALG SPA LMS MNZ
Ret		 FUJ
9		 BHR
10		 20th 4
Source:[16]

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points Ref
2012 Rebellion Racing P1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB LBH MTY LRP MOS MDO ROA BAL VIR PET
1		 NC 0 [18]
2013 Rebellion Racing P1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB
3		 LBH
2		 LAG
2		 LRP MOS ROA BAL COA VIR PET
1		 2nd 82 [19]

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

Year Entrant No. Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points Ref
2017 Rebellion Racing 13 P Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY
8		 SEB
9		 LBH COA DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 26th 45 [20]
2020 Porsche GT Team 912 GTLM Porsche 911 RSR-19 Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 DAY DAY SEB ELK VIR ATL MDO CLT PET LGA SEB
2		 14th 32 [21]
2022 Cadillac Racing 02 DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY SEB
1		 LBH LGA MDO DET WGL MOS ELK PET 19th 378 [22]
2023 Proton Competition 59 GTP Porsche 963 Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK IMS PET
3		 20th 321 [23]
2024 Proton Competition 5 GTP Porsche 963 Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 DAY
 SEB
 LBH
 LGA
 DET
 WGL
 ELK
 IMS
 PET
Source:[16]

Complete Formula E results

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

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points
2017–18 Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e Penske EV-2 HKG
18		 HKG
18		 MRK SCL MEX PDE RME PAR BER ZUR NYC NYC 25th 0
2019–20 TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Spark SRT05e Porsche 99X Electric DIR
17		 DIR
13		 SCL
Ret		 MEX
14		 MRK
18		 BER
11		 BER
15		 BER
Ret		 BER
19		 BER
6		 BER
15		 20th 8

References

  1. ↑ Lloyd, Daniel (21 January 2021). "WEC Reveals 33-Car Season Entry for 2021". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "About Neel". neel-jani.com. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Abhishek Takle. "For Swiss-Gujarati Neel Jani, it Was action that mattered". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 April 2015. Born in 1983 in Switzerland to a Swiss mother and an Indian father who has his roots in Gujarat, Jani caught the racing bug from his dad, an amateur racer himself.
  4. ↑ Pradeep Vijayakar / V Narayan Swamy (16 November 2004). "F1 beckons Neel Jani". times of india. Retrieved 24 October 2015. It is 20-year-old Neel Jani from Switzerland, who has test-driven for Stauber-Petronas. Neel was born to an Indian father, Mukesh, who hails from Gujarat. The father married a Swiss lady Elizabeth from Berne. The Janis own a chain of fast food places in Switzerland. One ran into Neel Jani at the launch of Formula Karting track at Andheri the other day. Since Sachin Tendulkar was around no one took notice of this other little fella sitting in a corner.
  5. ↑ "Porsche confirms Neel Jani for 2014 LMP1 programme". Autosport. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Neel Jani part of consortium bidding for BMW Sauber
  7. ↑ Kew, Matt (22 June 2023). "Audi names Neel Jani as F1 simulator driver". motorsport.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Neel Jani joins PKV Racing
  9. ↑ Jani Sees Better Future in A1GP Archived 2008-01-24 at the Wayback Machine, RACER Magazine & Autosport.com via SpeedTV.com, January 23, 2008
  10. ↑ "Porsche claim dramatic Le Mans win as Toyota fails on final lap". Eurosport. 19 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Neel Jani joins Formula E with Faraday Future Dragon Racing". NBCSports.com. August 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Jani leaves Dragon after single Formula E race weekend". Motorsport.com. January 3, 2018.
  13. ↑ Klein, Jaime (December 14, 2018). "Porsche names Neel Jani as its first 2019/20 Formula E driver". Autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Porsche signs Wehrlein to replace Jani in Formula E line-up". autosport.com. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  15. ↑ "Le Mans winner is the new World Champion". Winforce. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Neel Jani Results". motorsportstats.com. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2007 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2012 American Le mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2013 American Le mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2017 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  21. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2020 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  22. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2022 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  23. ↑ "Neel Jani – 2023 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
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