Jean-Karl Vernay

Karting • 2000: third in France Cadet Championship • 2001: fifth in Speedy Junior World Cup at the Masters Karting Paris Bercy • 2002: second in Junior Monaco Kart Cup • 2004: second in Belgium Championship, Formula A and 21st in world championship, Formula A Formula at Hockenheim. In 2005, Villeurbanne-born Vernay drove in the French Formula Campus series and finished first with six wins and twelve podiums on fourteen races. The following year, he finished runner-up and best rookies in the French Formula Renault Championship with seven podiums. Vernay drove two rounds as race driver in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season and the last round as practice session driver. In 2007, Vernay 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, Vernay raced in the Formula Three Euroseries with Signature-Plus team finishing tenth. A second place was his best result, with another finish of hird in the non-championship Ultimate Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder behind Nico Hülkenberg and team-mate Yann Clairay. Vernay continued in the series in 2008, continuing with Signature-Plus. He ended up eighth in the championship, with three 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. He won in his series debut on the Streets of St. Petersburg in a wet race. 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 three 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. 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 would drive a W Racing Team Volkswagen Golf at the TCR International Series. ==Racing record==

Career summary † As Vernay was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ‡ Team standings. • Season still in progress.--> Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) † As Vernay was a guest driver he was ineligible for points Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) American open-wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Indy Lights Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) 24 Hours of Le Mans results Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Complete Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Complete TCR International Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † 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) † 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) ==References==