| Dan Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 4th October 1983 Mexborough, South Yorkshire |
| Firestone Indy Lights | |
| Years active | 2010 |
| Teams | Walker Racing |
| Starts | 12 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 2nd in 2010 |
| Dan Clarke | |
|---|---|
| A1GP | |
| Years active | 2009 |
| Teams | Great Britain |
| Starts | 6 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 7th in 2009 |
| Previous series | |
| 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 |
Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series British F3 UK Formula Ford UK Formula Ford UK FFord Jnr BRDC FFord |
Dan Clarke is a British auto racing driver born 4 October 1983 in Mexborough, most recently competing in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Walker Racing, having previously competed in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and the Champ Car World Series. Also nicknamed 'Speedy Dan'.
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A veteran of British Formula Ford where he won the prestigious Formula Ford Festival in 2004, he moved up the British Formula Three Championship in 2005 in a team part owned by Kimi Räikkönen, Räikkönen Robertson Racing, and finished 5th overall, taking the team's first win Castle Combe.
With a series of impressive tests he was signed to drive in the Champ Car World Series for CTE Racing - HVM, owned jointly by Cedric the Entertainer and Keith Wiggins, in 2006 as a teammate to the even younger Nelson Philippe. This was despite Danish driver Ronnie Bremer having publicly claimed to have a drive with the team.
He finished 6th at Portland and 7th at Burke Lakefront Airport, where he was battling for 2nd with Mario Dominguez when they collided on the penultimate lap. Dan was again competitive at San Jose, moving up from 9th to 2nd before a gearbox failure put him out at mid-distance. At his next race, in Denver, Clarke moved into 3rd place in the final lap (because of a collision of two drivers ahead of him) to achieve his first podium finish as a Champ Car driver. Indeed, the Denver 3rd place was the first podium finish for a Champ Car Rookie driver in the 2006 racing season.
Following on from Denver, Clarke continued to run at the front and narrowly missed out on another podium finish at the next race in Montreal, Quebec, coming home in 4th place. Immediately after, Clarke won the Bridgestone Pole Position award at Road America, Wisconsin. The first rookie to do so since 2003 and the first British Rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993. Clarke experienced misfortune towards the end of the season that would see him forced to settle for 'Rookie runner-up' to Will Power after an intense battle between the two drivers.
He returned to the team for the 2007 season, now named Minardi Team USA, joined by new teammate and former Minardi F1 driver Robert Doornbos. Clarke had a troubled season finishing 13th in the overall standings and missing one race, at Zolder having been ejected from the event for causing a multi-car crash in practice. He did however record a second place at Road America.
Upon the folding of the Champ Car series into the IndyCar Series the Minardi team became known as HVM racing and hired EJ Viso to drive, leaving Clarke without a ride.
He has since driven for Great Britain in the A1GP series, participating in three rounds of the fourth season of the championship.
First announced as the Team GBR driver halfway into the 2008/2009 series at Taupo, New Zealand, Clarke had little time to adapt to the new car, team and track. He went on to build experience through that weekend and then at the Portimao, Portugal, races. The next race for Clarke was Brands Hatch, UK, in front of his home fans. Despite Qualifying technical issues, Clarke put on an impressive performance to drive back from 14th place in the feature to 7th scoring fastest race laps in the process.
Following the weekend, Clarke expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the A1GP Series, Team GBR and British fans' support and his desire to continue with the team through to the 2009/2010 season. However, for the second time in his career, his series folded in the off-season, leaving him without a drive.
In 2010 Clarke signed on with Walker Racing in the Firestone Indy Lights series, the top feeder series to IndyCar. He joined the team at the second race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. Clarke finished 7th in points with a pair of second-place finishes at Toronto and Mid-Ohio. After a slow start learning the car and working with the team, Dan scored a 4th place finish in his first outing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Freedom 100 and then went on to a successful 2nd half of the season with two 2nd place finishes at Toronto and Mid Ohio, five top-5s and 7 top-10s. Finishing up 7th in the series points.
2011 He will be running in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | CTE-HVM Racing | LBH 11 |
HOU Ret |
MTY 13 |
MIL 8 |
POR 6 |
CLE 7 |
TOR Ret |
EDM 9 |
SJO Ret |
DEN 3 |
MTL 4 |
ROA 6 |
SRF Ret |
MXC Ret |
12th | 175 |
| 2007 | Minardi Team USA | LVS Ret |
LBH 12 |
HOU Ret |
POR 9 |
CLE 11 |
MTT Ret |
TOR Ret |
EDM 8 |
SJO Ret |
ROA 2 |
ZOL DNP |
ASN 11 |
SRF Ret |
MXC Ret |
13th | 129 |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Walker Racing | STP |
ALA 7 |
LBH 13 |
INDY 4 |
IOW 9 |
WGL 13 |
TOR 2 |
EDM 5 |
MDO 2 |
SNM 13 |
CHI 5 |
KTY 10 |
HMS 17 |
7th | 304 |
(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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Great Britain | NED SPR |
NED FEA |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
NZL SPR 12 |
NZL FEA 12 |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
POR SPR 11 |
POR FEA 7 |
GBR SPR 13 |
GBR SPR 7 |
10th | 28 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joey Foster |
Formula Ford Festival Winner 2004 |
Succeeded by Duncan Tappy |