Jean-Karl Vernay

Jean-Karl Vernay
Nationality French
Born October 31, 1987 (1987-10-31) (age 24)
Villeurbanne (France)
Firestone Indy Lights
Years active 2010
Teams Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Starts 13
Wins 4
Poles 3
Fastest laps 2
Best finish 1st in 2010
Previous series
2007-2009
2006-07
2006
2005		 F3 Euroseries
A1 Grand Prix
French Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Campus France
Championship titles
2010
2005		 Firestone Indy Lights
Formula Campus France
Awards
2010 Indy Lights Rookie of the Year

Jean-Karl "J.K." Vernay (born October 31, 1987 in Villeurbanne, Rhône) is a French race car driver.

Contents

Career history

Karting

Formula

In 2005, he 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.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Points Position
2005 Formula Campus France La Filière 14 4 3 205 1st
2006 French Formula Renault 2.0 SG Formula 13 2 3 3 108 2nd
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 NC†
2006-07 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team France 4 0 0 0 3 4th‡
2007 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature-Plus 20 0 0 0 23 10th
2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature-Plus 20 0 0 0 35 8th
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series Signature 20 2 0 2 47 5th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 N/A 2nd
2010 Indy Lights Sam Schmidt Motorsports 13 5 3 2 494 1st
2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Pons Racing 2 0 0 0 0 NC

† - 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 HOC1
1
7		 HOC1
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		 HOC2
1
10		 HOC2
2
Ret		 10th 23
2008 Signature-Plus Dallara F308/033 Volkswagen HOC1
1
5		 HOC1
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		 HOC2
1
5		 HOC2
2
4		 8th 35
2009 Signature Dallara F308 Volkswagen HOC1
1
6		 HOC1
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		 BUG
1
18		 BUG
2
Ret		 HOC2
1
3		 HOC2
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 Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2011 Pons Racing ALC
1
 ALC
2
 SPA
1
15		 SPA
2
15		 MNZ
1
 MNZ
2
 MON
1
 NÜR
1
 NÜR
2
 HUN
1
 HUN
2
 SIL
1
 SIL
2
 LEC
1
 LEC
2
 CAT
1
 CAT
2
 NC 0

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2011 Signatech Nissan LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 M SEB LNB LIM MOS MID AME BAL MON PET
ovr:22
cls:3
 NC -

References

  1. ^ "Hülkenberg wins F3 Masters as Grosjean stalls". MaximumMotorsport.co.uk. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009235246/http://www.maximummotorsport.co.uk/2007/08/05/hulkenberg-wins-masters-as-grosjean-stalls/. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
  2. ^ "Vernay stays at Signature in Euro F3". autosport.com. 2009-03-09. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73629. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  3. ^ Thomas, Stella-Maria; Waite, Lynne (2009-11-21). "Vernay wins caution plagued Macau qualification race". motorsport.com. http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=352689&FS=F3. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  4. ^ Sam Schmidt Motorsports signs JK Vernay, Sam Schmidt Motorsports PR via Motorsport.com, February 22, 2010, Retrieved 2010-02-22
  5. ^ Vernay Wins Wild St. Pete Season-Opener, eFormulaCarNews, March 28, 2010, retrieved 2010-03-28

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
J. R. Hildebrand		 Firestone Indy Lights Champion
2010		 Succeeded by
Josef Newgarden