Jean-Karl Vernay
Jean-Karl "J. K." Vernay is a French professional racing driver.
Career history
Karting
- 2000 : 3rd in France Cadet Championship
- 2001 : 5th in Speedy junior world Cup in Paris Bercy
- 2002 : 2nd in Monaco kart cup
- 2004 : 2nd in Belgium Championship, Formula A and 21st in world championship, Formula A
Formula
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.
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. 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. 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. 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 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 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
Career summary
† As Vernay was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.‡ Team standings.
Complete A1 Grand Prix results
| 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
| 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
Indy Lights
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Complete Porsche Supercup results
| 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
Complete European Le Mans Series results
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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 | 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 |
† 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
| 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 |