| Neel Jani | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Swiss
| |
| D.o.B. | 8 December 1983 | |
| Début |  2017 Hong Kong E-Prix I
| |
| Teams |  Dragon Racing
| |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Entries | 13 (11 Starts) | |
| Wins | 0 | |
| Poles | 0 | |
| F.L.s | 0 | |
| T.P.s | 8 | |
| Podiums | 0 | |
| FanBoosts | 0 | |
Neel Jani, born 8 December 1983, is a Swiss racing driver, who made his debut for Dragon Racing during the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship.[1] A very accomplished racer in the world of endurance racing, Jani entered Formula E as the defending World Endurance Championship Champion for Porsche, ahead of the firm's switch to FE in 2019/20.[2]
However, a difficult start to Jani's FE career would see him leave Dragon before the 2018 Marrakech E-Prix, with the Swiss ace replaced by José María López.[3] Yet, Jani would not forget his initial interest in FE, and would duly get a second shot at the series with the Porsche Formula E Team, becoming their lead driver for their maiden campaign in 2019/20.[4]
Contents
Background
Jani's first taste of motor racing would come during his teen years, competing in a number of karting championships before he gained a drive in the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001.[5] Jani would campaign in the Eurocup for the three following seasons, graduating to the V6 class in 2003.[5]
Switzerland's Star
After three years campaigning Renaults, Jani obtained a drive in the brand new GP2 Series in 2005.[5] It was an impressive debut season for the Swiss racer, with Jani claiming two wins in an under funded car.[5] His performances earned him a test driver role with Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One, although he would still compete in two GP2 races in place of Nicolas Lapierre.[5]
Ultimately, Jani would be overlooked for a Grand Prix seat, although he did have several tests with various teams until 2010.[5] During that time, Jani would campaign in the A1 Grand Prix series, taking several wins and the 2007/08 title for Team Switzerland.[5] 2007 would also see Jani compete in the final edition of the Champ Car World Series, the Swiss racer finishing the season in ninth.[5]
Privateers and Porsches
From 2010, Jani moved into the Endurance racing scene, joining Swiss based effort Rebellion Racing in the w:c:motorsport:Le Mans Series.[5] He would split his time between LMP1 with Rebellion and GT1, before joining Rebellion full time with the launch of the World Endurance Championship in 2012.[5] He partnered Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost for two seasons, before Porsche offered him a contract.[5]
The German firm were making their return to the Endurance racing scene in 2014, and would bring Jani in to add experience to their driver line up.[5] It was the beginning of a successful partnership, with Jani finishing third in his first two seasons with the manufacturer.[5] In 2016 Jani and the #2 Porsche effort would do even better, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans on their way to the WEC crown .[5] Jani would go on to defend his share of the crown in 2017, entering a season long duel with the team's sister car.[5]
Formula E History
Jani was revealed as a driver for Dragon Racing ahead of the 2017/18, his connection to Porsche further fuelling rumours that the American effort were to be taken over the German firm.[1] Jani, as well as new teammate Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Dragon Racing's owners refused to comment, with Jani stating himself that the deal did not ensure he would get a seat with Porsche when the car manufacturer joined the series.[1]
Dragonic Demons
It was fortunate that Jani did not think that his Dragon performance would not dictate whether he got a future seat with Porsche, for the Swiss racer would quit the series ahead of the Marrakech.[3] Indeed, Jani would quickly become frustrated with the Penske design, with a largely anonymous debut coming in the Hong Kong.[6] Across the two races Jani would finish a best of eighteenth, prompting him to leave the team and José María López come in as his replacement.[3]
Porsche Performance
Regardless, Jani would retain an interest in Formula E, and duly became the first official Porsche Formula E Team driver to be announced ahead of their debut in 2019/20.[4]
Full Formula E Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Neel Jani's career in Formula E in statistical form.
Formula E Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Neel Jani during their FE career:
| Neel Jani's Overall Formula E Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. |
| 2017/18 | Dragon Racing[1]
|
6 | Penske EV-2 | 25th | 0 |
| 2019/20 |  Porsche Formula E Team[4]
|
TBA | Porsche | ||
Career Results
Below is a table showing Neel Jani's full Formula E record.
| FIA Formula E Championship Record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | |||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |||
| 2017/18 | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25th | 0 |
| 18th | 18th | |||||||||||||
References
Videos and Images:
- Bryka, 'Autograph Booth', flickr.com, (Flickr, 06/07/2007), https://www.flickr.com/photos/50787502@N00/768361737/, (Accessed 25/04/2018 - Cropped from Original)
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 'Neel Jani Joins Faraday Future Dragon Racing', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 25/08/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/august/neel-jani-joins-faraday-future-dragon-racing/, (Accessed 25/08/2017)
- ↑ 'Porsche set to compete in Formula E from Season 6', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/porsche-set-to-compete-in-formula-e-from-season-6/, (Accessed 28/07/2017)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 'Jose Maria Lopez replaces Neel Jani at DRAGON', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 05/01/2018), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/january/jose-maria-lopez-replaces-neel-jani-at-dragon/, (Accessed 05/01/2018)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Luke Smith, 'Porsche confirms Neel Jani in first Formula E seat for Season 6', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 14/12/2018), https://www.crash.net/fe/news/911658/1/porsche-confirms-jani-first-formula-e-seat, (Accessed 14/12/2018)
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 'Neel Jani', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 09/09/2017), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neel_Jani, (Accessed 25/09/2017)
- ↑ 'Bird clinches victory in Hong Kong', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 02/12/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/december/bird-clinches-victory-in-hong-kong/, (Accessed 16/12/2017)
