Neel Jani | |
---|---|
Nationality | Swiss |
Born | Rorschach, Switzerland | 8 December 1983
FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
Debut season | 2011 (ILMC) |
Current team | Proton Competition[1] |
Racing licence | FIA Platinum |
Car number | 99 |
Previous series | |
1998–2000 2000 2001–2002 2003–2004 2005–2006 2005–2009 2007 2010 | Karting Formula Lista Junior Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup GP2 Series A1 Grand Prix Champ Car World Series Le Mans Series |
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
Years | 2009–2019 |
Teams | Speedy Racing Team Sebah, Rebellion Racing, Porsche Team |
Best finish | 1st (2016) |
Class wins | 1 |
Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983)[2] is a Swiss professional racing driver.[3][4]
He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 programme for the 2014 season driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship.[5] Previously, Jani drove for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007–2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005–06 and 2008–09. He raced for PKV Racing in the North American Champ Car series in 2007. He is also a GP2 Series race-winner and former Formula One test driver.
He joined Formula E's Faraday Future Dragon Racing squad for the 2017/2018 season but left the team after one weekend. For the 2019-20 Formula E season, he returned with his home brand Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer.
Born in 1983 in Switzerland to a Swiss mother and an Indian father who has his roots in Gujarat, Jani caught the racing bug from his dad, an amateur racer himself.
It is 20-year-old Neel Jani from Switzerland, who has test-driven for Stauber-Petronas. Neel was born to an Indian father, Mukesh, who hails from Gujarat. The father married a Swiss lady Elizabeth from Berne. The Janis own a chain of fast food places in Switzerland. One ran into Neel Jani at the launch of Formula Karting track at Andheri the other day. Since Sachin Tendulkar was around no one took notice of this other little fella sitting in a corner.