Neel Jani

Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983 in Rorschach, St. Gallen, Switzerland) is a Swiss racing driver, who competed in the FIA GP2 Series between 2005 and 2006. A future World Endurance Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Jani would claim two victories in his time in GP2, before leaving to join the Champ Car as a Red Bull Junior Team member.

Jani was signed by Racing Engineering ahead of the inaugural GP2 Series in 2005, with the Swiss racer partnering Borja García for the campaign. The Swiss youth would go on to claim two victories during an otherwise solid campaign, finishing seventh in the championship in a relatively uncompetitive car.

In 2006 Jani was signed by Scuderia Toro Rosso to be their test/reserve driver in Formula One, meaning he would not race in GP2. However, after Nicolas Lapierre damaged his spine in Monaco Jani was called up to Arden in place of the Frenchman, completing four races before Lapierre returned.

During his four-race runout Jani would become the first and only driver to drive a F1 and GP2 Series car on the same day, after running for Toro Rosso in practice for the British Grand Prix. After his cameo Jani returned to his F1 duties, before leaving the F1 paddock altogether at the end of the campaign to join the Champ Car series in 2007.

Jani's exploits in Champ Car would result in three podiums, while the Swiss racer would claim the A1 Grand Prix title later in the campaign. After a run to second in A1 the following season, Jani switched his focus to endurance racing in 2009, culminating in him becoming a factory Porsche driver in the World Endurance Championship, which the Swiss racer would win in 2016. Jani was also picked to lead Porsche's factory Formula E effort in 2019, although he was dropped at the end of the season.

Background
Jani began his career in his mid-teens, racing in karts for several years before moving into his first single-seater series in 2000, entering Formula Renault France and Formel A. In 2001 Jani moved into the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup as well as the Italian FR series, finishing down at the bottom of the championship in both. 2002 saw Jani finish as runner-up in the Eurocup, before stepping up to the V6 class for 2003, where the Swiss racer would again finish in second.

2004 saw Jani sign a deal with Red Bull to become a junior driver/athlete, with their funding seeing him become a test/reserve driver for Sauber in Formula One for the season. Jani would also compete in the FR V6 Eurocup for a second season, finishing fourth, while also making his debut in sports cars in the FIA GT Championship.

GP2 Series History
Jani was picked by Racing Engineering to lead their effort in the inaugural 2005 FIA GP2 Series, partnering Spanish youth Borja García for the season.

Post GP2 Series Career
Jani raced in the A1 Grand Prix series alongside his GP2 commitments in 2005, finishing second despite missing the final four races. After a bit-part role in A1 the following season, which Jani would twin with his test/reserve driver role at Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One, Jani would claim the A1 crown in 2007-08 with four wins. 2007 would also see Jani compete in Champ Car, claiming a handful of podium finish, before committing to a final season of A1 GP, sweeping to second.

Endurance Equipment: 2010 - 2013
In 2010 Jani switched focus to sports cars, signing up to the GT1 World Championship, claiming a handful of points finishes. The Swiss racer would also join Rebellion Racing in the Le Mans Series, beginning a four year relationship with the Swiss squad. Fifth in the LMP1 class in 2010 would lead to a second campaign in 2011, Jani improving to third, with the Swiss racer also appearing in the Intercontinental Cup and American Le Mans Series.

In 2012 Jani signed to Rebellion's new World Endurance Championship programme, finishing fourth in the championship as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2013 saw Jani's campaign cut short in terms of the WEC, although he did help Rebellion to claim second in the AMLS with a single win.

Porsche Performer: 2014 - 2020
After four seasons with Rebellion, Jani was signed by Porsche to join their factory WEC programme, with the Swiss racer going on to finish third in the WEC with his new squad. A repeat performance followed in 2015, before the Swiss racer won both the WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans with the German manufacturer in 2016. For 2017 a win-less season in Porsche's final WEC campaign saw Jani slip to fourth, with the Swiss racer left without a Porsche seat as the German manufacturer withdrew at the end of the season.

Jani made a return to single seaters at the end of 2017, joining Formula E for the opening round of the campaign before leaving due to internal issues. The rest of the 2018-19 Super Season saw Jani compete for Rebellion once more, before a factory Porsche seat was opened back up to him in FE for 2019/20. Unfortunately for Jani his second attempt at FE would not be a successful one, with the Swiss racer going on to lose his seat at the end of the season, and instead be handed a Porsche GT seat instead.

Full GP2 Series Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in the GP2 Series in statistical form.

GP2 Series Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their GP2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full GP2 Series record.


 * }