# Jean-Karl Vernay

Jean-Karl "J. K." Vernay (born 31 October 1987) is a French professional racing driver. He was 2010 Indy Lights and 2017 TCR International Series champion. He has won races at the World Touring Car Cup, where he finished fifth in 2018 and won the WTCR Trophy in 2020.

## Career history
### Karting

* 2000: 3rd in France Cadet Championship
* 2001: 5th in Speedy Junior World Cup at the Masters Karting Paris Bercy
* 2002: 2nd in Junior Monaco Kart Cup
* 2004: 2nd in Belgium Championship, Formula A and 21st in world championship, Formula A

### Formula

In 2005, Villeurbanne-born Vernay 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.
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 2011 Vernay was the test and reserve driver for Peugeot Sport, testing the Peugeot 908 on several occasions.
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

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2005 | Formula Campus France | La Filière | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 219 | 1st |
| 2006 | French Formula Renault 2.0 | SG Formula | 13 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 108 | 2nd |
| 2006 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | SG Formula | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2006-07 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team France | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4th‡ |
| 2007 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Signature-Plus | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 10th |
| 2007 | Masters of Formula 3 | Signature-Plus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd |
| 2008 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Signature-Plus | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 8th |
| 2008 | Masters of Formula 3 | Signature-Plus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 10th |
| 2009 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Signature | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 47 | 5th |
| 2009 | Masters of Formula 3 | Signature | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2009 | Macau Grand Prix | Signature | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2010 | Indy Lights | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 13 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 494 | 1st |
| 2011 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Pons Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2011 | Blancpain Endurance Series | Vita4One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 31st |
| 2011 | American Le Mans Series | Signatech Nissan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC† |
| 2011 | Intercontinental Le Mans Cup | Peugeot Sport Total | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver |
| 2012 | Porsche Carrera Cup France | Sébastien Loeb Racing | 14 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 253 | 1st |
| 2012 | FIA World Endurance Championship | Luxury Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2013 | FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am | IMSA Performance Matmut | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 122 | 3rd |
| 2013 | 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am | IMSA Performance Matmut | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st |
| 2013 | European Le Mans Series - LMGTE | IMSA Performance Matmut | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 10th |
| 2013 | Porsche Supercup | MRS-GT Racing | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 13th |
| 2014 | Super GT | Dome Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 19th |
| 2014 | GT Asia Series | Absolute Bentley Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | NC† |
| 2014 | Macau GT Cup | Absolute Bentley Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10th |
| 2015 | Blancpain Endurance Series | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 6th |
| 2015 | GT Asia Series | Bentley Team Absolute | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 33rd |
| 2015 | Audi R8 LMS Cup | FAW-VW Audi Racing Team | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 12th |
| 2016 | TCR International Series | Leopard Racing | 22 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 246 | 3rd |
| 2017 | TCR International Series | Leopard Racing Team WRT | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 226 | 1st |
| 2017 | TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship | Team WRT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 20th |
| 2017 | TCR China Touring Car Championship | TeamWork Motorsport | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 10th |
| 2017 | TCR Asia Series | TeamWork Motorsport | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC† |
| 2017 | V de V Endurance Series - LMP3 | CMR / Sport Garage | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31st |
| 2018 | World Touring Car Cup | Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | 30 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 245 | 5th |
| 2018 | TCR Europe Touring Car Series | Leopard Lukoil Team WRT | 12 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 159 | 2nd |
| 2018 | TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship | Leopard Lukoil Team WRT | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 163 | 1st |
| 2018 | F4 Chinese Championship | FFA Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th |
| 2018 | Stock Car Brasil | Bardahl Hot Car | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2018 | 24H TCE Series - TCR | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | | | | | | | |
| 2018-19 | Asian Le Mans Series - GT | Audi Sport Customer Racing Asia by TSRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 11th |
| 2019 | World Touring Car Cup | Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | 30 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 211 | 10th |
| 2019 | Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup | Phoenix Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2019 | TCR Australia Touring Car Series | Melbourne Performance Centre | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 28th |
| 2020 | World Touring Car Cup | Team Mulsanne | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 194 | 3rd |
| 2021 | World Touring Car Cup | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 177 | 3rd |
| 2021 | Pure ETCR Championship | Hyundai Motorsport N | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 316 | 2nd |
| 2021 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR | Hyundai Motorsport N | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2022 | FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup | Hyundai Motorsport N | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 254 | 8th |
| 2022 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR | Hyundai Motorsport N | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2024 | FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar | Isotta Fraschini | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33rd |
$^†$ As Vernay was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. $^‡$ Team standings.

### Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Points |
| 2006 | SG Formula | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | IST 1 | IST 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 7 | DON 1 | DON 2 | LMS 1 | LMS 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | NC† | 0 |
† As Vernay was a guest driver he was ineligible for points

### 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 | 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 | 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

(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 FIA World Endurance Championship results

| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
| 2012 | Luxury Racing | LMGTE Pro | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | SEB Ret | SPA | LMS | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA | NC | 0 |
| 2013 | IMSA Performance Matmut | LMGTE Am | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | SIL 7 | SPA 6 | LMS 1 | SÃO 4 | COA 3 | FUJ 5 | SHA 2 | BHR 6 | 3rd | 122 |
| 2024 | Isotta Fraschini | Hypercar | Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH-C | Isotta Fraschini 3.0 L Turbo V6 | QAT Ret | IMO 17 | SPA 15 | LMS 13 | SÃO Ret | COA | FUJ | BHR | 33rd | 0 |

### Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2013 | IMSA Performance Matmut | Raymond Narac Christophe Bourret | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | LMGTE Am | 306 | 25th | 1st |
| 2024 | Isotta Fraschini | Carl Bennett Antonio Serravalle | Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH-C | Hypercar | 302 | 14th | 14th |

### Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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 | Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | 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 |
| 2020 | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | BEL 1 5 | BEL 2 7 | GER 1 9 | GER 2 6 | SVK 1 3 | SVK 2 14 | SVK 3 4 | HUN 1 9 | HUN 2 3 | HUN 3 5 | ESP 1 1 | ESP 2 Ret | ESP 3 6 | ARA 1 8 | ARA 2 2 | ARA 3 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3rd | 194 |
| 2021 | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | GER 1 10 | GER 2 1 | POR 1 Ret | POR 2 2 | ESP 1 9 | ESP 2 4 | HUN 1 14 | HUN 2 13 | CZE 1 6 | CZE 2 14 | FRA 1 6 | FRA 2 1 | ITA 1 14 | ITA 2 19 | RUS 1 2 | RUS 2 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3rd | 177 |
$^†$ 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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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 |