Darren Manning

Darren Manning (born 30 April 1975) is a British motor racing driver who has raced in the IRL IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Career history

Early career Manning was born in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, and began his racing career at the age of ten, competing in British and International karting events. In 1992, he took part in the Brands Hatch Formula First Winter Series, finishing second after recording two wins. His SpeedSport team took him in 1993 to race in the Formula Vauxhall championship again recording two victories en route to a second-place finish in the championship. He was also a finalist for the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award.

Manning continued in Formula Vauxhall in 1994 and 1995 and moved up to Formula 3 in 1996 and 1997. Budget constraints meant that he only raced a limited F3 schedule in 1998, but he did achieve two wins including at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix support race.

International career

In 1999, Manning won the All-Japan Formula Three championship, and was the first driver to achieve the "perfect victory" at the Macau Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna by winning from pole position, leading every lap and setting a lap record. He also tested with the Williams F1 team. In 2000, he began working for the BAR Honda F1 team as a test driver while also racing in the FIA International Formula 3000 championship for Arden Team Russia.

In 2002, Manning competed in the ASCAR (now SCSA) championship. He had a one-off drive in the FIA Sportscar championship at Magny-Cours driving a Tampolli SR2 RTA-2001 in the SR2 class for JCI Developments. He also had a one-off drive at Rockingham in the CART series for Team St George, leading eighteen laps on the way to ninth place. This led to a full-time drive for Walker Racing in 2003, taking one top-three finish and ninth overall in the championship.

Manning joined Chip Ganassi's IRL team for 2004, in place of Tony Renna after Renna's fatal testing accident, finishing eleventh in the championship having achieved eight top-ten finishes, but he was released from his contract in the middle of 2005 after 24 starts, including the 2004 and 2005 Indianapolis 500.

Manning raced at the last round of the 2005/6 A1 Grand Prix series at Shanghai, because main driver Robbie Kerr had other commitments and Manning helped secure A1 Team Great Britain third place in the overall standings. During 2006, he also drove a Nissan 350Z in the FIA GT Championship for RJN Motorsport.

For the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season, Manning moved into a permanent role in the Great Britain A1GP team, alongside Robbie Kerr and Oliver Jarvis.

On 14 November 2006, Manning was named the driver of the A. J. Foyt Enterprises No. 14 car in the IRL IndyCar series for the 2007 season, marking his return to the league after a one-year absence. Manning also drove in the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona and led his team to a second-place finish, leading the race during a long overnight stint in the rain. He finished thirteenth in IndyCar points in 2007, capturing five top-tens in what was widely considered a significant step forward for the previously struggling Foyt team. In 2008, he finished second at Watkins Glen, with six further top ten finishes en route to fourteenth overall.

In 2009, Manning was racing for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in IndyCar, but left after two races. No reason has been given by either driver or team.

In 2010, Manning drove for Spirit of Daytona Racing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in the No. 90 Daytona Prototype.

Motorsports career results

Complete Japanese Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts 1998 Team Yellow Hat HKS-Mitsubishi SUZ TSU MIN FUJ MOT SUZ SUG TAI SEN SUG 11th 4 1999 TOM'S ToyotaSUZTSUFUJMINFUJSUZSUGTAIMOTSUZ 1st 60

Complete Super GT results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 1999 TOM'S Toyota Supra GT500 SUZFUJ4 SUG MIN FUJ TAI MOT 19th 10 2006 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Z GT500 SUZ TAI FUJ SEP SUGSUZ8 MOT AUT FUJ 25th 8

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

American Open-Wheel (key)

CART Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref 2002 Team St. George 19 Lola B02/00 Ford XF V8 t MTY LBH MOT MIL LS POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SRF FON MXC21st4 2003 Walker Racing 15 Reynard 02i Ford XFE V8 t STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LS POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN MIA MXC SRF FONNH 9th 103

IndyCar Series

1 Run on same day. 2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums(non-win) Top 10s(non-podium) Indianapolis 500 wins Championships53600012500

Complete A1 Grand Prix 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 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points 2005–06 Great Britain GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 3rd 97 2006–07 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA BEISPR BEIFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 3rd 92

Complete American Le Mans Series results