Jon Lancaster

Jon Francis Lancaster (born 10 December 1988 in Leeds) is a British auto racing driver.

Career

Early life and karting Lancaster was born on 10 December 1988 in Leeds, Yorkshire. He used to watch Formula One from the age of three and always liked the cars. After getting his full karting licence, Lancaster initially competed at Wombwell Kart Circuit in Barnsley, where he won in his sixth ever race in the Cadet class. The first competitive kart he owned was a basic 100 British pounds kit with engines supplied by Jenson Button’s father, John. Lancaster's father was a former racing mechanic and wanted his son to go karting but also attend Horsforth School. Some years later, he was approached by Paul Lemmens, a talent scout. After having a talk with Lemmens, the talent manager Harald Huysman went to England to see Lancaster and was impressed, saying that he had "everything to be the best in the world". In 2006, as a 16-year-old, Lancaster mainly appeared in the Formula A karting category with Italian team Birel, finishing second in the World Championship and third in the European Championship.

Formula Renault 2.0 At the end of 2006, Lancaster moved up to single-seater formula racing, by competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series with the AKA Lamac team. Lancaster finished sixteenth in the championship, recording a best finish of 8th during round 2 at Brands Hatch.

Lancaster driving in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007. 2007 saw Lancaster move up into the Formula Renault Eurocup driving for SG Formula's second team, SG Drivers Project. Lancaster struggled in the early part of the season, amassing only a second-place finish at the Hungaroring from the first six races, but he improved his form in the last eight races. Four consecutive wins during the last four races gave Lancaster a second place in the championship, behind Brendon Hartley. He dovetailed that European campaign with a season in the French Formula Renault Championship, competing in eleven of the series' thirteen races, finishing sixth with two wins coming at Magny-Cours and Barcelona. After those seasons, he competed for Hitech Racing's Junior team in the Formula Renault UK Winter Series, finishing fourteenth in the championship despite recording a third place at Donington Park in round two.

Formula 3 Euro Series Lancaster moved up to the Formula 3 Euro Series for the 2008 season, driving for multiple champions ART Grand Prix. It was a testing year for the Yorkshireman, finishing twelfth in the championship including a win at the Nürburgring. The season wasn't without incident though, as Lancaster survived a horrendous crash during the season-opening race at Hockenheim. In a similar crash to that of Lucas di Grassi in 2005, Lancaster clipped the rear wheel of Jean Karl Vernay's car, while battling for sixth place and flipped over, skating over the tarmac runoff upside-down, before returning to its wheels in the gravel trap. Lancaster would sit out the second race, due to being at hospital for checkups. In non-championship races, Lancaster finished third at Zolder, for ART at the Masters of Formula 3 event and was 11th at the Macau Grand Prix for Manor Motorsport.

Formula Renault 3.5

Lancaster had been expected to return to the F3 Euroseries for the 2009 season, driving for SG Formula alongside Toyota junior drivers Henkie Waldschmidt and Andrea Caldarelli, but a pre-season disagreement with the team led to Alexandre Marsoin driving for the team. He joined Comtec Racing for the rest of the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season,

Formula Two Lancaster began 2011 without a regular drive, but moved to Formula Two to take part in the Magny-Cours event only, driving with sponsorship from Silver Lining. He scored points in both races in which he competed.

Auto GP Lancaster also competed two rounds in Auto GP with Super Nova Racing in 2011. He won at Donington in wet conditions.

GP2 Series

Lancaster made his GP2 Series début in 2012. He signed to drive for Ocean Racing Technology with fellow rookie Nigel Melker. He was replaced by Brendon Hartley after the first event of the season for budgetary reasons.

On 8 May 2013, newcomer GP2 team Hilmer announced that Lancaster would drive alongside Formula Renault champion and Sauber test driver Robin Frijns for the third round of the 2013 GP2 season. On his return, he finished on the podium in the feature race, benefitting from a penalty given to Carlin's Jolyon Palmer. With his team mate winning, it was a double podium for Hilmer.

Lancaster went on to take his maiden GP2 win on 30 June 2013 at his home round at Silverstone, the fifth round of the season. He won the sprint race, repeating the British success that weekend along with Sam Bird who also won that weekend the day before in the feature race.

Racing record

Career summary Season still in progress.

‡ Team standings.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 2008 ART Grand Prix Dallara F308/070 Mercedes HOC1 HOC2 MUG1 MUG2 PAU1 PAU2 NOR1 NOR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 BRH1 BRH2 CAT1 CAT2 BUG1 BUG2 HOC1 HOC2 12th 19

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series 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 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2009 Comtec Racing CAT1 CAT2 SPA1 SPA2 MON1 HUN1 HUN2 SIL1 SIL2 BUG1 BUG2 ALG1 ALG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ALC1 ALC2 13th 39 2010 Fortec Motorsport ALC1 ALC2 SPA1 SPA2 MON1 BRN1 BRN2 MAG1 MAG2 HUN1 HUN2 HOC1 HOC2 SIL1 SIL2 CAT1 CAT2 13th 39

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points 2011 SIL1 SIL2 MAG1 MAG2 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 BRH1 BRH2 SPL1 SPL2 MON1 MON2 CAT1 CAT2 10th 14

Complete Auto GP 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 Pos Points 2011 Super Nova Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 HUN1 HUN2 BRN1 BRN2 DON1 DON2 OSC1 OSC2 VAL1 VAL2 MUG1 MUG2 11th 51

Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete Indian Racing League results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Franchise 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts 2022 Chennai Turbo Riders HYD11 HYD12 HYD13 IRU11 IRU12 IRU13 IRU21 IRU22 IRU23 HYD21 HYD22 HYD23 9th 70 2023‡ Chennai Turbo Riders IRU11 IRU12 IRU21 IRU22 IRU31 IRU32 2nd 83 2024‡ Chennai Turbo Riders IRU1 IRU2 IGR1 IGR2 IRU1 IRU2 KAR11 KAR12 KAR21 KAR22 2nd 147

‡ Standings based on entry points, not individual drivers.

Season in progress.

Personal life Lancaster went to Calverley Church of England Primary and Horsforth High School, and is interested in karting, football and cycling. He is also a supporter of English football team, Leeds United.