Neel Jani

Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional racing driver.

Jani 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. 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 will be a Formula One test driver for Audi in 2026.

Jani 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 André Lotterer.

Early career Born in Rorschach, Switzerland, to a Gujarati Indian father from Gujarat and a Swiss mother, Jani started his career in karting in 1998, where he stayed for two years before moving up to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001. but this did not succeed. In early 2010, he tested for Force India and was rumoured to be involved with the team that year. However, Force India signed Mercedes driver Paul di Resta as their test and reserve driver.

In June 2023, it was announced that Jani had signed with Audi as a simulator driver to help them develop their power unit in preparation for their entry into Formula 1 in 2026.

Champ Car

For 2007, Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series. He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar for 2008, the series was absorbed by the IRL.

Sports car racing

In 2010, Jani became affiliated with Swiss privateer Rebellion Racing and teamed with Nicolas Prost to race a Lola-Judd LMP1 at the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing second at Algarve and fifth at Silverstone. He also raced the second half of the FIA GT1 season for Matech in a Ford GT, finishing seventh in a championship race and eighth in other two.

Jani took up full-time WEC racing in 2012 with Rebellion, teaming with Prost and Nick Heidfeld for two seasons, before joining the Porsche works team in 2014 and winning his first LMP1 race at São Paulo, Brazil, finishing third overall in the championship. The 2015 season saw Jani take another win at Bahrain in addition to five runner-up spots; again he finished third in the championship.

Jani kicked off the 2016 WEC season with a win at Silverstone and a second place at Spa before inheriting the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic fashion when Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota broke down in the lead with only one lap to go in the race.

Return to single-seaters: Formula E On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Jani would make his debut in FIA Formula E Championship in its fourth season at Faraday Future Dragon Racing with Jérôme d'Ambrosio as his teammate. After two 18th-place finishes at the season opener in Hong Kong, Jani abruptly quit the team focusing instead on his WEC commitments with Rebellion Racing.

In December 2018, Porsche announced that Jani would return to the championship as part of their driver line-up for their maiden season. He raced for Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer till the end of the 2019–20 season, finishing twentieth on the standings. For the 2020-21 Formula E Championship, he was replaced by Pascal Wehrlein.

Personal life Jani and his wife Lauren have a son.

Career results Racing career summary

Season still in progress. ‡Team standings.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 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 DC Points 2001 DG Racing MNZ BRN MAG SIL ZOL HUN A1R NÜR JAR EST 24th 8 2002 Jenzer Motorsport MAG SIL JAR AND OSC SPA IMO DON EST 2nd 178

Complete Formula Renault V6 Eurocup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series 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 23 DC Points 2005 Racing Engineering IMOFEA IMOSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 7th 48 2006 Arden International Ltd VALFEA VALSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA SILFEA SILSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 25th 0Source:

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 Switzerland GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 2nd 121 2006–07 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA BEISPR BEIFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 8th 50 2007–08 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA ZHUSPR ZHUFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 1st 168 2008–09 NEDSPR NEDFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA RSASPR RSAFEA PORSPR PORFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 2nd 95

Formula One (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points 2006 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR1 Cosworth V10 BHR MAL AUS SMR EUR ESP MON GBR CAN USA FRA GER HUN TUR ITA CHN JPN BRA - -

American Open Wheel (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Champ Car

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2009 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Automotive Andrea Belicchi Nicolas Prost Lola B08/60-Aston Martin LMP1 342 14th 12th 2010 Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost Marco Andretti Lola B10/60-Rebellion LMP1 175 DNF DNF 2011 Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost Jeroen Bleekemolen Lola B10/60-Toyota LMP1 338 6th 6th 2012 Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost Nick Heidfeld Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 367 4th 4th 2013 Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost Nick Heidfeld Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 275 39th 7th 2014 Porsche Team Marc Lieb Romain Dumas Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1-H 348 11th 4th 2015 Porsche Team Marc Lieb Romain Dumas Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 391 5th 5th 2016 Porsche Team Romain Dumas Marc Lieb Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 384 1st 1st 2017 Porsche LMP Team Nick Tandy André Lotterer Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 318 DNF DNF 2018 Rebellion Racing André Lotterer Bruno Senna Rebellion R13-Gibson LMP1 375 4th 4th 2019 Rebellion Racing André Lotterer Bruno Senna Rebellion R13-Gibson LMP1 376 4th 4th 2021 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Michael Christensen Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTEPro 344 22nd 3rd 2023 Duqueine Team René Binder Nico Pino Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 327 11th 3rd 2024 Proton Competition Julien Andlauer Harry Tincknell Porsche 963 Hypercar 251 45th 16th 2025 Proton Competition Nico Pino Nicolás Varrone Porsche 963 Hypercar 383 13th 13thSource: 2013 Rebellion Racing P1 Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 SEB LBH LAG LRP MOS ROA BAL COA VIR PET 2nd 82

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results Season still in progress.

Complete Formula E results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2017–18 Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e Penske EV-2 HKG HKG MRK SCL MEX PDE RME PAR BER ZUR NYC NYC 25th 0 2019–20 TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team Spark SRT05e Porsche 99X Electric DIR DIR SCL MEX MRK BER BER BER BER BER BER 20th 8

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 Hyderabad Blackbirds HYD11 HYD12 HYD13 IRU11 IRU12 IRU13 IRU21 IRU22 IRU23 HYD21 HYD22 HYD23 2nd 137 2023‡ Hyderabad Blackbirds IRU11 IRU12 IRU21 IRU22 IRU31 IRU32 6th 56 2024‡ Hyderabad Blackbirds IRU11 IRU12 IGR1 IGR2 IRU21 IRU22 KAR11 KAR12 KAR21 KAR22 8th 73

‡ Standings based on entry points, not individual drivers.

Season in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 Rank Points 2023 99 Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DUB1 DUB2 ABU1 ABU2 4th 49