Steven Kane

Steven Colin Kane (born 5 June 1980) is a British racing driver who currently competes in the Blancpain Endurance Series and Avon Tyres British GT Championship for M-Sport Bentley driving a Bentley Continental GT3.

Career Kane, who was born in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, and grow up in Ballynahinch, was voted McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 2001 (earning a test with the McLaren Formula One team), after winning the Junior Formula Ford Zetec championship by taking eight wins and four runners-up spots in twelve races. From 2003 to 2005, he competed in Formula Three; finishing as runner-up in the Scholarship class (for year-old cars) of the 2003 British Formula 3 Championship, finishing third overall in Spain in 2004, and in 2005, he was ninth in the main British F3 championship. That year he took three poles and a win, despite the deal only coming together a day before the season began. At the end of 2005, he became the first driver ever to race a Lola at the Macau Formula Three race. He then raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, with a best result of second.

For 2007, Kane moved into the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, finishing third overall and fighting for the title until the final round, with a series-high seven wins, including pole position at Thruxton.

In 2008, Kane competed in the BTCC, driving a BMW for the Motorbase Performance team. He started the year strongly, finishing eighth on his debut and later taking a sixth place at Rockingham Motor Speedway after a tough weekend. At Croft he ran fourth for a while, but dropped out with an electrical problem on the final lap. His first podium finish came at the next meeting at Snetterton. At the next meeting at Oulton Park, he qualified 15th before advancing to ninth in race 1, and from ninth on the grid to fourth in race 2, before being eliminated from race 3 after a first-lap hit from Tom Chilton.

Kane did not return to the BTCC for 2009. He is the series test driver for the new FIA Formula Two Championship, and co-commentator alongside Martin Haven on Eurosport2's coverage of the championship.

On 26 September 2009, Kane was a guest driver in the Kumho BMW Championship at Oulton Park. He qualified first in both qualifying sessions, and won both races. He was later punished with two points on his racing license after he was deemed by the stewards to have taken out another competitor on purpose. Kane driving the Airwaves Racing BMW 320si at Brands Hatch during the 2010 British Touring Car Championship season. Kane returned to the BTCC with the Airwaves BMW team for the 2010 season, partnering Mat Jackson. Kane won his first BTCC race at Thruxton on 4 April 2010 when he completed a one-two for Airwaves BMW in race three. He finished sixth overall at the end of the 2010 season with 169 points.

On 15 June 2011, it was announced that Kane would pilot a Lola-Mazda prototype for Dyson Racing in the American Le Mans Series, partnering with Humaid al-Masaood. He and al-Masaood finished third overall (and 3rd in the LMP1 class) in each of their first two ALMS events at Lime Rock Park and Mosport. Kane and al-Masaood claimed their first overall victory at the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix.

For 2012, Kane will race with Humaid al-Masaood in the Oryx Racing's Audi R8 GRAND-AM program in the Rolex Sports Car Series. In addition to this, Kane will also compete at the 12 Hours of Sebring with the Dyson Racing team.

Kane switched from racing in North America to Europe in 2013, joining JRM Racing to campaign a Nissan GT-R in the Blancpain Endurance Series alongside Peter Dumbreck and Lucas Luhr. Kane and Dumbreck finished eighth in the series' Pro Cup standings.

Kane has joined M-Sport for 2014, driving a Bentley Continental GT3 alongside Humaid Al Masaood in the British GT Championship, and with Guy Smith and Andy Meyrick in the Blancpain Endurance Series, after scoring a fourth place with the team at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Gulf 12 Hours.

2014 started brightly for Kane as he and his team mates Guy Smith and Andy Meyrick took a fourth place at Monza in April, followed by a home win at Silverstone in late May. A further victory came at the end of June at Paul Ricard which ultimately ensured a runners-up position in the final Blancpain Endurance Series standings.

For 2015, Kane stayed with Bentley. His season started well with fourth-place finishes at both the Bathurst 12 Hours in February and the opening Monza Blancpain race in April.

Racing record Career summary

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 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 DC Points 2006 Epsilon Euskadi ZOL1 ZOL2 MON1 IST1 IST2 MIS1 MIS2 SPA1 SPA2 NÜR1 NÜR2 DON1 DON2 LMS1 LMS2 CAT1 CAT2 20th 15 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

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 10 11 DC Points 2007 HISAQ Competition BHR1 BHR2 ESP MON FRA GBR GER HUN TUR BEL ITA NC† 0† † Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) ( signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

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 Pos Pts 2008 Motorbase Performance BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 11th 86 2010 Airwaves BMW BMW 320si THR1 THR2 THR3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 6th 169