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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.
Vernay drove two rounds as race driver in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season and the last round as practice session driver.
In 2007, Vernay 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 tenth. A second place was his best result, with another finish of hird 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 three podiums coming at the Norisring, Brands Hatch and Bugatti Circuit. 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 Hockenheimring. 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. Sam Schmidt Motorsports signs JK Vernay , Sam Schmidt Motorsports PR via Motorsport.com, February 22, 2010, Retrieved 2010-02-22 He won in his series debut on the Streets of St. Petersburg in a wet race. Vernay Wins Wild St. Pete Season-Opener , eFormulaCarNews, March 28, 2010, retrieved 2010-03-28 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.
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, 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 would drive a W Racing Team Volkswagen Golf at the TCR International Series.
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd | |
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 10th | |
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | |
| Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | |
| Blancpain Endurance Series | Vitaphone Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 31st |
| American Le Mans Series | Signature Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC† |
| Intercontinental Le Mans Cup | Peugeot Sport | Reserve driver | ||||||
| FIA World Endurance Championship | Luxury Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st | |
| European Le Mans Series - LMGTE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 10th | |
| Porsche Supercup | MRS-GT Racing | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 13th |
| GT Asia Series | Absolute Bentley Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | NC† |
| Macau GT Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10th | |
| GT Asia Series | Bentley Team Absolute | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 33rd |
| Audi R8 LMS Cup | FAW-VW Audi Racing Team | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 12th |
| TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship | Team WRT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 20th |
| TCR China Touring Car Championship | TeamWork Motorsport | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 10th |
| TCR Asia Series | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC† | |
| V de V Endurance Series - LMP3 | CMR / Sport Garage | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31st |
| TCR Europe Touring Car Series | Leopard Lukoil Team WRT | 12 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 159 | 2nd |
| TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 163 | 1st | |
| F4 Chinese Championship | FFA Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th |
| Stock Car Brasil | Bardahl Hot Car | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 24H TCE Series - TCR | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | |||||||
| Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup | Phoenix Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| TCR Australia Touring Car Series | Melbourne Performance Centre | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 28th |
| Pure ETCR Championship | Hyundai Motorsport N | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 316 | 2nd |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - TCR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | |
| 2006 ! nowrap | SG Formula | Circuit Zolder | Circuit Zolder | Istanbul Park | Istanbul Park | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | Donington Park | Donington Park | Bugatti Circuit | Bugatti Circuit | CAT 1 | CAT 2 ! NC† ! 0 |
† As Vernay was a guest driver he was ineligible for 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 | MEX FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | GBR SPR | GBR SPR !4th !67 ! |
| 2007 ! nowrap | Signature-Plus ! nowrap | Dallara F306/010 ! Mercedes | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Norisring | Norisring | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | Mugello Circuit | Mugello Circuit | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | NOG 1 | NOG 2 | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring ! 10th ! 23 |
| 2008 ! nowrap | Signature-Plus ! nowrap | Dallara F308/033 ! Volkswagen | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring | Mugello Circuit | Mugello Circuit | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | Norisring | Norisring | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | Bugatti Circuit | Bugatti Circuit | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring ! 8th ! 35 |
| 2009 ! nowrap | Signature Team ! nowrap | Dallara F308 ! Volkswagen | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring | Mugello Circuit | Mugello Circuit | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | Norisring | Norisring | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | Dijon-Prenois | Dijon-Prenois | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring ! 5th ! 47 |
| 2010 ! nowrap | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | STP | ALA | LBH | INDY | Iowa Speedway | WGL | TOR | Edmonton Indy | MOH | Infineon Raceway | CHI | KTY | HMS !style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 1st !style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 494 ! |
| 2012 ! nowrap | Luxury Racing ! nowrap | LMGTE Pro ! nowrap | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 ! nowrap | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | SEB | SPA | LMS | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA ! NC ! 0 | ||
| 2013 ! nowrap | IMSA Performance Matmut ! nowrap | LMGTE Am ! nowrap | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR ! nowrap | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | SIL | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 122 |
| 2024 ! nowrap | Isotta Fraschini ! Hypercar ! nowrap | Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH-C ! nowrap | Isotta Fraschini 3.0 L Turbo V6 | QAT | IMO | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | BHR ! 33rd ! 0 | |||
| 2013 ! nowrap | MRS GT-Racing | ESP | MON | GBR | GER | Hungaroring | BEL | ITA | UAE | ! 13th ! 29 ! |
| 2013 ! nowrap | IMSA Performance Matmut ! LMGTE ! nowrap | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR ! nowrap | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | SIL | IMO | RBR | HUN | LEC ! 10th ! 22 |
| 2014 ! nowrap | Dome Racing ! nowrap | Honda NSX-GT ! GT500 | OKA | Fuji Speedway | Autopolis | Sportsland SUGO | Fuji Speedway | Suzuka Circuit | BUR | MOT ! 19th ! 11 |
| 2016 ! nowrap | Leopard Racing ! nowrap | Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | BHR 1 | EST 1 | EST 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | Salzburgring | Salzburgring | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | Sochi Autodrom | Sochi Autodrom | CHA 1 | CHA 2 | MRN 1 | MRN 2 | SEP 1 | SEP 2 | Guia Circuit | Guia Circuit !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 246 | |
| 2017 ! nowrap | Leopard Racing Team WRT ! nowrap | Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | RIM 1 | RIM 2 | BHR 1 | BHR 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | Salzburgring | Salzburgring | Hungaroring | Hungaroring | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | CHA 1 | CHA 2 | ZHE 1 | ZHE 2 | Dubai Autodrome | Dubai Autodrome | !style="background:#FFFFBF;" 1st !style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 226 | ||
| 2018 ! nowrap | Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team ! nowrap | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | MAR 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | GER 1 | GER 2 | GER 3 | NED 1 | NED 2 | NED 3 | POR 1 | POR 2 | POR 3 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | SVK 3 | CHN 1 | CHN 2 | CHN 3 | WUH 1 | WUH 2 | WUH 3 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | JPN 3 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | MAC 3 ! 5th ! 245 | |
| 2019 ! nowrap | Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport ! nowrap | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | MAR 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | SVK 3 | NED 1 | NED 2 | NED 3 | GER 1 | GER 2 | GER 3 | POR 2 | CHN 1 | CHN 2 | CHN 3 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | JPN 3 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | MAC 3 | MAL 1 | MAL 2 | MAL 3 ! 10th ! 211 | |||
| 2020 ! nowrap | Romeo Ferraris ! nowrap | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | BEL 1 | BEL 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | SVK 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | ESP 3 | ARA 1 | ARA 2 | ARA 3 | !style="background:#FFDF9F;" 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 194 | |||||||||||||
| 2021 ! nowrap | Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team ! nowrap | Hyundai Elantra | GER 1 | GER 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | RUS 1 | RUS 2 | !style="background:#FFDF9F;" 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 177 | |||||||||||||
| 2018 ! nowrap | Leopard Lukoil Team WRT ! nowrap | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | Hungaroring | Hungaroring | ASS 1 | ASS 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 !style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2nd !style="background:#DFDFDF;" | 159 |
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