James Jakes


James Jakes is a British professional racing driver who last competed in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, where he drove for Comtoyou Racing. He has previously competed in the IndyCar Series, the GP2 Series, and the British Formula 3 Championship.

Career

T-Cars

Jakes started his racing career in 2002 competing in five rounds of the T-Car Championship. In 2003 James continued in T-cars, finishing second in the championship.

Formula Renault

For the 2004 season, Jakes moved into the British Formula Renault Championship with Team AKA. Jakes progressed his skills as a racing driver to the point where he was regularly contending for race wins, helping him to attain third in the championship in 2005. His two seasons in Formula Renault also helped him to attain a McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Nomination and also receive BRDC Rising Star status.

Formula Three

Jakes did one round of the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship in the National Class. In 2006 James made the move to the British Formula 3 Championship full-time with Hitech Racing where he finished eighth and also finished sixth in the Macau Grand Prix.
For 2007, Jakes moved on to the Formula Three Euroseries with Manor Motorsport. He finished fifth in the championship, with one win coming at Magny-Cours. Staying in the championship for the 2008 season, Jakes changed teams to be one of the four drivers at the highly successful ART Grand Prix team. He joined fellow Brit Jon Lancaster in the team, with his other team-mates being Frenchman Jules Bianchi, and German Nico Hülkenberg. He did lie in fifth place at one point in the season, having won on the street circuit at Pau but tailed off to be thirteenth in the championship.

GP2 Series

Jakes drove in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season for the Super Nova Racing team. He did not race in any category during the summer of 2009, but rejoined Super Nova for the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season. He equalled his best finish of third during the first race in Abu Dhabi, but was replaced by the team's 2010 main series driver Marcus Ericsson for the second round. Following the conclusion of the GP3 season, Jakes made his GP2 Series début at the final round of the 2010 season, replacing Álvaro Parente at Scuderia Coloni.

GP3 Series

Jakes signed to drive for Manor Motorsport in the inaugural GP3 Series season for 2010. Despite missing two rounds of the championship, he scored three podium finishes to take eighth position in the drivers' championship.

IndyCar Series

Jakes had signed with Coloni to race in the GP2 Asia Series in 2011, but in March tested an IndyCar Series car for Dale Coyne Racing at Barber Motorsports Park. It was subsequently announced that Jakes would be replaced in Coloni's GP2 car by Luca Filippi and that Jakes would race for Coyne in the 2011 IndyCar Series season. In his debut season he collected no top-tens and resulted 22nd in the final standings. In 2012, Jakes resulted tenth at Texas Motor Speedway and 8th at the Indy Toronto, repeating his 22nd place in the season standings.
Jakes switched to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2013 season. At Detroit he finished tenth in the first race and second in the second race. Later he finished sixth in Houston 1. He ended the season nineteenth in the final standings.
After a sabbatical year, Jakes joined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the 2015 IndyCar season. He collected a third place in New Orleans.

Racing record

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2006Hitech RacingDallara F305/037MercedesHOC
1
9		HOC
2
8		LAU
1		LAU
2		OSC
1		OSC
2		BRH
1
5		BRH
2
4		NOR
1		NOR
2		NÜR
1		NÜR
2		ZAN
1		ZAN
2		CAT
1		CAT
2		LMS
1		LMS
2		HOC
1		HOC
2		16th7
2007Manor MotorsportDallara F305/020MercedesHOC
1
11		HOC
2
5		BRH
1
2		BRH
2
8		NOR
1
6		NOR
2
5		MAG
1
6		MAG
2
1		MUG
1
4		MUG
2
Ret		ZAN
1
8		ZAN
2
6		NÜR
1
4		NÜR
2
7		CAT
1
4		CAT
2
7		NOG
1
18		NOG
2
Ret		HOC
1
21†		HOC
2
Ret		5th42
2008ART Grand PrixDallara F308/049MercedesHOC
1
12		HOC
2
11		MUG
1
12		MUG
2
15		PAU
1
1		PAU
2
6		NOR
1
25		NOR
2
13		ZAN
1
10		ZAN
2
7		NÜR
1
24†		NÜR
2
22		BRH
1
21†		BRH
2
17		CAT
1
5		CAT
2
4		LMS
1
13		LMS
2
5		HOC
1
11		HOC
2
Ret		13th19

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Series results

YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2010Scuderia ColoniESP
FEA		ESP
SPR		MON
FEA		MON
SPR		TUR
FEA		TUR
SPR		VAL
FEA		VAL
SPR		GBR
FEA		GBR
SPR		GER
FEA		GER
SPR		HUN
FEA		HUN
SPR		BEL
FEA		BEL
SPR		ITA
FEA		ITA
SPR		ABU
FEA
15		ABU
SPR
18		31st0

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

Complete GP3 Series results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2010Manor RacingCAT
FEA
9		CAT
SPR
7		IST
FEA
2		IST
SPR
8		VAL
FEA
8		VAL
SPR
3		SIL
FEA
Ret		SIL
SPR
11		HOC
FEA
2		HOC
SPR
Ret		HUN
FEA		HUN
SPR		SPA
FEA		SPA
SPR		MNZ
FEA
13		MNZ
SPR
Ret		8th21

IndyCar Series

* Season still in progress.
YearsTeamsRacesPolesWinsPodiums
Top 10s
  • *
    		• Indianapolis 500WinsChampionships
    4365002700

    Indianapolis 500

    Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

    Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

    YearTeamCarClass12345678910Pos.Points
    2024Comtoyou RacingAston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EvoGoldBRH
    1
    23    		BRH
    2
    24    		MIS
    1
    28    		MIS
    2
    31    		HOC
    1
    28    		HOC
    2
    Ret    		MAG
    1
    32†    		MAG
    2
    15    		CAT
    1
    Ret    		CAT
    2
    Ret    		6th42

    † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.