Warren Hughes
Warren Hughes is an English racing driver.
Hughes has raced in a variety of different series, most notably the British Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT1 World Championship, the Le Mans Series, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He won the LMP2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in, driving for RML Group alongside Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton.
Hughes also tested in F1 for the Lotus and Williams teams during his single seater career.
Having started his career in 1989 in the British Formula Ford Junior 1600 series, and winning the same series the following year, Hughes progressed through various junior single-seater formulae, such as the British Formula 3 Championship and the Formula Three Japan. Although he briefly switched to touring car racing in 1996, competing in the Super Tourenwagen Cup, and entered the MGF Cup in 1999, winning the series, he did not switch away from single-seater racing fully until 2001, when, having been signed by MG, he entered both the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the BTCC. He competed in both competitions the following year, and remained in the BTCC in 2003 before leaving MG at the end of that year, after they ended their motorsport programme. In 2004, he entered part of the British GT Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain, the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans Series, and entered various events of the latter series up until 2012. During that time, he also competed in events that were part of various other series, notably the American Le Mans Series and the FIA GT1 World Championship. Having won the SPEED EuroSeries in 2011, he became a regular driver in the British GT Championship in 2012, and he won the GT4 category that season, driving with Jody Fannin in a Team WFR-entered Ginetta G50.
Hughes now focuses on race driver coaching but still occasionally races, having finished third in a GT4 McLaren at the 2021 Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain.
Coaching duties include W Series, working with triple champion Jamie Chadwick, Argenti Motorsport, Double R Racing and Balfe Motosport.
Hughes is also on the roster of McLaren coaches for their worldwide Pure McLaren track programme as well as coaching on the brand's GT Driver Development Programme.
Racing career
Early career
Hughes made his car racing debut in 1989, driving in the British Formula Ford Junior 1600, and the Formula Ford Festival, finishing tenth in the latter. His debut in the FF1600, however, was notable for being a third-place finish, ahead of David Coulthard. In addition to entering the Junior FF1600 in 1990, which he won, he would enter the Formula Ford Festival for the next two years, finishing second in 1991. In 1991, he also finished second overall in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series, driving for Team JLR, having won three races.For the 1992 British Formula 3 season, Hughes stepped up to the British Formula 3 Championship, finishing seventh whilst driving for Edenbridge Racing, with an eighth place at the Masters of Formula 3. For the following season, he finished fourth in the British F3, driving for Richard Arnold Developments, whilst he also unsuccessfully entered the German Formula Three Championship with RAD, and the Macau Grand Prix with March Engineering. In 1994, he competed in two rounds of the British F3 series, and five of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship, and a retirement at the Masters of Formula 3.
The 1996 season saw a brief change of course for Hughes, with five races in the German STW series with Ford, scoring four points, whilst he also tested the Ford Mondeo in the British Touring Car Championship. He returned to the British F3 in 1997 for eight rounds, driving for Piers Portman Racing and remained there in 1998, once again finishing fourth. In 1999, he moved to the MGF Cup, winning seven of the 14 races, and setting 11 fastest laps, to become champion, whilst also competing in two races of the British F3 for Ralt. In 2000, he switched to the Italian Formula 3000 for Arden Team Russia. He was championship runner-up, only missing the podium in 3 races. Hughes also tested for the Williams Formula One team during that year, but was unable to become full-time test driver, with the team opting for Marc Gené instead. He also made his debut in the British GT Championship in 2000, driving for Cirtek Motorsport in a Porsche 911 GT3-R. His first race, the Thruxton Circuit event, where he drove alongside John Cleland, resulted in a fifth-place finish, whilst his second entry, at the Oulton Park round saw him fail to finish.
2001–03
In 2001, Hughes became a factory MG driver, with the MG teams being run by West Surrey Racing. His first event for the team came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans of that year, driving alongside Anthony Reid and Jonny Kane in the new MG-Lola EX257. It was not a successful debut for car and driver, however; the car lasted just 30 laps due to an oil pressure issue. Following that event, he drove the MG ZS in the British Touring Car Championship, alongside Reid. The team debuted their new car in the eleventh round of the season, held at Silverstone Circuit, where Hughes retired in race one, but finished fifth in the second race. The team were ineligible for points, due to their late entry, and that fifth-place finish proved to be Hughes' best result of the season, although Reid was able to take a victory at the penultimate race of the season, held at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, with Hughes taking the team's first pole position for the feature race.For 2002, MG entered the BTCC from the beginning of the season, with Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington hired for a two-team effort. Although Hughes won two races that year, one more than Reid, he was only able to finish sixth overall, two places behind Reid. None of the MGs were able to consistently match the works Vauxhall Astra Coupes, despite the Astra frequently suffering engine failures. Reid, Hughes and Kane also entered that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, but once more retired, this time due to gearbox failure after 129 laps.
2003 saw MG slim down to a three-car operation in the BTCC, with no 24 Hours of Le Mans entry, and Howell departed the team. Hughes slipped to seventh, with one win, behind Reid and ahead of Turkington, as the MG drivers finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, all with a win apiece. Following MG's withdrawal at the end of the year, Hughes was forced to leave the team for financial reasons.
2004–2006
Following his departure from the WSR team, 2004 saw Hughes without a regular drive. He entered the British GT Championship for the Oulton Park round, partnering Jonathan Cocker at Gruppe M Racing in an NGT-class Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, finishing sixth in race one, and taking the victory in the second race. He entered the Spa 24 Hours with the team, partnering Cocker, Tim Sugden and Tim Mullen, but the team failed to finish, with the car's gearbox failing after 301 laps. Following this event, he entered two rounds of the Le Mans Series. The first event was the 1000 km of Silverstone, where Hughes partnered Jonny Kane in a Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport-entered TVR Tuscan T400R GT, finishing sixth in class; whilst the second race saw Hughes and Kane partner Lawrence Tomlinson in a RSR Racing-entered T400R at the 1000 km of Spa. This would prove to be a less successful race, with Hughes crashing out after just 19 laps.In 2005, Hughes started his season at the 12 Hours of Sebring, driving the TVR with Kane and Tomlinson, but now under the Team LNT banner, and competing under the new GT2 regulations. It would not prove a successful event; engine failure forced the team to retire both Hughes' car, and their other TVR, driven by Richard Dean, Patrick Pearce and Marc Hynes. He would remain with Team LNT for the remainder of the season. Following the Sebring race, Hughes, now partnered by Pearce, entered the Donington Park round of the 2005 British GT season, finishing second, a race which was followed by a class victory in the 1000 km of Spa, where Hughes was partnered by Kane. Hughes and Pearce then competed in the FIA GT Magny-Cours Supercar 500, finishing 18th overall, and seventh in class – fifth of the drivers who scored points for the British GT Championship. The duo remained together for the Knockhill and Thruxton rounds, with a second place in the first race held at Thruxton being the strongest result out of the four races. Hughes then returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in three years, this time driving for the RML Group team, driving their MG-Lola EX264 alongside Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton. The race proved far more successful than his two previous events, and the trio won the LMP2 category. He returned to Team LNT for the rest of the season, and although the team had entered two cars in the Castle Combe round of the British GT Championship, neither actually competed in a race, following car No.42's exclusion for failing noise limits, and indeed the team withdrew from the remainder of the series for this reason. Following this withdrawal, the team returned to the Le Mans Series, resulting in the team having competed in all five events. However, the class victory in Spa would remain their only success, as Hughes, partnered by Kane failed to finish in any of the remaining events, following engine failure at the 1000 km of Monza, throttle issues at both the 1000km of Silverstone and the 1000 km of Istanbul, and suspension failure at the 1000 km of Nürburgring. The solitary victory meant that Hughes and Kane finished 11th in class at the end of the season.
For the first – and to date only – time, Hughes entered the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2006; driving a Cheever Racing-entered Crawford DP03-Lexus alongside Stefan Johansson and Thomas Erdos, and finishing 22nd overall. Hughes remained with Team LNT for that year's Le Mans Series, now driving a GT2-class Panoz Esperante GTLM. The season started poorly, with Hughes, partnered with Robert Bell, retiring from the 1000 km of Istanbul. The 1000 km of Spa proved to be equally unsuccessful, with Hughes retiring once more. Following these two races, Hughes competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Quifel-ASM Team, alongside Miguel Amaral and Miguel Ángel de Castro, driving a Lola B05/40-AER, but once more without success; retiring due to gearbox failure after 196 laps. His first finish of the season, a tenth class placing, came at the 1000 km of Nürburgring, before finishing the season by winning the two remaining events of the season. These two victories were enough to allow Hughes and Bell's No.81 Panoz to finish third in the championship, one point and one place behind the No.82 Panoz of fellow Team LNT members Tomlinson and Dean, with Team LNT finishing second, one point behind Autorlando Sport.