🏳️ James Jakes

James Jakes is a professional racing driver who raced across multiple categories from 2004 to 2024, competing primarily in single-seater and sports car series. He holds an FIA Gold grading, the full professional classification in endurance and sportscar racing. His most recent activity came in 2016 in the World Endurance Championship for Manor Motorsport, and he returned to racing in 2024 in GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup for Comtoyou Racing, driving a GT4 car.[1]

His record spans 147 starts across 12 seasons. He took two wins in the Formula 3 Euro Series between 2006 and 2008 while racing for ART Grand Prix, finishing on the podium three times in that championship. In single-seater racing he accumulated eight podiums across Formula 3 Euro Series, GP3 Series and Formula 3 Macau. His longest involvement was in IndyCar, where he made 67 starts between 2011 and 2015, with two podium finishes; he raced ovals on 36 of those starts. He contested just two rounds of the 2016 WEC before stepping away from international racing, and his 2022 appearance in the 24 Hours series marked a rare venture into multiclass endurance racing before his return to GT4 racing in 2024.[2]

In the single-seater ranks, he raced against drivers who would go on to reach Formula 1; he finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel twice in Formula 3 Euro Series and regularly beat Nico Hülkenberg, an eventual Platinum-graded driver and GP2 champion. In IndyCar, Jakes was closely matched with Charlie Kimball, another Gold-graded professional, though he usually finished behind Will Power, a two-time IndyCar champion and Platinum-graded driver. He spent 21 of his career starts with Manor Motorsport, a team that has fielded drivers ranging up to generational level.