Daniel Clarke (born 4 October 1983) is a British

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver, most recently competing in the

Firestone Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road ...

series with

Walker Racing Walker Racing was a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. It last competed in the United SportsCar Championship under the name of Team Falken Tire until Falken Tire pulled out of n ...

, having previously competed in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), ...

Early career

A veteran of British

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

where he won the Formula Ford Festival in 2004, Clarke moved up the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

in 2005 in a team part-owned by

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One ...

of Räikkönen Robertson Racing. Clarke finished fifth overall, taking the team's first win at

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham and north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had ...

and setting the circuit outright lap record, which he still holds.

2006 and 2007

After a series of tests, he was signed to drive in the

for CTE Racing-HVM, in 2006 as a teammate to Nelson Philippe. The team owned jointly by

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' ...

and

Keith Wiggins Keith Wiggins (born 1 July 1958) is a motor racing team owner born in Great Britain and one of only three people ever to have owned a Formula One team, an IndyCar and a ChampCar team. Early career Born in London, England on 1 July 1958, Wiggins b ...

. He finished sixth at

Portland International Raceway Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Van ...

and seventh at

Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is a city-owned airport on the shore of Lake Erie, in the northeast part of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is classified as a general aviation airport and is an FAA designated reliever to Cleve ...

, where he was battling for second with

Mario Domínguez Mario Domínguez (born December 1, 1975, in Mexico City) is a Mexican racing driver. He has competed in the CART and CCWS Champ Car series and later the IndyCar Series. Early career Domínguez first began racing in 1987 driving go-karts. He w ...

when they collided on the penultimate lap. Clarke also competed at San Jose, moving up from ninth to second before a gearbox failure put him out at mid-distance. In his next race, in Denver, Clarke moved into third-place on the final lap because of a collision of two drivers ahead of him to achieve his first podium finish as a Champ Car driver. The Denver third-place was the first podium finish for a Champ Car Rookie driver in the 2006 racing season. Following on from Denver, Clarke continued to run at the front and narrowly missed out on another podium finish at the next race in Montreal, coming home in fourth-place. Immediately after, Clarke won the Bridgestone Pole Position award at Road America, Wisconsin. He was the first rookie to do so since 2003 and the first British Rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993. Clarke experienced misfortune towards the end of the season, which saw him forced to settle for "Rookie runner-up" to

Will Power William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in ...

after an intense battle between the two drivers. He returned to the team for the 2007 season, now named Minardi Team USA, joined by new teammate and former Minardi and Red Bull Racing F1 driver

Robert Doornbos Robert Michael Doornbos (; born 23 September 1981) is a Dutch former racing driver who also competed with a Monégasque licence. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Mina ...

. Clarke had a troubled season, finishing 13th in the overall standings and missing one race. He missed the race at

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, having been ejected from the event for causing a multi-car crash in practice. He did, however, record a second-place at Road America. Upon the folding of the Champ Car series into the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

, the Minardi team became known as HVM Racing and hired E. J. Viso to drive, leaving Clarke without a team.

2009

He has since driven for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in the

A1GP A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themsel ...

series, participating in three rounds of the fourth season of the championship. First announced as the Team GBR driver halfway into the 2008/2009 series at Taupo, New Zealand, Clarke had little time to adapt to the new car, team and track. He went on to build experience through that weekend and then at the Portimão, Portugal, races. The next race for Clarke was Brands Hatch, UK, in front of his home fans. Despite qualifying technical issues, Clarke put on an impressive performance to drive back from fourteenth-place in the feature to seventh, scoring the fastest race laps in the process. However, for the second time in his career, his series folded in the off-season, leaving him without a team.

2010

In 2010, Clarke signed on with

in the

series, the top feeder series to IndyCar. He joined the team for the second race of the season at

Barber Motorsports Park Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...

. Clarke finished seventh in points with a pair of second-place finishes at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

. After a slow start learning the car and working with the team, Dan scored a fourth place finish in his first outing at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

Freedom 100 The Freedom 100 was an automobile race held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, as part of the Indy NXT, Indy Lights. The event was a Card (sports)#Undercard, support race for the IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500, and ...

and then went on to a successful second half of the season with two second-place finishes at

and

, five top-fives and seven top-tenss. He finished up seventh in the series points.

2011

In 2011, Clarke competed in a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

race at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...

, finishing 39th following an engine failure.

2023

Clarke returned to professional racing in 2023, taking part in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America for the Nolasport team.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Champ Car

Indy Lights

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Dan Living people 1983 births Sportspeople from Mexborough Sportspeople from Doncaster English racing drivers Champ Car drivers Indy Lights drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers A1 Team Great Britain drivers Formula Ford drivers NASCAR drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Comtec Racing drivers Walker Racing drivers HVM Racing drivers Double R Racing drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Porsche Carrera Cup North America drivers Racing drivers from Yorkshire