Jonathan Ernest Kane (born 14 May 1973) is a British

racing driver 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 ...

who has competed at various levels of motorsport. He currently drives for Strakka Racing in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

. Kane, who was born in Comber,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, began his career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

and

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 ...

. In 1994 and 1995 he raced in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Opel where he was the 1994 British winter champion and the 1995 overall British champion. He then spent two years in

British Formula 3 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 ...

driving for Paul Stewart Racing where he captured 6 wins and won the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

championship. He made four starts in

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championship ...

in 1998 with marginal results, then came to the United States and raced in

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 Roa ...

in 1999 and 2000, winning two races and finishing 4th in series points in 1999 for Team KOOL Green. He was a test driver for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001, then moved to sports cars, driving in the

and

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

with amongst others

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

. In 2005 he made his FIA GT debut and has driven for

TVR TVR Electric Vehicles Limited is a British manufacturer of sports cars. The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was, at one time, the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering ...

and

Spyker Spyker or Spijker was a Dutch carriage, automobile and aircraft manufacturer, started in 1880 by blacksmiths Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker. Originally located in Hilversum, the company relocated to Trompenburg, Amsterdam in 1898. Notable produ ...

. Since 2006 Kane has competed at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

with a best finish of 5th overall at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

event which was also a LMP2 class victory in the HPD ARX-01C for

Strakka Racing Strakka Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Nick Leventis. The team was based at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The team made history at the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring when they became the first team in Le Mans Serie ...

. Since 2008 Kane has completed in the LMP2 class of Le Mans Series for a number of teams including Embassy Racing and Strakka. At the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring Kane, made history by winning the race outright in a LMP2 car co-driven by

Danny Watts Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver. Career Watts was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racin ...

and Nick Leventis. This was the first time that a LMP2 car has taken first, both in qualifying (pole position) and the race.

Racing record

Complete American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

References

External links

* (under construction — October 2010) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Jonny 1973 births Living people People from Comber Racing drivers from Northern Ireland Formula Ford drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Indy Lights drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers FIA GT Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers Rebellion Racing drivers Strakka Racing drivers Arena Motorsport drivers Paul Stewart Racing drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers Andretti Autosport drivers McLaren Racing drivers Motorsport people from County Down