Neel jani

1. Who is he?

Neel Jani is Swiss, he was born on December 8, 1983 in Rorschach. He is currently a driver with Porsche, in the GTE Pro category of the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

2. Junior course

Neel Jani debuted in single-seaters in 2001 with the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup. He finished second in the championship the following season. The Swiss continues with the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup. His new second place in the championship interests Sauber. The Formula 1 team decides to appoint him as a test driver. Even if the second season in the category ended less well than the first, Neel Jani found a place in GP2 Series for 2005. With the Racing Engineering team, he won two races for his rookie season. In 2006, he appeared regularly in the F1 paddock, as a Toro Rosso test driver. He became a Red Bull test driver in 2008. Before turning to endurance, Neel Jani represented Switzerland for three years, between 2006 and 2009, in the A1 Grand Prix, with a title to boot.

3. WEC course

Neel Jani starts Endurance at the 24 2009 Hours of Le Mans with the Speedy Racing team. Two other appearances with Rebellion followed. At the same time, this allows the Swiss to freelance in FIA GT1 and Superleague Formula. In 2012, Rebellion decided to enter two of its prototypes in the WEC. Neel Jani, under contract with the team, is part of one of the two crews. He drives alongside Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld in a private Lola B12/60. For its first full year in WEC, the crew finished 4th. They will also win Le Petit Le Mans across the Atlantic in front of the leaders of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). In 2014, Neel Jani arrived at a legendary firm: Porsche. He is associated with Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas. The Swiss ends this season like a cannonball with 1 victory and 2 podiums in the last 3 races. The Porsche crew gained consistency the following year but was unable to progress in the ranking, remaining 3rd. In 2016, Neel Jani won the title with the No. 919 Porsche 2 Hybrid. The Jani-Lieb-Dumas team is ahead of the Audi, Toyota and the reigning world champion Porsche, but it is the absurd turnaround at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that will be remembered. Responsible for the final relay, he overtook the leaders' Toyota, which had broken down, at the start of the last turn of the last lap. This intense joy will be replaced by abandonment the following year. In 2018, Neel Jani returns to the team he started with, at Rebellion, in non-hybrid LM P1. He finished in fifth place in the championship. Following a disappointing stint in Formula E with Dragon and Porsche, Neel Jani returns to the WEC this year in the GTE Pro category. He drives a Porsche 911 RSR for the official Porsche team.

4. AUTOhebdo’s opinion

Long confined to the shadows, Neel Jani has been able to build a lasting relationship with one of the biggest manufacturers in endurance racing. As such, the success of the Swiss is closely linked to Porsche, convinced by his performance with independent equipment (Rebellion) at the turn of the 2010s. His reputation as a fast man could have been erased by his failure in Formula E (20th in 2019-20). Fortunately, confidence has not eroded in both parties and Porsche understands this: Neel Jani is an expert in Endurance, not electric racing in the economy.