Dan Wells (racing driver)



















































Dan Wells
Nationality British
Born
(1991-05-29) 29 May 1991 (age 27)
Southampton (England)

Formula Pilota China career
Debut season 2012
Current team KCMG
Car no. 16
Starts 12
Wins 3
Poles 2
Fastest laps 1
Previous series

2011
2010–11
2010

FR2.0 UK
FR2.0 UK Winter/Finals Series
Formula Ford 1600

Dan Wells (born 29 May 1991) is a British racing driver from Salisbury.




Contents






  • 1 Career


    • 1.1 Karting


    • 1.2 Formula Ford


    • 1.3 Formula Renault


    • 1.4 Formula Pilota China


    • 1.5 Twitter Powered Racing Driver




  • 2 Racing record


    • 2.1 Career summary




  • 3 Personal life


  • 4 References


  • 5 External links





Career



Karting


At the age of 18, having completed his studies at college, he gave up a university place to start his racing career in 2009. He competed in 11 Senior Rotax kart races in the South of the United Kingdom - setting a fastest lap in a field of 24 in his first ever race at Clay Pigeon.[1]



Formula Ford


In 2010 Wells graduated to Formula Ford 1600. Together with engineer John Percy - who ran him out of a single trailer - Wells took five class poles and five class wins in just seven race weekends.


This brought him to the attention of the Racing Steps Foundation for their 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Cup shoot-out.[2] After a six-week evaluation program which culminated in a day on track in Formula Renault machinery at Rockingham, he was 0.7s clear of the other finalists, astounding the on looking assessors, John Surtees and the late Martin Hines. Dan graduated to Formula Renault UK in late 2010, taking part in the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Cup.


Dan finished 5th in his first ever race weekend, lapping just a tenth off a second off experienced team mate Alex Lynn. In the second weekend, Dan suffered incidents and mechanical failures, coming away with a best result of 11th.



Formula Renault


Wells joined the 2011 Formula Renault UK championship with Atech Reid GP from Round 3. He finished 10th in the overall in the standings, just 22 shy of 7th place, with a best result of 4th at Rockingham and Brands Hatch.


His progress continued in the Formula Renault UK Final Series, where he scored three podiums in six races, with a best result of 2nd at Snetterton. He emerged as Vice Champion of the series, never finishing outside the top 6 beating Red Bull and McLaren backed drivers.[3] Over the winter, Wells worked hard to secure the necessary budget for a 2012 Formula Renault UK seat. However, in March 2012 it was announced that Formula Renault UK series would not take place in 2012.[4] Dan was already in the process of looking for alternative options to pursue his career, and thus looked towards Asia.



Formula Pilota China


On 28 March 2012, Wells announced he would compete in the Formula Pilota China Series in 2012, for the Hong Kong-based KCMG team.[5] He moved to Hong Kong in April 2012 and raced in Asia for the whole season, taking a double win in just his second weekend in the series. Dan ran in a one car debut team for the majority of the year. He took a total of 3 wins, lined up on pole position 3 times, and took 9 podiums from the 18 race series with series debutantes KCMG. Most noteworthy was the fact he moved to Hong Kong with very little personal funding, and paid for his first race using money raised through his GoFundMe page, which was successful in bringing nearly 14,000 euros to start his racing season.



Twitter Powered Racing Driver


Dan became well known for his openness through social media, including Twitter, Facebook and his blogs. Twitter was his main medium to connect with fans, and they got a real insight into the life of a young racing driver trying to make it in the sport. When Wells started the GoFundMe page, people started sponsoring him - and over 2012 over 150 people worldwide had sponsored over 14,000 euros to continue his path.



Racing record



Career summary










































































Season
Series
Team
Races
Wins
Poles
F/Laps
Podiums
Points
Position
2010

Club Formula Ford 1600

JRP Motorsport
11
5
5
2
9
N/A
N/A
2010

Formula Renault UK Winter Series

Fortec Motorsport
6
0
0
0
0
56
11th
2011

Formula Renault UK

Atech Reid GP
20
0
0
0
0
251
10th

Formula Renault UK Finals Series

Atech Reid GP
6
0
0
0
3
136

2nd
2012

Formula Pilota China
KCMG
18
3
3
3
9
179

2nd


Personal life


Wells was educated at La Retraite Swan in Salisbury, where he got seven A*’s and four A’s at his GCSE. He was also Top 10 in the UK for Politics and Economics at Peter Symonds College in Winchester.


He enjoys fitness, including hiking, spinning, running, weight work and pilates. He also likes learning about driving, philosophy and nutrition.



References





  1. ^ "Dan Wells Profile". Dan Wells official website. 5 December 2011. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "Drivers set for RSF FRUK seat battle". Racing Steps Foundation. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2012.


  3. ^ Paice, Simon (14 November 2011). "Atech Reid GP Celebrate Finals Series Success With Wells". The Checkered Flag. Black Eagle Media Network. Retrieved 30 April 2012.


  4. ^ Paice, Simon (19 March 2012). "Formula Renault UK Axed for 2012". The Checkered Flag. Black Eagle Media Network. Retrieved 30 April 2012.


  5. ^ Paice, Simon (28 March 2012). "Wells announces Asian adventure for 2012". The Checkered Flag. Black Eagle Media Network. Retrieved 30 April 2012.




External links



  • Official website


  • Dan Wells on Twitter Edit this at Wikidata


  • Dan Wells career summary at DriverDB.com




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