Dan Eaves

Dan Eaves
Dan Eaves
Born	June 3, 1975 (age 51); Worcestershire, England
Occupation	Auto racing competitor
Years active	1990–2009
Known for	British Touring Car Championship competitor (2000–2005, 2009)

Daniel John Eaves (born 3 June 1975 in Worcestershire) is a British auto racing competitor recognized for his participation in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) spanning from 2000 to 2005 and making a comeback in 2009. Over his career, he achieved six race victories, highlighted by a remarkable triple win at Thruxton in 2005, and attained his highest championship ranking of third place during that same season.

Career

Eaves initiated his motorsport journey in karting in 1990 before advancing to the Halfords MG Midget Challenge in 1994, where he secured third place. The following year, he improved to second position in the Caterham K Series Championship. His breakthrough came in 1998 when he claimed the Renault Spider Cup title, which led to a test opportunity with the Williams touring car squad and earned him the nickname "Spiderman" due to his commanding performances.

In 1999 and 2000, Eaves competed in the National Saloon Cup driving a Peugeot 306 for Bowman Motorsport, finishing fourth overall in both seasons. With the introduction of Class B for these vehicles in the BTCC during 2000, Bowman Motorsport entered two rounds under the Touring Car VIP Club banner. After Vic Lee Racing assumed control, Eaves was retained to drive the factory Peugeot entry—a Peugeot 406 coupe—in the 2001 BTCC season. Despite it being a transitional period for the championship, he achieved fifth place overall, surpassing seasoned teammate Steve Soper.

The following year, after Peugeot withdrew from the series but maintained Halfords sponsorship as an Independent outfit, Eaves captured the Independent class title, outperforming rivals such as former Superbike competitor Aaron Slight and teammate Tim Harvey. In 2003, piloting a Vic Lee Racing-prepared Peugeot 307 alongside Carl Breeze and Danny Buxton, he amassed several Independent class victories despite a challenging start to the campaign. When the team exited prior to the 2004 season, Eaves joined Team Dynamics behind the wheel of a Honda Civic, concluding the year eighth overall and earning his inaugural BTCC race triumph.

Remaining with Team Dynamics—operating under the Team Halfords name due to sponsorship—in 2005, Eaves drove a Honda Integra and secured five wins throughout the season. This included an unprecedented three successes at Thruxton and a victory in the final race at Croft Circuit. He ended the championship ranked third after an intense points battle with Yvan Muller and Jason Plato that culminated controversially following an incident involving all three drivers.

Although anticipated to continue as a principal support driver alongside Matt Neal in 2006, Eaves was replaced by Gordon Shedden owing to disagreements with team principal Steve Neal.

Plans were made for Eaves to join Clyde Valley Racing's bio-ethanol Chevrolet Lacetti program for the 2007 BTCC season; however, sponsorship complications postponed their debut until 2009. Returning to BTCC with Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing alongside Adam Jones in bio-ethanol SEAT Leon vehicles, Eaves withdrew mid-season due to resource constraints and performance issues. Financial challenges ultimately forced the team to cease competition.

Rumors of Eaves rejoining Team 888 for the 2013–14 seasons did not come to fruition.

Personal

Dan is married and has two children: a daughter born in 2007 and a son born in 2008.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(Legend) Events highlighted in bold denote pole position – a single point was granted for every race during 2001–2002, but from 2003 onwards, only for the initial race (in 2000, points were awarded per class). Events shown in italics represent fastest lap – one point awarded in all races (class-based in 2000). A * indicates the driver led for at least one lap – awarding one point (only for feature races in 2001–2002, and for all races from 2003 onward).

Year	Team	Vehicle	Category	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	16	17	18	21	23	24	25
2000	Touring Car V.I.P. Club	Peugeot 306 GTi	B	BRH 1	BRH 2	DON 1	DON 2	THR 1	THR 2	KNO 1	KNO 2	OUL 1	OUL 2	SIL 1	SIL 2					N/A	53	5th place
2001	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	T													5th place	115 points	–
2002	Team Halfords	Peugeot 406 Coupé	T										10th place	43 points	–
2003	Team Halfords	Peugeot 307	T						15th place	15 points	–
2004	Computeach Racing with Halfords	Honda Civic Type-R																	8th position 148 points –
2005	Team Halfords	Honda Integra Type-R									3rd overall 269 points –
2009	Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing	Seat León				17th overall 10 points

† Indicates an event where separate races were held for distinct classes.

External links