Danny Watts

Danny Watts
Born	(1979-12-31) December 31, 1979 Aylesbury, England
Occupation	Professional racing driver (retired)
Years active	1993–2017
Known for	British Formula Renault Champion, Le Mans Series driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner

Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver.

Career

Originating from Aylesbury, Watts embarked on his karting journey in 1993. Following five years in karting, he transitioned to single-seater racing in 1998, where he dominated the UK Formula First series by securing twelve victories. Additionally, he took part in the Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series before progressing to the main championship.

In 2000, Watts advanced to compete in the British Formula Renault Championship, partnering with teammate Kimi Räikkönen. He claimed the championship title in his third season, accumulating six race wins.

By 2003, Watts had moved up to the British Formula 3 Championship with HiTech Racing, where he earned his inaugural series triumph at Castle Combe Circuit. The following year, he made history by becoming the first driver in over a decade to win a British F3 race driving a chassis other than a Dallara.

Unable to secure a full-time Formula 3 drive in 2005, Watts participated intermittently across multiple racing categories. In 2006, he made a brief return to F3 with Double R Racing at Thruxton Circuit, achieving a dominant victory. That same year, he competed in the Porsche Carrera Cup for Redline Racing, initially sharing the seat with Richard Westbrook. After an impressive streak of eight consecutive wins, Watts assumed full-time driving duties.

In 2007, Watts joined Team LNT for the Le Mans Series, piloting a Panoz Esperante GT-LM. He also took part in rookie sessions for A1 Team Great Britain during the 2007/8 season.

The following year, in 2008, Watts signed with SAS Lechner Racing to compete in the Porsche Supercup series, which supports Formula One events. Representing A1 Team Great Britain, he secured third place finishes in both sprint and feature races held at Chengdu.

For the 2009 season, Watts drove for Strakka Racing in both the Le Mans Series and the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans event aboard a Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S. Notably, he earned overall pole position during the Le Mans Series opener in Barcelona on Strakka's LMP1 debut.

Continuing with Strakka Racing into 2010 as they transitioned to LMP2 using an HPD ARX-01c, Watts achieved a class victory at Le Mans and finished fifth overall.

Personal life

Following his retirement from professional racing, Watts publicly disclosed his sexual orientation as gay in 2017. He was formerly married to Fiona Leggate, with whom he shares one son.

Helmet

The color scheme of Watts' helmet pays tribute to his allegiance to Oxford United F.C..

Career summary

2003 British Formula 3 International Series
2003 Masters of Formula 3
2003 Macau Grand Prix
Korea Super Prix | Hitech Grand Prix
Hitech Grand Prix
Hitech Grand Prix
Alan Docking Racing | 22
1
1
1 | 1
0
0
0 | 3
0
0
0 | 2
0
0
0 | 5
0
0
0 | 125
0
0
0 | 5th
23rd
10th
9th | 2004 British Formula Three Championship
2004 Masters of Formula 3
Formula 3 European Cup
2004 Japanese Formula 3 Championship
Walter Hayes Trophy | OAK Racing#Promatecme
OAK Racing#Promatecme
-
M-TEC
- | 21
1
1
3
1 | 1
0
0
0
0 | 1
0
0
0
0 | -
-
-
-
- | 4
0
0
0
0 | 139
0
012
- | 6th<br10th <br5th <br15th <brstyle="background:#DFDFDF;" | 2nd| 2005 British Formula Three Championship
2005 Formula 3 Euro Series
2005 Macau Grand Prix
2005 Formula Renault 3.5 Series| Alan Docking Racing
HBR Motorsport
Team Midland Euroseries
EuroInternational| 2
2
1
2| 0
0
0
0| 0
0
0
0| -
-
-
-| 1
-
-
-| 23
0
-
-| 13th
NC
NC
NC| 2006 British Formula Three Championship
2006 Porsche Supercup
2006 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
British GT Championship| Double R Racing#Räikkönen Robertson Racing
Irwin Industrial Tools#IRWIN Redline Racing (x2)
Gates GR Asia
?| 1
1 +16 +1 +?| 1
6 +? +? +?| -
6 +? +? +?| 1
11 +? +? +?| -
250 +? +? +15 ?| NC
7th (Porsche Carrera Cup GB) +7th (British GT) ?| Le Mans Series (LMS) LMGT2
24 Hours of Le Mans LMGT2] American Le Mans Series LMP2] Porsche Carrera Cup Asia]| Team LNT (x2)<refs> Zytek Motorsports Team LNT ?| 4 +1 +1 +?| - - - -| - - - -| - - - -| 5 +19 +16 + NC ?| 19th NC NC NC ?| Porsche Supercup] [American Le Mans Series] [Aston Martin Asia Cup] [Macau GT Cup Grand Prix] [A1 Grand Prix season] A1 Team Great Britain] | SAS Lechner Racing Team LNT Noble Group/GR Asia Team Road & Track A1 Team Great Britain] | 12 +1 +2 +1 +6 | - - - - - | - - - - - | - - - - - | 90 + NC NC NC +28 | 9th NC NC 2nd NC 10th | Le Mans Series x Strakka Racing x Strakka Racing x SC Global Racing x Team Road & Track | 5+1+?-+?-+? | -|- -|- -|- FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 x Strakka Racing | 8+1 | -|- 2016

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F.Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1998	Formula First Great Britain	Mark Burdett Motorsport	?	12	12	?	?	?	1st
	Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series	?	4	0	?	?	3	80	3rd
1999	Formula Palmer Audi	?	14	0	0	1	0	42	22nd
2000	Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup	Manor Motorsport	?	0	0	0	1	20	16th
	Formula Renault 2.0 UK		11	1	1	0	3	153	10th
2001	Formula Renault 2.0 UK	Falcon Motorsport	13	2	0	1	4	253	3rd
2002	Formula Renault 2.0 UK	Fortec Motorsport	13	6	4	5	11	333	1st
	1		0	0	0	0	0	NC
	EYHOB Motorsport	1	1	0	0	1	0	1st
	Porsche Cars Great Britain	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
16th 14th NC 3rd
8th NC
FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 x Strakka Racing | 3+1 | -|-	15th 4th

Full Porsche Supercup Results

(legend) (Events highlighted in bold denote pole position – with 2 points awarded starting from 2008) (Events in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final Standing	Points
2006	IRWIN Redline Racing	BHR	ITA	GER	ESP	MON	GBR 22	USA	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	ITA	NC‡	0‡
2008	SAS Lechner Racing	BHR 6	BHR 7	ESP 6	TUR 7	MON 19	FRA 5	GBR 2	GER 27	HUN 4	ESP 21†	BEL 26†	ITA 10	9th	91

† – Classified despite not finishing (completed over 90% of race distance). ‡ – Participated as a guest driver, points not awarded.

24 Hours of Le Mans Performance

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Category	Laps Completed	Overall Position	Class Position
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Team LNT	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Tom Kimber-Smith Tommy Milner	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	GT2	60	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis Template:Flagicon:GBR Peter Hardman	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S	LMP1	325	21st	14th
Template:24hLM:2010	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	HPD ARX-01C	LMP2	367	5th	1st
Template:24hLM:2011	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	HPD ARX-01d	LMP2	144	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM:2012	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	HPD ARX-03a	LMP1	303	30th	8th
Template:24hLM:2013	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	HPD ARX-03c	LMP1	332	6th	6th
Template:24hLM:2015	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	Strakka Dome S103-Nissan	LMP2	264	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM:2016	Template:Flagicon:GBR Strakka Racing	Template:Flagicon:GBR Jonny Kane Template:Flagicon:GBR Nick Leventis	Gibson 015S-Nissan	LMP2	351	8th	4th

Full A1 Grand Prix Performance

(legend) (Events in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics indicate fastest lap)

Season	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final Position	Total Points
2008–09	Great Britain	NED SPR	NED FEA	CHN SPR 3rd	CHN FEA 3rd	MYS SPR Retired	MYS FEA 16th	NZL SPR	NZL FEA	RSA SPR Retired	RSA FEA 7th	POR SPR	POR FEA	GBR SPR	GBR FEA	10th overall	28 points

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship Performance

Year	Team	Category	Vehicle	Power Unit	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Event 4	Event 5	Event 6	Event 7	Event 8	Event 9	Standing	Points Accumulated
2012	Strakka Racing	LMP1 Class	HPD ARX-03a	Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 Engine	2012 12 Hours of Sebring 8th	2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 6th	2012 24 Hours of Le Mans 22nd	2012 6 Hours of Silverstone 5th	2012 6 Hours of São Paulo 5th	2012 6 Hours of Bahrain 3rd	2012 6 Hours of Fuji 6th	2012 6 Hours of Shanghai 6th		Ranked 7th	Totaled 64 points

Year	Team	Category	Vehicle	Power Unit	Selected Outcomes	Overall Rank	Points Scored
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship	Strakka Racing	LMP1 Category	HPD ARX-03c	Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8	Retired at Silverstone Completed Le Mans in sixth place Other events finished mid-field	15th position	22 points

Year ! Team ! Category ! Vehicle ! Power Unit ! Select Results ! Final Standing ! Points Earned
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship	Strakka Racing	LMP2 Category	Dome S103	Nissan VK45DE V8 Engine	Achieved podium (3rd) at Silverstone Retired at Le Mans Regular top-seven finishes in other rounds	8th place overall	63 points total

Year ! Team ! Category ! Vehicle ! Power Unit ! Selected Performances ! Final Ranking ! Points Total
2016 FIA World Endurance Championship	Strakka Racing	LMP2 Category	Gibson 015S	Nissan VK45DE V8 Engine	Strong fourth place at Le Mans Did not finish at Spa Varied outcomes throughout the season	15th in standings	34 points accumulated

External links

• danny-watts.com