Ryan Sharp

Ryan Sharp
Ryan Sharp
Born	April 29, 1979 (age 47); Newtonhill, Scotland
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, team principal
Years active	2001–2017
Known for	2003 German Formula Renault champion; FIA GT Championship competitor; director of Hitech Racing

Ryan Sharp (born 29 April 1979 in Newtonhill, Scotland) is a former Scottish racing driver and team principal. In 2007, he participated in the FIA GT Championship driving the lead No. 33 Aston Martin DBR9 for JetAlliance Racing, partnering with ex-Formula One competitor Karl Wendlinger. Sharp secured the title in the 2003 German Formula Renault series and currently serves as the director of Hitech Racing.

Career history

Sharp’s motorsport journey began with success in Karting, where he claimed multiple local and national victories. His initial entry into car racing was supported by Dutch entrepreneur Klass Zwart, who financed his debut season in Junior Formula Ford. Despite financial constraints, Sharp demonstrated steady advancement, moving up to the Formula Renault Championship in 2002—a step up from Formula Ford due to the introduction of aerodynamic components such as wings and slick tires.

Formula Renault

During his rookie year in the UK Formula Renault with John Village Automotive, Sharp secured sixth place in the championship. Interestingly, his consistent point-scoring actually lowered his overall ranking because of the series' rule requiring drivers to discard their lowest score, unlike rivals who eliminated zero-point rounds.

In 2003, Sharp competed for Jenzer Motorsport in the German Formula Renault championship, ultimately clinching the title with a 40-point margin. At the Formula Renault Masters event held at Donington Park, he won the opening race and finished third in the second race following a red flag interruption. Notably, Sharp outpaced British driver Lewis Hamilton by winning both races while Hamilton finished ninth and eighth respectively.

Sharp also took part in an Italian Formula Renault round at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium—one of the most fiercely contested Renault championships. Despite encountering unfamiliar wet track conditions, he dominated race one with a 12-second victory and was leading race two until a mistake led to vehicle damage and a retirement.

Formula Renault V6

In 2004, Sharp progressed to the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup series with Jenzer Motorsport. He had an impressive start by securing third and first place finishes during the opening weekend, followed by two second-place results in Valencia. Although he held a four-second lead late into one race, he lost pace on the final lap—a recurring issue attributed to his fitness level and lack of experience affecting tyre conservation. Drivers such as Damien Pasini and Robbie Kerr capitalized on these laps to overtake him. After four rounds, Sharp led the standings but encountered difficulties at Magny Cours and Monaco due to mechanical failures and personal setbacks. A poor outcome at Brno further diminished his championship advantage, culminating in a runner-up finish behind Swiss-French competitor Giorgio Mondini by 22 points.

GP2 Series

Sharp advanced to compete in the inaugural 2005 season of the GP2 Series with David Price Racing, who had been impressed by his prior achievements. The campaign started with technical troubles at Imola, while at Barcelona he was on course for a podium before car failure relegated him to last place on the grid for race two—where he managed to set the fastest lap and earn a point. Ongoing struggles were largely attributed to suboptimal car engineering and setup problems. As a result, Sharp departed GP2 mid-season and returned to Jenzer Motorsport for the concluding rounds of the Formula Renault 3.5L championship, where his performance improved significantly. This contrast highlighted both Jenzer Motorsport’s competitiveness and David Price Racing’s GP2 car deficiencies. His replacement at DPR, 2004 Formula Renault V6 champion Giorgio Mondini, similarly faced challenges adapting to the car’s limitations.

World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)

In 2006, Sharp competed as an Independent driver in the Yokohama Independent Trophy with the Italian squad JAS Motorsport during the World Touring Car Championship. He made history as the first Independent to achieve an overall podium finish by placing third in the opening race at Puebla, Mexico. Sharp secured multiple class wins, including a notable triumph in a rain-affected event at Brands Hatch, highlighting his proficiency in wet conditions. Although he was on course to claim second place in the standings behind Tom Coronel, financial limitations compelled him to skip the last three rounds—one of which offered double points—resulting in a loss of up to 80 possible points. He concluded the season by winning the European Touring Car Cup piloting a SEAT Leon for GR Asia.

FIA GT Championship

Sharp moved to the FIA GT Championship in 2007, joining Austrian team JetAlliance Racing during their sophomore competitive year. The season kicked off with a ninth-place finish at Zhuhai, followed by two fourth-place results at Silverstone and Bucharest. At Monza, Sharp and his teammate achieved a dramatic victory. However, their progress was hindered at Oschersleben when a collision forced an early retirement. During the Total 24 Hours of Spa, their car qualified second and led at the six-hour mark, securing half points before retiring soon after. The campaign ended on a high note with victories at Adria and Zolder, enabling Sharp and teammate Wendlinger to finish second in the championship, narrowly missing out on the title by four points to Tomas Biagi.

Later career

Following his retirement from professional racing cars, Sharp returned to British karting where he amassed multiple Scottish and British championships. He fully retired from competition in 2017 to dedicate his efforts toward supporting his son Aston’s burgeoning career in professional karting.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 UK results

(key) (Races shown in bold denote pole positions) (Races in italics indicate fastest laps)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	DC	Points
2001	Fortec Motorsports	BHI	THR	OUL	SIL	DON	KNO	SNE	CRO	OUL	SIL	SIL	DON 6	BGP	31st	18
2002	John Village Automotive	BRH 13	OUL 2	THR 7	SIL 5	THR 5	BRH 4	CRO 7	SNE 11	SNE 12	KNO 8	BRH 5	DON 16	DON 2	6th	211

Full Formula Renault 2.0 Germany Results

(key) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final Position	Total Points
2003	Jenzer Motorsport	OSC 1 3rd	OSC 2 4th	HOC 1 1st	HOC 2 1st	NÜR 1 1st	NÜR 2 2nd	SAL 1 1st	SAL 2 3rd	A1R 1 2nd	A1R 2 4th	OSC 1 10th	OSC 2 28th	LAU 1 1st	LAU 2 4th	Champion	300

Full Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Results

(key) (Pole positions are in bold) (Fastest laps shown in italics)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final Standing	Points Accumulated
2003	Jenzer Motorsport	VLL	VLL	MAG	SPA 1st	SPA Retired	A1R	A1R	MIS	MIS	VAR	ADR	MNZ	11th place	31 points

Full Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Results

(key) (Pole positions marked in bold) (Fastest laps indicated by italics)

Year	Team Entry	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Final Classification	Points Earned
2003	Jenzer Motorsport	BRN 1 6th	BRN 2 25th	ASS 1 2nd	ASS 2 6th	OSC 1 Retired	OSC 2 7th	DON 1 Winner	DON 2 3rd	5th overall	78 points

Full Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races shown in italics signify fastest laps)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final Position	Points Scored
2003	SRTS	CAT 1	CAT 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	MON	DON 1	DON 2	SPA1	SPA2 1	SPA2 2	SCA 1	SCA 2	OSC 1	OSC 2	EST 1	EST 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2		23rd	4
2004	Jenzer Motorsport	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	VAL 1	VAL 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	MON	MAS 1	MAS 2	DON 1	DON 2	SPA 1	'\'[[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps]\|SPA 2]] '1'	''IMO '1'' ''6''	''IMO '2'' ''3''	''OSC '1'' ''4''	''OSC '2'' ''2''	''DUB '1'' ''5''	''DUB '2'' ''10''	2nd	271

Full GP2 Series Results

( key) (Pole positions are shown in bold; fastest laps appear in italics)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	Final Standing	Points Total
2005	DPR	IMO FEA Ret	IMO SPR 14	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 16	MON FEA Ret	NÜR FEA 9	NÜR SPR 9	MAG FEA 19	MAG SPR Ret	SIL FEA Ret	SIL SPR NC	HOC FEA 11	HOC SPR 13	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	IST FEA	IST SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SPA FEA	[[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	SPA SPR ]] !23rd	2

Full Formula Renault 3.5 Series Results

(key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics denote fastest lap)

Year	Team Entrant	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10	Race 11	Race 12	Race 13	Race 14	Race 15	Race 16	Race 17	Final Classification	Points Accumulated
2005	Jenzer Motorsport	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	MON 1	VAL 1	VAL 2	LMS 1	LMS 2	BIL 1 "14"	BIL 2 "9"	OSC (1)< br >"9"	OSC (2)< br >"18†"	DON (1)< br >"16"	DON (2)< br >"Ret"	EST (1)< br >"24"	EST (2)< br >"Ret"	MNZ (1)< br >"Ret"	MNZ (2)< br >"7"	21st	8

^† Although the driver did not cross the finish line, classification was awarded after covering more than ninety percent of the race distance.

Full World Touring Car Championship Results

(get key) (Bold signifies pole position and italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Vehicle	Round 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Final Standing Points Total
2006	nowrap\| JAS Motorsport	nowrap\| Honda Accord Euro R	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| ITA Race 1< br >"18"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| ITA Race 2< br >"14"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| FRA Race 1< br >"22"	style="background:#efcfff;"\| FRA Race 2 RET< br >"Ret"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| GBR Race 1< br >"16"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| GBR Race 2< br >"13"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| GER Race 1< br >"25"	style="background:#cfcfff;"\| GER Race 2< br >"18"	(continued for remaining rounds) ...	21st	6

External links

Profile of Ryan Sharp on FIA GT