Dan Wells (racing driver)

Dan Wells (born 29 May 1991)^{[citation needed]} is a British racing driver from Salisbury.

Career[]

Karting[]

At the age of 18, having completed his studies at college, he gave up a university place^{[citation needed]} 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 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,^{[citation needed]} John Surtees and the late Martin Hines. Wells graduated to Formula Renault UK in late 2010, taking part in the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Cup.

Wells finished 5th in his first ever race weekend, lapping a tenth of a second off experienced team mate Alex Lynn. In the second weekend, Wells 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, 22 shy of 7th place, with a best result of 4th at Rockingham and Brands Hatch.

In the Formula Renault UK Final Series, 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 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] Wells 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 his second weekend in the series. Wells ran in a one car debut team for the majority of the year. He took a total of three wins, lined up on pole position three times, and took nine podiums from the 18 race series with series debutantes KCMG. He moved to Hong Kong with 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.^{[citation needed]}

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

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.^{[citation needed]}

He enjoys fitness, including hiking, spinning, running, weight work and plates and romantic walks on the beach. He also likes learning about driving, philosophy and nutrition.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Dan Wells career summary at DriverDB.com