Daniel Welch (racing driver)

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Daniel Welch
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1982-07-17) 17 July 1982 (age 41)
Aldershot, England
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season2011
Current teamTrade Price Cars with Brisky Racing
Car number17
Former teamsWelch Motorsport
Starts143
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish15th in 2012
Previous series
2010
2010
20092010
2009
20072008
2001–2006
Britcar 24hr
SEAT León Supercopa
SEAT León Eurocup
Ginetta G50 Cup
SEAT Cupra Championship
Formula Renault UK

Daniel John Welch (born 17 July 1982) is a British racing driver. During his career he has mostly driven for his family team, Welch Motorsport. He drove in the British Touring Car Championship from 2011 to 2016. He is the son of former British rallycross driver John Welch.

Racing career[edit]

Born in Aldershot, Hampshire, Welch first began racing in the Formula Renault UK series, but never completed a full season. In 2007, he switched to tin tops, racing in the SEAT Cupra Championship. He raced SEATs for the next few years in several one-make championships, taking two wins in the British SEAT Cupra Championship.

British Touring Car Championship[edit]

Welch Motorsport (2011–2016)[edit]

Daniel Welch in his NGTC Proton Persona during the 2013 BTCC Snetterton GP.

In 2011, he stepped up to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, once again driving for his family team in a Proton Gen-2, built to the then-new NGTC regulations.[1] He competed in the final half of the season from Snetterton onwards, finishing 22nd in the Drivers' Championship, having secured his first BTCC point at the penultimate race of the season at Silverstone.

Welch continued to race in the BTCC in 2012. He had his best weekend of the season at Oulton Park, finishing 6th in Race 1 and then holding off Matt Neal to claim 4th in Race 2. For this he won the HiQ Champagne Moment award, as voted for by fans.[2] Welch finished the season 15th in the Drivers' Championship.

Welch and his team continued to compete in the BTCC in 2013,[3] finishing 18th in the Drivers' Championship with a best result of 6th at Knockhill. Welch finished 32nd in the 2014 Drivers' Championship after a disappointing season in which the team struggled with their new self-built engines.

After a difficult 2015 season, Welch revealed plans to sell their pair of Proton Gen-2 cars at the end of the season.[4]

Racing record[edit]

Racing career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2000 Formula Vauxhall N/A ? ? ? ? ? 88 4th
2001 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Falcon Motorsport 7 0 0 0 0 57 21st
2002 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Cliff Dempsey Racing 2 0 0 0 0 8 33rd
Welch Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0
2003 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Welch Motorsport 13 0 0 0 0 47 22nd
2004 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Paston Racing 2 0 0 0 0 23 33rd
Welch Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0
Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom Aurok Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 17 26th
2005 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Welch Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 84 16th
2006 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Welch Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 9 31st
2007 SEAT Cupra Championship Welch Motorsport 20 2 2 3 6 153.5 5th
2008 24 Hours of Dubai - A6 Team RPM 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 15th
SEAT Cupra Championship Welch Motorsport 20 0 0 2 4 183 6th
2009 SEAT León Supercopa Spain Welch Motorsport 13 0 0 0 0 13 19th
Ginetta G50 Cup 3 1 3 2 3 96 16th
SEAT León Eurocup 2 0 0 0 0 0 26th
2010 24 Hours of Dubai - A3T Strategic Transport Racing 1 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
SEAT León Eurocup Welch Motorsport 2 1 1 0 1 10 15th
SEAT León Supercopa Spain 16 0 0 0 0 36 13th
2011 British Touring Car Championship Welch Automotive 15 0 0 0 0 1 22nd
2012 British Touring Car Championship Welch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp 25 0 0 0 0 79 15th
2013 British Touring Car Championship Welch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp 27 0 0 0 0 72 18th
2014 British Touring Car Championship STP Racing with Sopp & Sopp 25 0 0 0 0 -40 32nd
2015 24H Series - 997 STP Racing
24 Hours of Dubai - 997 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A
British Touring Car Championship Welch Motorsport 19 0 0 0 0 1 29th
2016 British Touring Car Championship Goodestone Racing 29 0 0 0 0 23 23rd
2018 British Touring Car Championship Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 35th
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain - Pro-Am Welch Motorsport 4 0 1 0 4 28 7th

Complete British Touring Car Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race; races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races; * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Pos Pts
2011 Welch Automotive Proton Gen-2 BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
SNE
1

22
SNE
2

18
SNE
3

19
KNO
1

NC
KNO
2

16
KNO
3

12
ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

14
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

DSQ
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

10
SIL
3

14
22nd 1
2012 Welch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp Proton Persona BRH
1

17
BRH
2

11
BRH
3

Ret
DON
1

12
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

8
THR
1

DNS
THR
2

DNS
THR
3

DNS
OUL
1

6
OUL
2

4
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

17
CRO
3

10
SNE
1

5
SNE
2

17
SNE
3

12
KNO
1

12
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

12
ROC
1
ROC
2
ROC
3
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

8
SIL
3

14
BRH
1

16
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

Ret
15th 79
2013 Welch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp Proton Persona BRH
1

11
BRH
2

14
BRH
3

12
DON
1

NC
DON
2

15
DON
3

11
THR
1

14
THR
2

Ret
THR
3

11
OUL
1

14
OUL
2

9
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

17
CRO
2

11
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1

17
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

20
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

11
KNO
3

6
ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

DNS
ROC
3

DNS
SIL
1

13
SIL
2

9
SIL
3

10
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

NC
BRH
3

19
18th 72
2014 STP Racing with Sopp & Sopp Proton Persona BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1

21
DON
2

19
DON
3

21
THR
1

21
THR
2

24
THR
3

24
OUL
1

27
OUL
2

20
OUL
3

23
CRO
1

24
CRO
2

21
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

21
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

DNS
ROC
1

24
ROC
2

21
ROC
3

16
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

Ret
SIL
3

Ret
BRH
1

21
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

DNS
32nd −40
2015 Welch Motorsport Proton Persona BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

DNS
THR
1

DNS
THR
2

DNS
THR
3

DNS
OUL
1

20
OUL
2

17
OUL
3

15
CRO
1

23
CRO
2

20
CRO
3

21
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
KNO
1

21
KNO
2

18
KNO
3

22
ROC
1

21
ROC
2

19
ROC
3

Ret
SIL
1

18
SIL
2

18
SIL
3

Ret
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

DNS
28th 1
2016 Goodestone Racing Proton Persona BRH
1

15
BRH
2

12
BRH
3

20
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

24
THR
1

9
THR
2

9
THR
3

Ret
OUL
1

20
OUL
2

24
OUL
3

17
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

Ret
CRO
3

17
SNE
1

17
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

DNS
KNO
1

21
KNO
2

20
KNO
3

14
ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

Ret
SIL
1

21
SIL
2

14
SIL
3

25
BRH
1

22
BRH
2

27
BRH
3

Ret
23rd 23
2018 Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing Volkswagen CC BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
SNE
1

21
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

19
ROC
1
ROC
2
ROC
3
KNO
1
KNO
2
KNO
3
SIL
1
SIL
2
SIL
3
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
37th 0

24 Hours of Silverstone results[edit]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Car No. Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2010 United Kingdom Strategic Racing / John Welch Motorsport Australia Brent Niall
Australia Malcolm Niall
Australia Clint Harvey
SEAT Leon Supercopa 44 3 536 7th 3rd

References[edit]

  1. ^ Meissner, Johan (16 February 2011). "BTCC: Welch Motorsport plans Proton NGTC entry". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Oh, Danny Boy, the fans are calling you!". HiQ. Goodyear Dunlop Tyres (UK) Limited. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  3. ^ "A Very Wet Brands Hatch". WelchMotorsport.com. Welch Motorsport. 24 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Welch Motorsport put Proton cars up for sale". Andrew Abbott. TouringCars.Net. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

External links[edit]