Daniel Clos Álvarez (born 23 October 1988) is a Spanish professional racecar driver who was, in 2012, the test driver for the now defunct
HRT Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team.
Career
Karting
Born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Clos was a fairly successful karter at the
ICA Junior level of karting, winning firstly the Catalan district of the Spanish ICA Junior Championship in 2001, beating a field including the brother of former
Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...
rival
Daniel Campos-Hull
Daniel Campos-Hull (born 3 August 1989 in Barcelona) is a Spanish race car driver. His father is Spanish and his mother English.
Career
Campos-Hull began his career in open wheel motor racing in 2006, racing mostly in the German Formula BMW and I ...
, Oliver. Success continued in 2002, when Dani won the Copa Campeones Trophy and finished 10th in the Italian Open Masters, against a top-quality field of drivers including
Nico Hülkenberg
Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the ye ...
,
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
,
Nelson Panciatici
Nelson Panciatici (born 26 September 1988) is a French professional racing driver.
Career
Karting
Born in Reims, Panciatici started his karting career in 1998 and continued until 2004.[Oliver Oakes
Oliver "Oli" Oakes is a British former racing driver, entrepreneur and team principal and director of Hitech GP. He was the 2005 World Karting champion, and was once a part of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Oakes moved into team management when he ...]
and Buemi's cousin
Natacha Gachnang
Natacha Gachnang (born 27 October 1987 in Vevey, Switzerland) is a Swiss race driver and the cousin of former Formula One driver Sébastien Buemi. In 2010 she was a member of the first all-female crew to race at Le Mans 24 hours since 1991 and she ...
amongst others.
2003 was by far and away his best year of karting, winning both the prestigious Andrea Margutti Trophy equipped with an MGM Racing Birel beating
Miguel Molina and
Jules Bianchi
Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French motor racing driver who drove for the Marussia F1 Team in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
Bianchi had previously raced in Formula Renault 3.5, GP2 and Form ...
to the flag, and the Spanish ICA Junior Championship, along with placings of 6th in the Italian Open Masters and 11th in the European Championship. 2004 saw a move up to
Formula A
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...
, but he decided to dovetail it with a campaign in the Formula Junior 1600 series in Spain. He would finish 36th in the Formula A European Championship, with a solitary point. He called time on his karting career after a 30th place in the 2005 Margutti Trophy.
Formula Junior 1600 Spain
Clos made the move into single-seaters in 2004, with a campaign in the Formula Junior 1600 championship. Clos adapted to the cars very well, and ended up a solid 4th place in the championship behind
Michael Herck
Michael Herck (born 4 August 1988 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-Belgian retired racing driver.
Career
Early life
Herck was adopted at the age of one and a half years by millionaire André Herck, a Belgian citizen born in Bucharest. Herck ...
,
Marco Barba
Marco Antonio Barba López (born 10 November 1985 in Seville) is a Spanish racing driver and brother to Álvaro Barba.
Career
Formula Junior 1600
Barba began his racing career in 2003 in the Spanish Formula Junior 1600 series, taking a single ...
and Arturo Llobell, with one win and four podiums along the way.
Formula Renault 2.0
After just one season racing at 1600cc
Formula Renault level, Dani moved up to the two litre cars, with a drive in both the
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Pons Racing, and the
Italian Formula Renault Championship
Formula Renault 2.0 Italia was a Formula Renault 2.0 racing series that is based in Italy. The series raced mostly on Italian races but it had regular races at Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and in Spain.
Several Formula One drivers ra ...
for Facondini Racing. Clos struggled in the pan-European championship, failing to record a finish inside the top ten placings all season. His best finish came during the 11th round of the championship, at
Donington Park when he recorded an 11th-place finish. He was slightly more successful in the Italian series despite missing three races due to Eurocup commitments, finishing sixteenth in the championship with 28 points beating teammate Oliver Campos-Hull in the process. His best finishes were a pair of sevenths, coming at
Imola
Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...
in round three, and also at
Spa during round six. Clos would return to both series for a second season in 2006.
Clos moved to Jenzer Motorsport for both campaigns in 2006, hoping to give him a little more success than what he had for his previous two teams in 2005. His European campaign landed him in seventh place overall in a tightly-contested
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
. He won three races, second only to champion
Filipe Albuquerque
Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving a Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Cham ...
's tally of four, and these wins came in succession – doing the double at
Istanbul Park and winning the first race at
Misano. He had originally done the double at Misano, which would have taken his tally to four in succession, however he was disqualified due to his car's diffuser height not complying with Eurocup regulations. This handed
Chris van der Drift
Christopher Jason van der Drift (born 8 March 1986) is a New Zealand racing driver of Dutch descent.
Career
Van der Drift started karting at the age of 7 and in 1994 he raced his first year in cadets. From there he went on to win 6 New Zealand ...
his first victory of the 2006 season.
In the Italian championship, Clos got off to a steady start with a second and two third places in the first six races which at the time of the Spa round in early June, Clos was already some way behind championship leader
Adrian Zaugg, who had won five of the first six races, and had finished third in the race that he didn't win. However, the rest of the season belonged to Clos. He won eight of the last nine races to overhaul Zaugg and win the championship by 36 points in the end. He recorded four double victories at Spa,
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...
, Misano and
Monza and finished second in the single-race meeting at
Varano.
Formula Three Euroseries
After his title win, Dani moved up to the
Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...
for the
2007 season, signing up to drive for Signature-Plus. Clos had a solid, yet unspectacular first season with a championship position of 13th, with thirteen points. His best result was a fourth place during the reverse-grid round sixteen in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
– the race now infamous with one of the biggest startline crashes in Euroseries history, in which nine cars were eliminated. He also finished fifteenth during the
Masters of Formula 3
The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Zolder. Howe ...
event at
Zolder
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
History
Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...
, finishing some four seconds behind the eventual Euroseries champion
Romain Grosjean
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional Auto racing, racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously ...
and some 42 seconds behind winner Hülkenberg.
Clos returned to the series for a second season in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, this time moving to Prema Powerteam. However, he ended up one place lower than what he was in 2007, finishing 14th with a total of 16.5 points. He only recorded six points-scoring finishes during the season, two of which were podium finishes coming at
Pau (3rd) and 2nd in the rain-shortened race at
Le Mans. He would have finished level on points with
Jon Lancaster
Jon Lancaster (born 10 December 1988 in Leeds) is a British auto racing driver.
Career
Early life and karting
Lancaster was born on 10 December 1988 in Leeds, Yorkshire. He used to watch Formula One since he was three years old and always lik ...
on 19 points had he been awarded 5 points rather than 2.5 at Le Mans. He also recorded a fastest lap in round 2 at Hockenheim, and started round 4 at
Mugello
The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...
from pole, thanks to the reverse-grid system.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Clos made his debut in Formula Renault 3.5 Series at
Le Mans for
Epsilon Euskadi
EPIC Racing (Euskadi Phil Imanol Claudio Racing) was a racing team from Spain. The team's headquarters were located in Vitoria ( Alava). It was the second major motorsport team from the Basque Country, (Euskadi). Epsilon Euskadi was the big ...
, replacing
Adrián Vallés
Adrián Vallés Escortell (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish race car driver.
Career
Vallés was born in Teulada, Alicante. After a strong karting career, he drove in Spanish Formula Three, before moving to the World Series by Nissan in 2004. Th ...
, who was busy driving the
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
car in
Superleague Formula at
Zolder
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
History
Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...
. In his first race, he moved from 20th on the grid, to finish tenth and pick up a championship point. He also picked up the bonus point for progressing the most spots during the race, with ten. He continued in the series at the
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
The Algarve International Circuit ( pt, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road tra ...
, picking up a point for qualifying third in his group. A ninth-place finish was his best result of the weekend, which also included an incident with teammate
Chris van der Drift
Christopher Jason van der Drift (born 8 March 1986) is a New Zealand racing driver of Dutch descent.
Career
Van der Drift started karting at the age of 7 and in 1994 he raced his first year in cadets. From there he went on to win 6 New Zealand ...
. He was replaced by
Keisuke Kunimoto
is a Japanese/Zainichi Korean race car driver who races with Japanese racing license.
His mother is Japanese. His father, Yoshihiro Ri, also known as Yoshihiro Kunimoto, is the 1983 All Japan Karting Champion and his uncle, Yoshihiko Ri, won s ...
for the final two rounds.
GP2 Series
![D Clos Monza 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/D_Clos_Monza_2011.jpg)
Having tested for both
GP2 Series
The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...
teams and ones in the
Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Clos was signed by the
Racing Engineering
Racing Engineering is a Spanish racing team founded in 1999 by Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. The team's headquarters are located in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near Jerez, where all car prep ...
team for the
2009 GP2 Series on 8 February 2009. He scored his first points and podium in the final race at the
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
The Algarve International Circuit ( pt, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road tra ...
, ending up 21st overall. In the off-season, he contested two rounds of the
GP2 Asia Series
The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 series.
The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It ...
for
Trident Racing
Trident Racing is a motor racing team that competes in single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 championship, which was Europe's second highest-ranking single-seater formula below Formula One. Trident is ...
. He continued with Racing Engineering into the
2010 season. Clos became a regular podium contender in 2010, scoring points in every round and had one retirement at the
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
sprint race. He won his maiden GP2 race at the
Turkish sprint round, and as of the
Hungaroring
The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...
race occupied third in the championship. At the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
round of the championship, he suffered a compressed
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
in a collision at the start of the feature race, and did not take part in the sprint race. Clos has remained with Racing Engineering for the
2011 season; his teammates thus far have been
Christian Vietoris
Christian Vietoris (; ; born 1 April 1989) is a German racing driver. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, most recently for HWA Team. Vietoris has also been a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert Wi ...
and
Álvaro Parente
Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver.
Career
Early career
After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...
. The team also competed in the
GP2 Asia Series
The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 series.
The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It ...
for the first time, in which Clos, partnered with
Nathanaël Berthon
Nathanaël Berthon (born 1 July 1989 in Romagnat) is a professional racing driver from France.
Career
Karting
Berthon began his international karting career in 2006, with the highlights being a third-place finish in the Copa Campeones Trophy I ...
, scored a race win at
Imola
Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...
to finish ninth in the championship. In the main series, he finished ninth in the championship with a best finish of two second places.
Clos began the
2012 season without a drive, but was drafted into the
Barwa Addax
Addax, or Barwa Addax was a Spanish motorsport team owned by the bank Addax Capital, which competed in the GP2, GP3 and GP2 Asia Series.
Team history
GP2 Series
Barwa Addax was formed as a result of Alejandro Agag purchase of the Campos Rac ...
team after the first round of the championship, replacing
Josef Král
Josef Král (born 15 June 1990 in Dvůr Králové nad Labem) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic.
Career
Karting & early career
Král began his motorsport career in karting back in 1998, and during the following seven years h ...
and alongside
Johnny Cecotto
Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the you ...
. After four races in the seat, Král returned to take it back over.
In November 2014, it was announced Clos would be racing with
Arden International
Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently runs teams in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and F4 British Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship ...
alongside
Tio Ellinas
Eftihios "Tio" Ellinas (born 27 January 1992 in Larnaca, Cyprus) is a Cypriot race car driver. Ellinas began racing go-karts at the age of seven, and from 2003 - 2009 won 10 kart racing championships in Cyprus, in 2005 winning the ROK Cup Intern ...
for the
2015 season.
Formula One
Clos has been employed on a few occasions as a test driver for the
Williams F1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...
team, the first of these came in September 2008, when he participated in a day's testing at
Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...
in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. He tested again in December 2008 at the same circuit, for another day's testing.
Clos also took part in the Abu Dhabi young drivers' test on 15 November 2011 at the
Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina w ...
. He drove 68 laps in the
HRT F1 Team
HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group Th ...
's
F111 and ended the day 12th with a fastest time of 1’45.329.
On 13 February 2012, he was announced as the HRT F1 Team's test driver for the 2012 season. He made his race weekend début at the
Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
and again took part at the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Hungarian Grands Prix, driving
Narain Karthikeyan
Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (born 14 January 1977) is an Indian racing driver. He was the first Indian driver to compete in Formula One.
He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He has won multiple races in A1GP, British F ...
's car during the first free practice session on these occasions.
Racing record
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
(
key)
Complete GP2 Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Final results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One participations
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap)
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
Official websiteCareer statistics, from Driver Database*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clos, Dani
Living people
1988 births
GP2 Series drivers
Spanish racing drivers
Racing drivers from Barcelona
Formula 3 Euro Series drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
GP2 Asia Series drivers
World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers
Signature Team drivers
Prema Powerteam drivers
Racing Engineering drivers
Epsilon Euskadi drivers
Trident Racing drivers
Rapax Team drivers
Campos Racing drivers
MP Motorsport drivers
Pons Racing drivers
Jenzer Motorsport drivers