A British touring car and endurance driver whose career ran from junior single-seaters to an LMP2 win at Le Mans, a SPEED Euroseries title and later coaching work.
English driver Warren Hughes, born 19 January 1969, won LMP2 honours at Le Mans in 2005, the 2011 SPEED Euroseries and the 2012 British GT4 title. He now spends most of his working time coaching drivers, including work for McLaren programmes.
Warren Hughes is an English racing driver who has competed in the British Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT1 World Championship and the Le Mans Series. He took LMP2 honours at Le Mans in 2005, and later he added Euroseries and British GT4 crowns before moving mainly into coaching.
Who is Warren Hughes and where did his career start?
Warren Hughes is an English racing driver born on 19 January 1969. He started in British Formula Ford Junior 1600 in 1989, and his debut finish of third place was notable for placing him ahead of David Coulthard. The following year he won the Junior FF1600 series outright.
In 1991 he ended as runner-up in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus championship with Team JLR, having taken three race wins. He also finished second in the Formula Ford Festival that year, after tenth place in the 1989 edition.
Hughes also tested for Lotus and Williams in Formula One while he was in single-seater cars, although he did not become a full-time test driver with Williams.
A driver who won in single-seaters, touring cars, sportscars and GT, and who now shares that experience as a coach.
Formula 3 and Japan, 1992 to 1995
Hughes moved up to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1992, finishing seventh for Edenbridge Racing and eighth at the Masters of Formula 3. The following season he took fourth overall for Richard Arnold Developments, while also trying the German Formula Three Championship and the Macau Grand Prix.
In 1994 he split his time between British F3 and Japanese racing, running HKS entries in the All-Japan series. He also took part in a Formula One test for Lotus during the year.
He went back to British F3 full-time in 1995 with Alan Docking Racing. Once again he finished fourth overall, and he placed eleventh at Macau for HKS, and he retired at the Masters of Formula 3.
How did Warren Hughes win the MGF Cup in 1999?
Warren Hughes became 1999 MGF Cup champion, with seven victories from 14 races and 11 fastest laps. He had finished fourth again in British F3 the year before, and in 1999 he also drove two British F3 races for Ralt while his main programme ran in the MGF series.
After that title he switched to a different category the next season.
In 2000 he moved into the Italian Formula 3000 Championship with Arden Team Russia and finished as runner-up. He was off the podium in only three races all season.
That same year he also debuted in British GT, racing a Porsche 911 GT3-R for Cirtek Motorsport. He finished fifth at Thruxton alongside John Cleland, while a later trip to Oulton Park with Adam Simmons ended in retirement.
How did Warren Hughes's MG years go in 2001 to 2003?
Warren Hughes became a factory MG driver in 2001, with the MG teams run by West Surrey Racing. He started the year at Le Mans, where the new MG-Lola EX257 lasted just 30 laps. He then drove the MG ZS in the BTCC, and his best result of the season was fifth in race two at Silverstone.
The team entered the championship late and could not score points that year. Hughes did take the team's first pole position at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, and Anthony Reid won the penultimate race of the season for the team.
The 2002 campaign saw MG line up from the opening round, with Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington among the drivers hired. Hughes won two races that season, one more than Reid, but he finished sixth overall. The Vauxhall Astra coupes were the benchmark, and the MGs rarely matched them, even though the Astras often suffered engine failures.
In that Le Mans event Hughes was once more out of the race, this time because of gearbox failure after 129 laps. The 2003 season brought a three-car MG operation in the BTCC and no Le Mans entry. Hughes finished seventh overall with one win, and when MG withdrew at the end of the year he left the team for financial reasons.
When did Warren Hughes win the 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class?
Warren Hughes won the LMP2 category at Le Mans in 2005, sharing an RML Group car with Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton. It was his first appearance at Le Mans in three years, and his two earlier entries there had both ended in retirement.
The years before that result were uneven. In 2004 he had no regular drive, but he entered British GT at Oulton Park for Gruppe M Racing and took the victory in race two. He then tried the Spa 24 Hours, which ended with gearbox failure after 301 laps, and two Le Mans Series rounds with a TVR Tuscan.
The 2005 season started with Team LNT at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where engine failure forced both TVRs out. The results improved in the summer, with a second place at Donington in the British GT season and a class victory at the 1000 km of Spa, where Jonny Kane was his partner.
Le Mans was the standout result of that season. Afterwards the squad went back to the Le Mans Series, but the Spa class win remained its only success. Hughes and Kane ended the season 11th in class, despite several retirements in the remaining rounds.
Did Warren Hughes race in Formula One?
Warren Hughes did not race in Formula One. He carried out test sessions for Lotus and Williams while still in single-seaters, and in 2000 Williams opted for Marc Gene as its test driver rather than offering Hughes a full-time role. He remained in sportscar racing and touring cars from then on.
His other results came in the BTCC, the Le Mans Series and the FIA GT1 World Championship, where he competed across several seasons.
Career results at a glance
| Year | Series | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Junior FF1600 | Series winner | Won the British series the year after his debut |
| 1999 | MGF Cup | Champion | Seven wins from 14 races |
| 2000 | Italian Formula 3000 | Runner-up | Drove for Arden Team Russia |
| 2002 | British Touring Car Championship | Sixth overall | Two race wins for MG |
| 2005 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | LMP2 class winner | RML Group, with Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton |
| 2006 | 24 Hours of Daytona | 22nd overall | Crawford DP03-Lexus, his only Daytona start |
| 2010 | FIA GT1 World Championship | Race win | RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone with Sumo Power GT |
| 2011 | SPEED Euroseries | Champion | Team WFR, with Jody Firth |
| 2012 | British GT4 | Champion | Ginetta G50 with Jody Fannin |
| 2021 | Gulf 12 Hours | Third in class | GT4 McLaren in Bahrain |
How did Warren Hughes win the 2012 British GT4 title?
Warren Hughes won the 2012 British GT4 championship with Jody Fannin in a Ginetta G50 run by Team WFR. The pair won eight of their ten races and finished 84.25 points clear of Zoe Wenham, the nearest rival. It was the title that followed a busy year of endurance entries.
That year was difficult in the major endurance events. Murphy Prototypes ran an Oreca 03-Nissan for Hughes, Firth and Brendon Hartley at Le Mans, where suspension failure after 196 laps forced a retirement from a strong position.
In the European Le Mans Series the debut at Castellet ended with the car catching fire. The team scored its only points of the season with a podium at Donington's 6 Hours event, and at the Petit Le Mans an electronics failure ended the race after 330 laps.
How did Warren Hughes return to GT1 and endurance racing in 2010?
In 2010 Hughes raced in several series. He drove three FIA GT1 World Championship rounds for Sumo Power GT, taking a victory at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone, and he finished seventh in class at Le Mans the same year.
His first Le Mans finish since 2005 came with Quifel-ASM, alongside Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla. He finished 20th overall, though the race contained an accident and a driveshaft failure along the way.
Later in 2010 he drove for DAMS at the 1000 km of Algarve, finishing sixth and winning the Formula Le Mans class. Other rounds brought an eighth place at Paul Ricard in GT1, and a third at Navarra was his best GT1 result of the rest of the year. Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter finished 12th in the GT1 championship.
What was the SPEED Euroseries title in 2011?
In 2011 Hughes rejoined Team WFR alongside Jody Firth, running their own WFR WF03-Mugen in the new SPEED Euroseries. The pair won the opening race at Paul Ricard, took second in race two, and went on to win the championship.
The title was decided by three points from Dean Stirling. Hughes and Firth won three races and took eight podiums across the season.
Hughes also took over Ricardo Zonta's seat at Sumo Power GT for two GT1 rounds, alongside Enrique Bernoldi, with results of fourth and seventh.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans he drove a Zytek 09SC for Quifel-ASM, but engine failure ended the run after 48 laps. He also took fifth in class at both the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the 6 Hours of Estoril for RLR Msport, which left him 16th in LMP2 standings that year.
What has Warren Hughes done since 2013?
Hughes was on the Le Mans reserve list for 2013, driving a Lola B12/80-Judd for HVM Status GP. That team withdrew from the event and left him without a drive. He moved up to British GT3, driving an Audi R8 LMS run by M-Sport and partnered by Rembert Berg.
The team's GT debut at Rockingham gave the pair second place, while Silverstone and Snetterton were less productive. In August the pair confirmed a switch to Team WRT until season's end, driving a GT3 Audi R8 LMS ultra.
In 2021 he returned to competition at the Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain, where a GT4 McLaren took him to a podium. He still races occasionally, but his main work now is coaching.
He works with W Series and triple champion Jamie Chadwick, and his coaching clients include Argenti Motorsport, Double R Racing and Balfe Motorsport. McLaren lists him among the coaches for its Pure McLaren track programme, and he also coaches on the brand's GT Driver Development Programme.
Earlier in his coaching career he worked as a driver coach for British F3 team Hitech Racing and for former BTCC driver Harry Vaulkhard.
What is Warren Hughes's legacy in British motorsport?
Across his career Hughes raced single-seaters, touring cars and endurance events, which gave him a wide base of experience. His championship haul includes the MGF Cup, SPEED Euroseries and British GT4 crowns, along with a Le Mans class win in 2005.
His route ran from junior single-seaters through Formula 3 and a works programme in the BTCC to Le Mans Series and GT titles. Today he works mainly as a coach, and McLaren and W Series are among the programmes he has worked with.
