Warren Hughes

His debut in the FF1600, however, was notable for being a third-place finish, ahead of David Coulthard.

In addition to entering the Junior FF1600 in 1990, which he won, he would enter the Formula Ford Festival for the next two years, finishing second in 1991.

Warren Hughes (born 19 January 1969) is a racing driver from Sunderland, England.

He has raced in a variety of different series, most notably the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), the FIA GT1 World Championship, the Le Mans Series, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

He won the LMP2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in, driving for RML Group alongside Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton.

He also tested in F1 for the Lotus and Williams teams during his single seater career.

Having started his career in 1989 in the British Formula Ford Junior 1600 series, and winning the same series the following year, Hughes progressed through various junior single-seater formulae, such as the British Formula 3 Championship and the Formula Three Japan.

Hughes made his car racing debut in 1989, driving in the British Formula Ford Junior 1600, and the Formula Ford Festival, finishing tenth in the latter.

In 1991, he also finished second overall in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series, driving for Team JLR, having won three races.

For the 1992 British Formula 3 season, Hughes stepped up to the British Formula 3 Championship, finishing seventh whilst driving for Edenbridge Racing, with an eighth place at the Masters of Formula 3.

For the following season, he finished fourth in the British F3, driving for Richard Arnold Developments, whilst he also unsuccessfully entered the German Formula Three Championship with RAD, and the Macau Grand Prix with March Engineering.

In 1994, he competed in two rounds of the British F3 series (driving one race for March, and one for P1 Engineering), and five of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship (for HKS, in addition to completing a Formula One test for Lotus. He returned to the British F3 full-time in 1995, this time for Alan Docking Racing, and once again finished fourth, with an eleventh place at the Macau Grand Prix (for HKS), and a retirement at the Masters of Formula 3 (for ADR).

Although he briefly switched to touring car racing in 1996, competing in the Super Tourenwagen Cup, and entered the MGF Cup in 1999, winning the series, he did not switch away from single-seater racing fully until 2001, when, having been signed by MG, he entered both the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the BTCC.

The 1996 season saw a brief change of course for Hughes, with five races in the German STW series with Ford, scoring four points, whilst he also tested the Ford Mondeo in the British Touring Car Championship.

He returned to the British F3 in 1997 for eight rounds, driving for Piers Portman Racing and remained there in 1998, once again finishing fourth.

In 1999, he moved to the MGF Cup, winning seven of the 14 races, and setting 11 fastest laps, to become champion, whilst also competing in two races of the British F3 for Ralt.

In 2000, he switched to the Italian Formula 3000 for Arden Team Russia.

He was championship runner-up, only missing the podium in 3 races.

Hughes also tested for the Williams Formula One team during that year, but was unable to become full-time test driver, with the team opting for Marc Gené instead.

He also made his debut in the British GT Championship in 2000, driving for Cirtek Motorsport in a Porsche 911 GT3-R.

His first race, the Thruxton Circuit event, where he drove alongside John Cleland, resulted in a fifth-place finish, whilst his second entry, at the Oulton Park round (this time partnering Adam Simmons) saw him fail to finish.

In 2001, Hughes became a factory MG driver, with the MG teams being run by West Surrey Racing.

His first event for the team came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans of that year, driving alongside Anthony Reid and Jonny Kane in the new MG-Lola EX257.

It was not a successful debut for car and driver, however; the car lasted just 30 laps due to an oil pressure issue.

Following that event, he drove the MG ZS in the British Touring Car Championship, alongside Reid.

The team debuted their new car in the eleventh round of the season, held at Silverstone Circuit, where Hughes retired in race one, but finished fifth in the second race.

The team were ineligible for points, due to their late entry, and that fifth-place finish proved to be Hughes' best result of the season, although Reid was able to take a victory at the penultimate race of the season, held at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, with Hughes taking the team's first pole position for the feature race.

For 2002, MG entered the BTCC from the beginning of the season, with Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington hired for a two-team effort.

Although Hughes won two races that year, one more than Reid, he was only able to finish sixth overall, two places behind Reid.

None of the MGs were able to consistently match the works Vauxhall Astra Coupes, despite the Astra frequently suffering engine failures.

Reid, Hughes and Kane also entered that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, but once more retired, this time due to gearbox failure after 129 laps.

He competed in both competitions the following year, and remained in the BTCC in 2003 before leaving MG at the end of that year, after they ended their motorsport programme.

2003 saw MG slim down to a three-car operation in the BTCC, with no 24 Hours of Le Mans entry, and Howell departed the team.

Hughes slipped to seventh, with one win, behind Reid and ahead of Turkington, as the MG drivers finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, all with a win apiece.

In 2004, he entered part of the British GT Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain, the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans Series, and entered various events of the latter series up until 2012.

During that time, he also competed in events that were part of various other series, notably the American Le Mans Series (in 2005 and 2012) and the FIA GT1 World Championship (in 2010 and 2011).

Having won the SPEED EuroSeries in 2011, he became a regular driver in the British GT Championship in 2012 (in addition to entering in events that were part of the FIA World Endurance Championship), and he won the GT4 category that season, driving with Jody Fannin in a Team WFR-entered Ginetta G50.

Hughes now focuses on race driver coaching but still occasionally races, having finished 3rd in a GT4 McLaren at the 2021 Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain.

Coaching duties include W Series, working with triple champion Jamie Chadwick, Argenti Motorsport, Double R Racing and Balfe Motosport.

Hughes is also on the roster of McLaren coaches for their worldwide Pure McLaren track programme as well as coaching on the brand's GT Driver Development Programme.