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 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

Welch Motorsport (2011–2016)

In 2011, Welch 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. 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 sixth in Race 1 and then holding off Matt Neal to claim fourth in Race 2. For this he won the HiQ Champagne Moment award, as voted for by fans. Welch finished the season 15th in the Drivers' Championship.

Welch and his team continued to compete in the BTCC in 2013, finishing 18th in the Drivers' Championship with a best result of sixth 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.

Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2000 Formula Vauxhall N/A ? ? ? ? ? 88 4th 2001Formula Renault 2.0 UK Falcon Motorsport 7 0 0 0 0 57 21st 2002Formula Renault 2.0 UK Cliff Dempsey Racing 2 0 0 0 0 8 33rd Welch Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 2003Formula Renault 2.0 UKWelch Motorsport 13 0 0 0 0 47 22nd 2004Formula Renault 2.0 UK Paston Racing 2 0 0 0 0 23 33rd Welch Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom Aurok Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 17 26th 2005Formula Renault 2.0 UKWelch Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 84 16th 2006Formula Renault 2.0 UKWelch Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 9 31st 2007SEAT Cupra ChampionshipWelch Motorsport 20 2 2 3 6 153.5 5th 200824 Hours of Dubai - A6Team RPM 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 15thSEAT Cupra ChampionshipWelch Motorsport 20 0 0 2 4 183 6th 2009SEAT León Supercopa SpainWelch Motorsport 13 0 0 0 0 13 19thGinetta G50 Cup 3 1 3 2 3 96 16thSEAT León Eurocup 2 0 0 0 0 0 26th 201024 Hours of Dubai - A3TStrategic Transport Racing 1 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4thSEAT León EurocupWelch Motorsport 2 1 1 0 1 10 15thSEAT León Supercopa Spain 16 0 0 0 0 36 13th 2011British Touring Car ChampionshipWelch Automotive 15 0 0 0 0 1 22nd 2012British Touring Car ChampionshipWelch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp 25 0 0 0 0 79 15th 2013British Touring Car ChampionshipWelch Motorsport with Sopp+Sopp 27 0 0 0 0 72 18th 2014British Touring Car ChampionshipSTP Racing with Sopp & Sopp 25 0 0 0 0 -40 32nd2015 24H Series - 997 STP Racing24 Hours of Dubai - 997 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/ABritish Touring Car ChampionshipWelch Motorsport 19 0 0 0 0 1 29th 2016British Touring Car ChampionshipGoodestone Racing 29 0 0 0 0 23 23rd 2018British Touring Car ChampionshipTrade Price Cars with Brisky Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 35thPorsche Carrera Cup Great Britain - Pro-AmWelch Motorsport 4 0 1 0 4 28 7th

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (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 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 22nd 1 2012 Welch Motorsportwith Sopp+Sopp Proton Persona BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 15th 79 2013 Welch Motorsportwith Sopp+Sopp Proton Persona BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 18th 72 2014 STP Racingwith Sopp & Sopp Proton Persona BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 32nd −40 2015 Welch Motorsport Proton Persona BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 28th 1 2016 Goodestone Racing Proton Persona BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 23rd 23 2018 Trade Price Carswith Brisky Racing Volkswagen CC BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 37th 0

24 Hours of Silverstone results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2010 Strategic Racing / John Welch Motorsport Brent Niall Malcolm Niall Clint Harvey SEAT Leon Supercopa 44 3 536 7th 3rd

References

External links Welch Motorsport BTCC official site