Derek Patrick Daly (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former racing driver, businessman and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to .
Born and raised in Dublin, Daly won the British Formula Three Championship in 1977, before participating in 64 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting at the 1978 United States Grand Prix West. His 15 championship points made him the first Irish driver to score in Formula One, and remains the highest scoring; he also participated in several non-championship races. After Formula One, Daly moved to the United States to compete in CART and IMSA, where he led Nissan to the IMSA GTP Championship in 1990.
Racing career After honing his skills in the Irish Formula Ford Championship, Daly had his first drive in the European Formula Two Championship in 1977. In 1978 and 1979, he competed in both Formula Two and Formula One, finishing third in the Formula Two championship in both seasons. From 1980 to 1982, he focussed on Formula One, his best year being 1980, when he scored two fourth-place finishes and finished 11th in the Drivers' Championship. His two most memorable moments in F1 both came in the Monaco Grand Prix. In 1980 he crashed spectacularly at the first corner after vaulting three other cars. In 1982, he suddenly found himself in contention for the win when the four cars ahead of him ran into problems with under two laps to go, but ended up on the sidelines himself when his gearbox seized moments later.
In 1982, Daly began driving in the CART series and continued through 1989. He started 66 CART races, including each Indianapolis 500 from 1983 to 1989, except for 1986. He finished in the top-ten a total of 21 times, including one podium finish, third position, at Milwaukee in 1987. In September 1984, he was nearly killed in a crash in the CART PPG Detroit News Grand Prix 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The front end of his car was sheared off and he suffered multiple injuries including a crushed left ankle, double compound fracture to the left tibia and fibula, fractured left hip socket, severely fractured pelvis, several broken left side ribs, broken left hand, third degree burns to the left arm, dislocated right foot and ankle, deep abrasions and soft tissue to right heel, and internal bleeding.
Daly won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1990 and 1991 driving a Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo. In 1990, he had the unusual distinction of driving both the first and second-placed cars.
Broadcast and business career Daly is known in motor sports circles around the world as a driver, writer, broadcaster, racing advisor, and businessman. He runs a professional services company called MotorVation, and had been a commentator for American broadcasts of the Champ Car series, as well as a public speaker. One of the agencies that represents him is the National Speakers Bureau.
In 2018, Daly was fired from a racing analyst position he had at WISH-TV when WISH-TV attributed a racial slur that was uttered by Indianapolis Colts announcer Bob Lamey in 1983 to him. While not disputing saying the slur, Daly contends that he did not use the offending language in the context Lamey alleged (Lamey claimed that Daly had once stated "... there aren't any (racial slur) in this race"), but instead used the word as part of a common Irish colloquialism during a 1983 radio interview. Daly filed a $25M lawsuit as a result. Later that year, U.S. district court judge Richard L. Young ruled in favor of WISH-TV and the station's former parent company, Nexstar Media Group, in all claims in Daly's lawsuit and ordered him to pay Nexstar's legal costs.
Personal life Daly became a US citizen on September 28, 1993, and he now resides in Carmel, Indiana. He has three sons, Conor, Colin and Christian.
Conor is also a racing driver. He made his debut in full-time open-wheel racing in 2012, driving for the Lotus GP team in GP3, before moving GP2 in 2014 driving for Venezuela GP Lazarus. Conor made his IndyCar Series debut in 2013 and was a full-time driver from 2016 to 2023. He also competed in the 2023 Daytona 500, finishing 29th.
Daly's niece, Nicola Daly, is an Ireland women's field hockey international and was a member of the squad that won the silver medal at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup. She also works as a data engineer for Juncos Racing.
Racing record
Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition1976Formula Ford FestivalHawke Racing Cars1100101st1977 Super Visco British Formula ThreeDerek McMahon Racing154107691stVandervell British Formula Three70001345thFIA European Formula 341102139thEuropean Formula TwoChevron Racing10000218th1978European Formula TwoChevron Racing122124273rdFormula One Olympus Cameras with Hesketh Racing00000119thTeam Tissot Ensign600001979European Formula TwoProject Four Racing91125333rdFormula OneTeam Ensign300000NCCandy Tyrrell Team300001980Formula OneCandy Tyrrell Team140000611thBMW M1 Procar ChampionshipBMW Motorsport100000NC1981Formula OneMarch Grand Prix Team Guinness RIzla+. March800000NC1982Formula OneTAG Williams Team120000813thTheodore Racing Team30000World Sportscar ChampionshipFord Motor Company100001117thPPG Indy Car World SeriesWysard Racing100000NC1983PPG Indy Car World SeriesProvimi Racing50000427thWysard Racing20000European Formula TwoMcMahon Racing100000NCWorld SportscarTeam Ikuzawa000000NC1984PPG Indy Car World SeriesProvimi Racing1100002619th1985PPG Indy Car World SeriesTom Hess Racing10000140th1986PPG Indy Car World SeriesCurb Motorsports300001123rd1987PPG Indy Car World SeriesRaynor Motorsports1200012715thPace Racing100001988PPG Indy Car World SeriesRaynor Motorsports150000539th24 Hours of Le MansSilk Cut Jaguar10000304th1989PPG Indy Car World SeriesRaynor Motorsports1500002512th24 Hours of Le MansSilk Cut Jaguar10000N/ADNF1990IMSA GT ChampionshipNissan Performance44104N/ANC24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/ADNF1991IMSA GT ChampionshipNissan Performance11101N/ANC
Complete European Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts Chevron Racing Chevron/B40 Hart SIL THR HOC NÜR VLL PAU MUG ROU NOG PER MIS EST DON 18th 2 Chevron Racing Chevron/B42 Hart THR HOC NÜR PAU MUG VLL ROU DON NOG PER MIS HOC 3rd 27 Project Four Racing March/792 BMW SIL HOC THR NÜR VLL MUG PAU HOC ZAN PER MIS DON 3rd 33 McMahon Racing March/822 Hart SIL THR HOC NÜR VLL PAU JAR DON MIS PER ZOL MUG - 0
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Pts. 1978 Olympus Cameras with Hesketh Racing Hesketh 308E Ford V8 ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE 19th 1 Team Tissot Ensign Ensign N177 Ford V8 FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN 1979 Team Ensign Ensign N177 Ford V8 ARG BRA ESP BEL NC 0 Ensign N179 Ford V8 RSA USW MON FRA GBR GER Candy Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 009 Ford V8 AUT NED ITA CAN USA 1980 Candy Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 009 Ford V8 ARG BRA RSA 11th 6 Tyrrell 010 Ford V8 USW BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 1981 March Grand Prix Team March 811 Ford V8 USW BRA ARG SMR BEL MON NC 0Guinness RIzla+. March ESP FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN CPL 1982 Theodore Racing Team Theodore TY01 Ford V8 RSA 13th 8 Theodore TY02 Ford V8 BRA USW SMR TAG Williams Team Williams FW08 Ford V8 BEL MON DET CAN NED GBR FRA GER AUT SUI ITA CPL
CART results Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref 1982 Wysard Racing 34 March 82C Ford Cosworth DFXPHXATLMILCLEMISMILPOCRIVROAMIS2PHX2 NC 0 1983 Wysard Racing March 82C Ford Cosworth DFXATL 27th 4 March 83CINDYMILCLEMIS Provimi Racing 90 March 82/83C Ford Cosworth DFXROAPOCRIVMDOMIS2LVGLSPHX 1984 Provimi Racing 17 March 84C Ford Cosworth DFXLBHPHXINDYMILPORMEACLEMISROAPOCMDOSANMIS2PHX2LSLVG 19th 26 1985 Tom Hess Racing 29 Lola T900 Ford Cosworth DFXLBHINDYMILPORMEACLEMISROAPOCMDOSANMIS2LSPHXMIA 40th 1 1986 Team Menard March 86C Ford Cosworth DFXPHXLBHINDYMILPORMEACLETORMISPOC 23rd 11 Curb Motorsports 66MDOSANMIS2ROALSPHX2MIA 1987 Pace Racing 10 March 87C Buick V6 (t/c)LBHPHXINDY 15th 27 Raynor Motorsports Lola T87/00 Ford Cosworth DFXMILPORMEACLETORMISPOCROAMDONAZLSMIA 1988 Raynor Motorsports Lola T88/00 Ford Cosworth DFXPHXLBHINDYMILPORCLETORMEAMISPOCMDOROANAZLSMIA 9th 53 1989 Raynor Motorsports Lola T89/00 Judd AVPHXLBHINDYMILDETPORCLEMEATORMISPOCMDOROANAZLS 12th 25
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1988 Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing Kevin Cogan Larry Perkins Jaguar XJR-9LM C1 383 4th 4th 1989 Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing Davy Jones Jeff Kline Jaguar XJR-9LM C1 85 DNF DNF 1990 Nissan Performance Technology Inc. Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson Nissan R90CK C1 251 DNF DNF
12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1990 Nissan Performance Technology Bob Earl Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo GTP 3011st1st1991 Nissan Performance Technology Geoff Brabham Gary Brabham Nissan NPT-90 GTP 2981st1st
References
External links
Derek Daly Designs (course design business) Profile at grandprix.com