Exolite (Formerly J Racing) are a British FF1M Team currently operating in West Yorkshire. They were founded by and run by James Whiteley, who has once said that the origin of the Exolite name comes from mishearing the lyrics of the chorus of Metallica's Enter Sandman. They pulled out of FF1M at the end of the 1998 FF1M Season before returning for the 2006 season for three seasons before pulling out and then returning once again from the 2013 season onwards. They have also raced in Classic FF1M, retaining the Exolite name for 1986 before reverting to the Darkfire name for 1987, a moniker that briefly appeared in FF2M.
FF1M History
Exolite Mk1 (Season 1-Season 5)
Season 1
Exolite were part of the original eleven teams that took part in the first season of FF1M. They had an all Brazilian line-up of Ayrton Senna and Felipe Massa. Overall, their first season was successful, despite Massa not scoring any points, Senna took three wins and scored 52 points which ended up being 4th in the constructors championship.
Season 2
Almost everything had changed for Season 2 as Senna and Massa were replaced by Lewis Hamilton and Olivier Panis. Despite a podium finish for Hamilton at his home race, fortunes took an overall downturn with the team scoring only six points and finishing 10th in the constructors championship.
Season 3
Due to holiday reasons, Whiteley was unavailable to organise his team for the Season 3, but FJR's James Brickles, a good friend off track, threw him a lifeline. He managed to team Damon Hill alongside Lewis Hamilton and power Exolite with Ferrari engines. Ironically and much to Brickles' chagrin, Exolite performed significantly better than FJR in terms of speed and scored two wins, despite an unreliable car. They finished 5th in the constructors, four places higher up than FJR.
Season 4
Damon Hill was maintained for Season 4 and was joined by Kimi Raikkonen. Their start to the season was brilliant, with three wins in the first four races. Another win in Hungary followed, but both drivers caused a furore at the German Grand Prix when they collided with each other whilst battling for the lead. Despite this, both championships were within reach with five races to go, but unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as their ultra-powerful Ferrari engines became too unreliable and both championships slipped away. Exolite ended the season 3rd behind Maestro Motorsport and AquinoPlus. Even so, Whiteley describes this as his most memorable season.
Season 5
Both drivers and Ferrari were dropped for Season 5 as Exolite drafted in Nigel Mansell, Gerhard Berger and Ilmor engines. Compared to the previous season, Exolite's fifth season was difficult as the car was still unreliable. The best result throughout the season was Mansell's 2nd place in the Spanish Grand Prix. 8th place was the result for Exolite at the season's end.
J Racing (Season 6-1998)
Season 6
Exolite became J Racing when the team entered Season 6. Alain Prost and Kimi Raikkonen were brought in to the team in an attempt to rekindle the old magic. Alain Prost's final season in FF1M resulted in two wins whilst Kimi Raikkonen's efforts were valiant, but trying, with a podium at the Belgian Grand Prix his best result of the season. J Racing ended the season 6th in the constructors championship.
Season 7
It was all change for Season 7 as Ferrari engines were replaced by the Mugen Honda powerplant. Damon Hill rejoined the team and he was partnered by Juan Pablo Montoya. The magic seemed to have returned as Montoya took his first win at the San Marino Grand Prix and Damon Hill took two wins for himself. Throughout the season, J Racing battled with fellow Yorkshire team FJR and it took just a single point to separate the two teams in favour of J Racing, who ended up 4th.
Season 8
Although the Mugens remained, the driver line-up was changed again for Season 8, with Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button heading the challenge. Despite the lack of works support, Villeneuve took an amazing win at the first race. The team performed consistently throughout scoring points at every race bar one. Ultimately however, their performance dropped off and J Racing finished the season in 5th place.
1996
More had changed for the revamped 1996 season, as Gerhard Berger and Pedro Diniz replaced Villeneuve and Button, and they were now powered by the works supported Mercedes engine. Their now customary lack of stability had begun to show itself in this season, with only 20 points scored in the season, much less than their previous three seasons. Berger scored the majority of the points, but both drivers efforts were only rewarded with 9th in the constructors championship.
1997
1997 came across with more changes. Unimpressed with the slump in form, Mercedes switched their works support to the Pedersen team and J Racing were forced to run the customer Mercedes engine. Pedro de la Rosa and Luca Badoer were now their two drivers. They managed three points in the first two races, but that was all J Racing would score as they finished the season in the most unenviable position in the championship - 11th and last.
1998
1998 turned out to be Whiteley’s final season for a while as Ford engines, Alexander Wurz and Olivier Panis were the main features. As in 1997, J Racing were struggling to get results in the first half of the season, but their speed improved thanks to impressive drives from Wurz. At the British Grand Prix, Wurz took an outstanding pole position thanks to a wet qualifying session. J Racing then began scoring frequent points in the second half of the season including a podium finish at Monza courtesy of Wurz. They ended their final season under the J Racing name 8th in the constructors championship.
Exolite Mk2 (2006-2008)
2006
During the 2005 season, James Whiteley announced that he would be returning to the FF1M scene under the Exolite name for the 2006 season. His return was welcomed by FJR team boss James Brickles, Ajay Motorsports, and Gui Racing's boss Gui Cramer. Having been out of FF1M for seven seasons, he had to adjust to new rules such as pre-qualifying and technologies. The net result was a severely underdeveloped car and failing to qualify for any of the 17 races.
2007
2007 saw three time champion Jarno Trulli join the team alongside Scott Speed, as well as being one of the few teams on the grid to run their own badged V10 turbo engine. Compared to the previous season, Exolite vastly improved, making nearly all the races in particular thanks to Jarno Trulli's efforts. The Italian scored all of Exolite's points with a best race result of 6th place, achieved at Imola and Spa.
2008
It was all change in the driver line-up as Sebastien Bourdais and Anthony Davidson teamed up to take on Exolite's 2008 challenger. The engine philosophy remained the same - maximum power whenever possible - and this certainly helped Exolite to make all races during the season and finish 9th in the constructor's championship, one place higher than the season before. By the start of next season, Exolite had quietly pulled out of FF1M.
Exolite Mk3 (2013-Present)
2013
Exolite made their third comeback for the 2013 season, and they had bagged a couple of high-profile drivers in the form of former champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. What's more, they were one of four teams using a Ferrari engine, and the power advantage proved significant, as Button was in contention to win the first race but suffered a suspension failure with only a quarter of the race remaining. Fortunately, this didn't set the tone for the season as despite a difficult start, both drivers scored a total nine podiums including a win for Alonso at Monaco, Exolite's first in the modern era. Alonso and Button were 5th and 7th in the drivers championship, while Exolite took a very comfortable 3rd in what was a successful return to racing.
2014
It was all change for 2014 as Exolite signed Gojira's 2013 line-up of world champion Kimi Raikkonen and race winner Sergio Perez, and they would have customer Ilmor engines at their disposal. The season started strongly with a podium each for Raikkonen and Perez at Sepang and the Nurburgring. After Portugal, Exolite were 4th in the constructors championship, but from then, the rot set in due to a combination of exclusive use of the slower hard tyres, and Raikkonen having by far the worst reliability of any driver with ten failures to finish. This included a cataclysmic shunt at Eau Rouge after contact with Karun Chandhok. In the remaining 13 races, Exolite scored only two more points and slumped to 9th in the constructors championship, and the frustration was evident whenever Whiteley appeared in the commentary box.
2015
The same engine was kept for the 2015 season, but the driver line-up was different as Exolite once again went for two proven world champions, and an all British affair with Lewis Hamilton and the returning Jenson Button at the wheel. Both drivers were at different stages of their careers, with Hamilton looking to make amends for losing the 2014 championship and Button approaching the end of his career, and the difference in performance between the two drivers was alarming. To compound this, the car was once again crippled by excessive use of the hard tyres, and Hamilton could only manage 10 points in the first nine races.
Once Exolite switched to the softer compounds from Silverstone onwards, the speed improved, but mistakes started to creep in due to the underdevelopment. Silverstone saw Hamilton take a well-deserved 3rd place after a gutsy drive, but the other side of the coin saw him lose a potential win at the Hungaroring after an unforced error dropped him to 6th. Monza saw a different kind of frustration where a collision with Mitchell's Cooper Lee at the first chicane led to Lee rather deliberately putting Hamilton into a spin. Meanwhile, Button's season never got going as he failed to score a single point, which resulted in him announcing his retirement. A swap with Tornado's Fernando Alonso was arranged for the final race as the Spaniard was moving to Exolite for next season anyway, but his race ended on the second lap thanks to a puncture. With Hamilton also failing to finish, Exolite were rooted to last in the championship.
2016
Exolite arguably had one of the strongest line-ups for the 2016 season with a three-time champion and a multiple race winner in the form of Alonso and Romain Grosjean. Furthermore, Exolite had also switched from Ilmor to Megatron engines and acquired sponsorship from Chandon. Both drivers showed some good pace in pre-season testing, and despite a tricky opening race in Melbourne where Grosjean collided with Sergio Perez and Alonso suffered a blown engine, the overall package seemed to be a significant improvement over the 2015 car. At Interlagos, Alonso secured Exolite's first podium finish of the season, but Grosjean blotted the Exolite copybook by crashing out of 4th on the final lap. The next four races were less competitive due to Megatron upgrades not going as planned, but Exolite managed to salvage a double points finish at Monaco.
Following Monaco was the second engine upgrade of the season, and Exolite returned to a more competitive state at Montreal with Alonso qualifying 3rd. Although his race pace wasn't particularly strong, Alonso stayed out of trouble and capitalised on late crashes for Perez and Cooper Lee to take his second podium of the season. Grosjean backed this result up with a fine drive from 14th to 4th, although he immediately reversed this by flipping Kubica going into the first corner at Road America.
The car remained relatively competitive throughout the season and both drivers were able to take a total of three pole positions between them at the Hungaroring, Portimao, and Macau, and also two podiums each. Alonso even scored the team's first win since the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix with a dominant performance at Spa. Despite this, there were still some unlucky moments, particularly with Alonso who was flipped at Hockenheim and Monza, and lost a probably win at Sakhir. However, he also made errors at Suzuka and Macau, and all this ultimately meant that Exolite finished 6th in the teams championship, narrowly missing out on 4th to Andrew Racing and Pedersen.
2017
A difficult silly season period for Exolite saw both drivers leave for different teams. Whiteley were keen on retaining Alonso, but the Spaniard was tempted by a more lucrative contract at fellow Yorkshire team Shake 'n' Bake. For 2017, Whiteley went for a mix of experience and youth in the form of Kimi Raikkonen, who last drove for Exolite in 2014, and Tomas Gonzalez, who was dropped before the end of 2016 by Tornado and needed a confidence boost. However, Exolite wouldn't make it as far as the pre-season test as due to missing deadlines, their place was taken by 1993 FF1M champions, CBA Racing.
Results and Statistics
| Year | Engine | Ch. Pos. | Races | Points | Wins | Drivers | Ch. Pos. | Races | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Ford | 4th | 16 | 52 | 3 |  Ayrton Senna
|
3rd | 16 | 52 | 3 |
| Felipe Massa
|
20th | 16 | 0 | |||||||
| Season 2 | Ford | 10th | 16 | 6 |  Lewis Hamilton
|
13th | 16 | 6 | ||
 Olivier Panis
|
20th | 16 | 0 | |||||||
| Season 3 | Ferrari | 5th | 17 | 45 | 2 | Damon Hill
|
6th | 17 | 30 | 2 |
| Lewis Hamilton
|
12th | 17 | 15 | |||||||
| Season 4 | Ferrari | 3rd | 17 | 112 | 4 | Damon Hill
|
3rd | 17 | 62 | 2 |
 Kimi Raikkonen
|
6th | 17 | 50 | 2 | ||||||
| Season 5 | Ilmor | 8th | 16 | 18 | Nigel Mansell
|
10th | 16 | 17 | ||
 Gerhard Berger
|
19th | 16 | 1 | |||||||
| Season 6 | Ferrari | 6th | 16 | 70 | 2 | Alain Prost
|
6th | 16 | 46 | 2 |
| Kimi Raikkonen
|
12th | 16 | 24 | |||||||
| Season 7 | Mugen Honda | 4th | 16 | 82 | 3 | Damon Hill
|
5th | 16 | 52 | 2 |
 Juan Pablo Montoya
|
11th | 16 | 30 | 1 | ||||||
| Season 8 | Mugen Honda | 5th | 17 | 76 | 1 |  Jacques Villeneuve
|
7th | 17 | 50 | 1 |
| Jenson Button
|
11th | 17 | 26 | |||||||
| 1996 | Mercedes (W) | 9th | 16 | 20 | Gerhard Berger
|
16th | 16 | 17 | ||
| Pedro Diniz
|
19th | 16 | 3 | |||||||
| 1997 | Mercedes | 11th | 17 | 3 |  Pedro De La Rosa
|
22nd | 17 | 1 | ||
 Luca Badoer
|
20th | 17 | 2 | |||||||
| 1998 | Ford | 8th | 17 | 28 | Alexander Wurz
|
10th | 17 | 27 | ||
| Olivier Panis
|
21st | 17 | 1 | |||||||
| 2006 | Ferrari V10 | 13th | 0/17 | 0 | David Coulthard
|
30th | 0 | 0 | ||
| Felipe Massa
|
27th | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 2007 | Exolite V10 | 10th | 13/17 | 11 | Jarno Trulli
|
14th | 13 | 11 | ||
 Scott Speed
|
28th | 13 | 0 | |||||||
| 2008 | Exolite V10 | 9th | 17 | 13 | Anthony Davidson
|
20th | 17 | 4 | ||
| Sebastien Bourdais
|
17th | 17 | 9 | |||||||
| 2013 | Ferrari (C) | 3rd | 18 | 126 | 1 | Fernando Alonso
|
5th | 18 | 81 | 1 |
| Jenson Button
|
7th | 18 | 45 | |||||||
| 2014 | Ilmor (C) | 9th | 18 | 25 | Kimi Raikkonen
|
17th | 18 | 10 | ||
 Sergio Perez
|
13th | 18 | 15 | |||||||
| 2015 | Ilmor (C) | 11th | 18 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton
|
11th | 18 | 22 | ||
| Jenson Button
|
24th | 17/18 | 0 | |||||||
| Fernando Alonso
|
1st | 1/18 | 0/121 | 0/7 | ||||||
| 2016 | Megatron (C) | 6th | 19 | 66 | 1 | Fernando Alonso
|
8th | 19 | 37 | 1 |
| Romain Grosjean
|
10th | 19 | 29 |
Classic History
1986
James Whiteley's took part in the first classic FF1M season, dubbed 1986. He signed up Elio de Angelis and Johnny Dumfries to drive the Benetton-BMW chassis and engine combination. De Angelis had a strong season with three 3rd place finishes. He was in contention for the win at a rain-soaked German Grand Prix before he collided with Gerhard Berger twice. The first of those collisions occurred going into the Ostkurve and De Angelis managed a spectacular barrel roll before landing on his wheels and along with Berger, threading the Ostkurve needle whilst gyrating and miraculously avoiding damage. He wasn't quite as lucky second time around. Exolite finished 8th in the constructors championship with De Angelis 7th in the driver's championship. From 1987 onwards, Whiteley ran under the Darkfire name.
| Year | Chassis-Engine | Position | Races | Points | Wins | Drivers | Position | Races | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Ferrari | 5th | 1 | 0 | Yves-Giraud Cabantous
|
6th | 1 | 0 | ||
| Peter Whitehead
|
7th | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 1986 (C1) | Benetton-BMW | 8th | 10 | 12 | Elio de Angelis
|
7th | 10 | 12 | ||
| Johnny Dumfries
|
20th | 10 | 0 |
FF2M
Main article: Darkfire
AFIA Indycar Series
Main article: Darkfire Indy