Jan Charouz started racing karts at the age of seven and progressed through a variety of motorsports, including Formula 3000 International Masters (winning the 2006 title) and the ill-fated A1 Series, as well as enjoying success in sports cars, being part of the team which won the 2009 Le Mans Series.

In 2010 he joined Renault as a reserve driver, retaining his position in 2011, as part of the Lotus-Renault academy. In November he competed for Renault and HRT at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test, and a week later appeared for the latter in FP1 at Interlagos.
ESPN staff