| James Kaye | |
| Nationality: |  United Kingdom |
| Birth Date: | 1964 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Harrogate, England |
| Related To: | Richard Kaye (brother) |
| Racing Licence: | FIA Bronze |
| Current Series: | British Touring Car Championship |
| First Year: | 1986 |
| Current Team: | AmD Tuning.com |
| Car Number: | 15 |
| Former Teams: | WRC Developments with Barwell Synchro Motorsport Honda Team MSD Maxted Motorsport Park Lane Toyota Junior Team Demon Tweeks Containerships |
| Starts: | 296 |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Poles: | 0 |
| Fastest Laps: | 0 |
| Best Finish: | 1st |
| Year: | 2002 (Production class) |
| Prev Series: | Britcar Belgian Touring Car Series FIA GT3 European Championship ETCC Italian Super Production National Saloon Cup GB Belgian Procar Spa 24h FIA GT Championship JTCC UPSCC |
| Prev Series Years: | 2018 2010 2007 2005 2002 1998–2000 1998–2000 1998–2000 1997 1991, 1993 1983–86, 1988 |
| Titles: | Middle East Trophy - TCE Middle East Trophy - TCR BTCC Independents' Cup UPSCC |
| Title Years: | 2023–24 2023–24 1992, 1994 1985 |
James Peter Kaye (born 18 February 1964 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire) is a British auto racing driver. He has been a stalwart competitor of Hondas in various championships since 1995, and has had 2 lengthy spells in the BTCC. He won the BTCC independents' championship in 1992 and 1994.
After racing in the British National Production Saloon Championship with several championship in the late 80s and early 90s, he entered the BTCC as an independent in 1992, winning the independent title in his Toyota, and again in 1994. In 1993 he raced a semi-works Toyota for the Park Lane Racing team, ineligible for the Total Cup for Independents. In 1995 he was hired by Honda for their BTCC programme, racing there for 2 seasons.
He had an assortment of sports car drives for Honda from 1997–1999, returning to touring cars in the National Saloon Championship in 2000. The same cars were eligible for the newly created Class B of the BTCC that year, and James was runner up in a Honda Accord. This was renamed the Production Class for 2001, and James again finished 2nd, before winning the Production Class title in 2002 for Synchro Motorsport, a team of Honda employees working in their spare time at the Honda factory in Swindon.
The team moved up to the Touring class of the BTCC for 2003, defined as an Independent team as they had no financial or technical backing, James classified as Independent runner-up and 14th overall. Remaining with Synchro, James was 11th overall in 2004 and 2005. He took his first series podium at Oulton Park in 2006 after 14 years of trying. For 2007 the team pulled out, leaving James without a drive.
He returned to the BTCC for the 2013 season, driving the AmD Tuning.com Volkswagen Golf in the Jack Sears Trophy.[1]
For the final round of the 2018 Dunlop Endurance Championship, Kaye raced with Matt Le Breton in an Audi RS3 TCR, finishing 11th in race one and 4th in race two.
James' Father Peter Kaye was a Hillclimb/Sprint driver, which was a great influence on James growing up. James is the oldest of 5 children, and his younger brother Richard Kaye, has also raced professionally. James is married and has proven his virility beyond doubt by fathering 5 children.
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996–2002 all races, 2003–present just in first race, 1987–1989 and 2000–2003 in class) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 1987–1989 and 2000–present all races, 1987–1989 and 2000–2003 in class) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 2001 just in feature races, 2003–present all races, 2001 for leading in class)
‡ Kaye won in class but was awarded no points due to less than 3 class cars starting the race.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Team Trust | Toyota Corolla Levin AE92 | JTC-3 | SUG | SUZ | TSU | SEN | AUT | FUJ 7 | 76th | 6 | ||||
| 1993 | Racing Project Bandoh | Toyota Corolla Levin AE101 | JTC-3 | MIN | AUT | SUG | SUZ | AID 14 | TSU | TOK | SEN | FUJ | 26th | 8 |
| Year | Team | Co-Driver | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 |  Bruce Miles Racing | Greg Murphy | Toyota Carina | 136 | 23rd | 5th | ||
| 1997 | Vauxhall Sport | John Cleland | Vauxhall Vectra | 32 | Ret | Ret |
* Super Touring race
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 |  Team Honda Sport Belgium | Simon Harrison Stephen Day | SP | 470 | 8th | 8th | |
| 1999 | ELR | Philippe Tollenaire Philippe Favre | Honda Accord | SP | 518/cylinder head gasket | DNF | DNF |
| 2000 | ELR & Barwell Motorsport | David Leslie Mark Lemmer | Honda Accord | SP | ?/engine | DNF | DNF |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Barwell Motorsport | Mark Lemmer Jay Wheels Andy Barnes (DNS) | 48 | 3 | 517 | 25th | 5th | |
| 2011 | Ryan MacLeod | Ryan MacLeod Ashley Walsh Jamie Capilleri Joseph Girlin | Holden Astra | 70 | 3 | 518 | 11th | 6th |
| 2012 | Ryan MacLeod | Ryan MacLeod Jamie Capilleri Keith Kassulke | Holden Astra | 87 | 4 | 472 | 15th/DNF | 9th/DNF |
| 2015 |  Team Russia by Barwell | Timur Sardarov Leo Machitski Mark Lemmer | MARC Focus V8 | 92 | 2 | 327 | DNF | DNF |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class – 1 point awarded just in first race; races in italics indicate fastest lap in class – 1 point awarded all races;-
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† As Kaye was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.