| Jacques Taniai | |||
 Jacques Taniai pictured after winning his second ICARA Title in 307AP | |||
| Born | June 6 272AP, Gochimon, Chungxiang | ||
| Achievements | 300 & 307 ICARA Champion | ||
| Racing Series | ICARA | ||
| Teams Raced | Kunghai, Lorican | ||
Jacques Jérôme Taniai is an open-wheel racing driver hailing from Chungxiang. His career has at times been very successful, and despite suffering some mediocre seasons, he is considered one of the most accomplished race car drivers in history, having won the ICARA Drivers' World Championship in 300AP (Mini-Series) and 307AP.
Taniai was forced to retire from active racing due to an injury sustained in the 313AP Season (see below).
ICARA Career[]
300AP Season: Early Success in the Mini-Series[]
Jacques was signed up by Chungese constructor Kunghai as initial driver for their ICARA team, and became the first ever ICARA Champion by scoring a second place finish in the 300AP Ayrtona 500 and a win in the 300AP Alphalpha Island race, 13 points ahead of Piet-Maria Caniz
301AP Season: Struggling[]
Despite the early success, Taniai was unable to excel in the following season as defending champion, as Kunghai package proved to be generally uncompetitive.
The young Jacques Taniai, pictured in 300AP before going on to become ICARA Mini-Series Champion.
302AP to 305AP Seasons: Switch to Lorican[]
Looking for a more competitive ride in 302AP, Taniai found a new home at the Davenportian Lorican team, alongside Daniel Chauvert. Things began to look up on the sporting side, and Taniai would score 3 total race wins during the 4 seasons at this team.
306AP Season: Return to Kunghai[]
After 4 years at Lorican, Taniai returned to his roots at Kunghai, which by now had a much more competitive car. Although winless in 306AP, he would finish strongly in the championship standings - 5th place.
307AP Season: World Champion[]
Taniai's return to Kunghai was perfect in 307AP, clinching the world championship title in the final race of the season.
308AP to 309AP Seasons:[]
After a year of extremely bad luck in 308AP, Taniai was able to salvage the season to finish 13th, but somewhat fell from form in 309AP, only managing a 23rd place in the final standings.
310AP Season: TBD[]
Taniai had a solid season, and ended it with a win at the prestigious ICARA 500.
311AP Season:[]
An up-and-down season, not one of his best - including one race win.
312 AP Season: Near title miss on countback[]
Having run a superb season, Taniai tied Juan-Miguel Wolfganger and four other drivers at the top of the standings with 182 points, but Wolfganger would win the title on countback with 4 wins over Taniai's 3. Frustratingly close also because Taniai came 2nd to his team mate Daniel Chauvert at the Westrian GP. If the team had employed team orders and let Taniai pass for the win, he would have been the 312AP World Champion!
313AP Season: Final Season, Accident and Medical Retirement[]
The 313AP season did not yield a lot of success for the veteran driver, and would also turn out to be his final one: on October 6 313AP, Taniai was involved in a serious crash in the Alphalpha Island race, when his car flew into catch-fencing after contact with another car. Taniai suffered 2 fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle, and a concussion in the crash. A week later, Taniai announced his immediate retirement from motor racing on medical advice, and was replaced by Jenica Chinglai for the final race of the season. After making a full recovery, Taniai was offered a position as sporting manager of the Kunghai team, and he has been instrumental in coordinating some of the team's success ever since.
Career Stats[]
| Year | # | Team | Ent | Win | Pol | MLL | Pod | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 313AP | 11 | Kunghai | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32nd |
| 312AP | 11 | Kunghai | 26 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2nd |
| 311AP | 11 | Kunghai | 36 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13th |
| 310AP | 11 | Kunghai | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9th |
| 309AP | 11 | Kunghai | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 23rd |
| 308AP | 1 | Kunghai | 30 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13th |
| 307AP | 11 | Kunghai | 30 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1st |
| 306AP | 11 | Kunghai | 30 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5th |
| 305AP | 2 | Lorican | 30 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8th |
| 304AP | 41 | Lorican | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12th |
| 303AP | 41 | Lorican | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17th |
| 302AP | 41 | Lorican | 28 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15th |
| 301AP | 17 | Kunghai | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23rd |
| 300AP | 17 | Kunghai | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1st |