Nick Tandy

The British racing driver Nick Tandy reached the top of the world in June 2015, winning the 24 hours of Le Mans alongside Porsche teammates Earl Bamber and Nico Hulkenberg. When talking after the race, crying Nick told that he could retire at the age 31 and he wouldn't be sorry because his dream became true with Le Mans victory.

Luckily, Nick didn't retire and he continued to collect victories all over the world, driving mostly Porsches but also other race cars. His most recent great win was at 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2018.

Prior to his Le Mans success, Nick Tandy was competing in different GT championships and Porsche single-make series, winning the German Porsche Carrera Cup championship title in 2011. Earlier in a career, before starting to race with Porsches, Nick was a successful single-seater and ministox racer.

Nick Tandy - 2015 Le Mans winner

Nick followed his brother Joe to the race track

Nicholas Nick Tandy was born on November 5, 1984, in Bedford, England. Following his older brother Joe (born in 1983), Nick started his racing career in the Ministox competitions at the age 11. In his debut season, Nick was the best Ministox driver in the Midland region. Year by year, Tandy brothers progressed in the Ministox competitions and they scored a 1-2 victory at the 1998 World Championship, with Joe winning the title and Nick being second.

Nick's career with mini cars continued in the Mini Se7en Championship in 2001 and he spent three seasons in it. In 2005, Tandy switched to the BRDC Single-seater championship,winning the title with eleven wins in fourteen races.

Tandy entered Formula Ford championship in 2006

He earned the Silverstone Scholarship and moved to the British Formula Ford championship in 2006. He continued to collect wins and finished as the championship runner-up, behind Nathan Freke. The second part of the season he was driving for the newly formed team of his brother Joe (JTR – Joe Tandy Racing). Nick spent one more season in the Formula Ford, finishing third in the points and winning the 2007 Formula Ford Festival.

After his Formula Ford Festival win, Tandy competed in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy at Snetterton, and in particular the Formula Palmer Audi Shootout, which guarantees a place on the shortlist for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for the young drivers. He won the Shootout,  but the BRDC Award went to Stefan Wilson.

Joe and Nick Tandy

Moving to Formula 3 in 2008

In 2008, the JTR moved its operations to the British F3 International Series. Tandy was driving the Mercedes-powered Mygale chassis and finished 9th in the points, with three podiums in twenty races.

In August 2008, he was driving the Porsche 911 GT3 for the first time, as a guest driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. He participated in two races at Silverstone, winning the first race.

Winning the race after brother's death

In 2009, Tandy expanded his Formula 3 activities, competing both in the British and European F3 Series. On May 13, 2009, the tragedy struck Tandy family. Joe Tandy lost his life in a traffic accident while driving his BMW. Despite a loss, the team decided to continue its operations.

In the British championship, Nick was driving JTR's Mygale-Mercedes, winning one race (Rockingham) soon after his brother's death. He finished 10th in the points.  In the European championship, he participated in six rounds for the Kolles & Heinz Union, driving the Dallara F308 (Volkswagen) without any notable results.

Tandy joined Konrad Motorsport in 2009

Impressive performances in debut Porsche races

The milestone changes happened late in a season when Nick was invited by Konrad Motorsport to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany at Dijon-Prenois circuit. Without any testing, Tandy impresses everybody and finished second in the race.

It opened him an opportunity to compete in the season's finale of the 2009 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at Abu Dhabi. He impressed again, finishing second in the first race.

2011 German Carrera Cup champion

Tandy has won the German Carrera Cup in 2011

After those successful races, the logical step for 2010 was his full entry to the Porsche single-make competitions. He signed for Konrad Motorsport and competed full season both in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. Scoring eight wins in total (five in Germany, three in PSC), Tandy finished as the runner-up in both series. The German champion was Nicolas Armindo, the Supercup winner was Rene Rast.

In 2011, Tandy returned to both competitions, determined to take at least one title. With three wins in nine races, he became the German Carrera Cup champion, ahead of Sean Edwards. In the Supercup, Rene Rast was a champion again, Tandy finished fifth in the points. Tandy also had guest appearances in the British Carrera Cup, winning three of four races.

Nick Tandy and late Sean Edwards

DNF results in Daytona and Le Mans debut

During 2011, besides driving in different Porsche one-make competitions, Tandy expanded his activities to the international sports car racing, participating for the first time in the endurance classics – Daytona 24h and Le Mans 24h. At Daytona, he was a member of the Burtin Racing #17 crew in the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, together with Claudio Burtin, Martin Ragginger and Nicolas Armindo. They didn't finish the race.

A retirement was also a result of Tandy's debut appearance at Circuit de la Sarthe, together with Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Bryce Miller in the Team Felbemayr-Proton's Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.

Marco Holzer and Nick Tandy in 2012

Runner-up in the 2012 International GT Open

In 2012, Tandy competed full-time in two championships – ADAC GT Masters with Schutz Motorsport and International GT Open with Manthey Racing. He finished second in the International GT Open classification, together with Marco Holzer, just one point behind Ferrari's duo Gianmaria Bruni/Federico Leo. In the German championship, Tandy finished 7th in the points.

Besides those two full-time commitments, Tandy had a diverse schedule, driving Porsches also in the British GT Championship, American Le Mans Series, Grand American Rolex Series and participating for the first time at 24h Nürburgring.

2013 - the most diverse schedule ever

In 2013, Tandy had the most diverse schedule ever, being signed as Porsche Motorsport factory driver and competing with eight different teams all over the world. His main competition was the British GT Championship, where he participated in all ten races with Trackspeed team, sharing the car mostly with David Ashburn and finishing 6th in the points.

Of other series, he was most successful in the European Le Mans Series, winning two races for Proton Competition and finishing third in the GTE class standings. Other notable results in 2013 were class victories at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca.

Nick is driving the #911 Porsche in the IMSA championship since 2014

IMSA and WEC factory driver for Porsche Motorsport

In 2014, Nick Tandy's main job was in the cockpit of the factory-entered #911 Porsche 911 RSR in the IMSA United SportsCar Championship. Together with Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet, Tandy took the GTLM class victory at Daytona 24h. Later in the season, they didn't score any more wins and podiums, finishing 11th in the points.

In the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, Tandy participated in three races for Porsche Team Manthey, driving the Porsche 911 RSR in the GTE Pro class and scoring the second-place finish at Silverstone. At 24 hours of Le Mans, Tandy, Pilet and Jorg Bergmeister had a tough race and they finished seventh in class.

Besides driving for the factory teams, Tandy participated as a guest in some races of the British GT Championship and Pirelli World Challenge, winning one race in each of those two competitions.

2015 Le Mans winners

2015 - sensational win for Le Mans LMP1 rookies

For the 2015 season, the #911 Porsche remained Tandy's workplace. He won four of eight races in the GTLM class of the IMSA United SportsCar Championship, but as he didn't participate in all rounds, he finished ninth in the points, while his teammate Patrick Pilet became the IMSA GTLM champion.

In the FIA World Endurance Championship, he started the season driving the Oreca LMP2 prototype for KCMG team at Silverstone, together with Matthew Howson and Richard Bradley.

At Spa round, he switched to the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid, the third car of the Porsche factory team, as a preparation for the Le Mans race. Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth at Spa and then took the sensational victory at Le Mans. All three drivers were LMP1 rookies at Le Mans and nobody counted on them, but they gave the 17th overall victory to Porsche, the first after 1998.

For the rest of the 2015 FIA WEC season, Tandy returned to the #47 KCMG Oreca, helping the team to finish second in the LMP2 class championship standings.

KCMG's Oreca 05 was Nick's first prototype ride

Just one victory in 2016, no wins in 2017

For the 2016 season, Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy remained the crew in the #911 Porsche in the renamed IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. They finished 8th in the points of the GTLM class after ten races, scoring only one victory (Long Beach). Their partner in the endurance races was Kevin Estre. The same trio participated at Le Mans 24h in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR, retiring after 135 laps due to an oil leak.

In 2017, Tandy progressed to the Porsche LMP Team to compete full season in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He was sharing the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid with defending FIA WEC champion Neel Jani and Porsche newcomer Andre Lotterer. They retired at Le Mans, scoring podiums in seven races and finishing fourth in the points.

Nick Tandy (left) with teammates after Nurburgring 24h victory in 2018

Victories at Sebring 12h, Petit Le Mans, Nurburgring 24h in 2018

When Porsche left LMP class in 2018, Tandy returned to the IMSA SportsCar Championship as a driver of the #911 Porsche 911 RSR, with Patrick Pilet as his full-time co-driver. They finished seventh in the points at the end of the season but celebrated victories in two endurance classics - Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans.

In 2018, Tandy also celebrated one big victory in Europe, winning the Nurburgring 24 Hours in Manthey Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 R, together with Patrick Pilet, Richard Lietz and Fred Makowiecki.

In 2019, Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet finished second in the IMSA GTLM championship after winning three races, including Sebring 12 Hours. Outside IMSA Championship, he was second at Spa 24 Hours and third at Le Mans 24 Hours.

Photos: Nick Tandy FB, Porsche Newsroom, eurocarnews.com, gpupdate.net,