For a farmer, Nick Tandy has not done too bad for himself at Motorsport.
In January, Tandy made the story, making the first guide to win the Grand Slam of 24 -hour games with his victory in Daytona. He added to his victories in previous years to Le Mans, Spa and Nürburgring, all with Porsche.
“For the last three years, I have been trying desperately to win it,” Tandy said in an interview in February, referring to his Daytona victory with Porsche Penske Motorsport. “This year it has come true.
“Honestly, you don’t really think about the size of the achievement until people start talking about it or ask questions about it. It’s a huge thing for me because it’s my world and it’s what I do, but I’m just one person in this huge world.”
Tandy said he did not realize the scale of his achievements until the coming weeks.
“He brought home what I have done, something no one has ever done, let alone a little farmer from the north of Bedfordshire who just decided to fight one day,” he said, referring to a county in England.
Tandy, 40, followed his father, Joe, to Georgia. When not in a race, Tandy supports his father in the operation of a 250 acre farm, exchanges the top speed of 205 miles / hour of the Porsche 963 for the rhythm of a Harvester combination.
“If you look at the story, there have been many agricultural families who have reached motor sport, Jim Clark is probably one of the most famous,” he said. Clark won two Formula 1 driver championships in the 1960s.
“The good I find is when I go I am struggling. I pack my bags. I leave my house and I am in a race and then when I come back, turn off with the crop. It gives me the time to decompress and regulate my strength for the pressure, hard work and energy.
Following the victory of Petit Le Mans in 2013, on the road to Atlanta in Georgia, Tandy triumphed at 24 hours of Le Mans in 2015.
Although he got a win in the Daytona class for his first trip in 2014, it was a long wait to complete the set.
Tandy said that by winning the 24 -hour Le Mans was “all my goals and dreams achieved at this point, but then you think,” Oh, what will happen? ”
After winning the spa, he said: “A journalist said to me:” No one ever won the four 24 -hour matches in history. I thought, “there is a goal, there is a goal.”
Tandy ran to Porsches from 2009 to 2012, then became a project driver the following year. After two years with Corvette in 2021 and 2022, he returned to Porsche as he again launched a full -time program at IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
In the third attempt, Tandy struck Daytona with Felipe Nasr teammates in Brazil and Laurens Vanthoor in Belgium. Tandy and Nasr will be teammates for the rest of this year’s Motor Motor Motor International Sports Calendar, starting from Mobil 1 twelve hours of Sebring.
NASR, a Formula 1 driver with Sauber in 2015 and 2016, is a triple IMSA champion and a winner twice in Sebring.
“Nick has Motor Racing’s Grand Slam more because he won all the most famous 24 -hour matches available,” Nasr said in an interview in February.
“I told Nick after we won on Daytona,” Hi, you have to help me win Le Mans now because you have it all. It’s my turn to ask you for a favor. ““ Nasr has not won in Le Mans, in any class, in five attempts.
Nasr said it was a measure of Tandy’s character as a driver who, with four hours left in Daytona, discussed who would get the final limit. In spite of what is at stake for Tandy, he let Nasr get the wheel.
“I asked him if he wanted to close the race,” Nasr said. “He stood and I could see that he thought, but after a few seconds he looked just in my eyes and said,” Felipe. You’ll jump on this car and drive hell from it to the end. You will finish the match. “That was very nice.
“I have a huge respect for Nick and the achievements in his career. There was no doubt that he could do the job, so to say,” Felipe, you will go out there and win this fight for us “, that was really cool. This was one of the coolest times.”
The NASR IMSA Championship wins in 2018, 2021 and last year with different teammates. Although he successfully worked with Dane Cameron of the United States at Porsche Penske Motorsport in 2024, he saw no problem going to Tandy this season.
“The good thing to get involved with Porsche Penske Motorsport is that it has a large portfolio of drivers who can play between the series, whether IMSA or WEC,” said NASR, referring to the World Endurance Championship. “This is something I fully trust in the team.
“Dane and the team went different paths so that they could find the idea of putting Nick in the car, the oldest in the program, let’s say, with this mix of experience and knowledge of the series.”
Tandy never won the IMSA drivers championship in nine attempts. He finished the second in NASR and Cameron last year in collaboration with Mathieu Jaminet of France.
“It’s funny, but I probably had more battles with Nick on the track last year than I had with any other driver,” Nasr said. “Now we are fighting together, and despite our successes. We are both hungry for more.”
Jonathan Diuguid, chief executive of Porsche Penske Motorsport, said in an interview in February that Tandy and Nasr “have clicked immediately and were successful by the bat. He goes to show that we hope we made the right decision for the rest of the season.”
Diuguid said Tandy’s success in the four 24 -hour matches is due to “a complete understanding of what it takes to be successful in endurance races.
“It’s not just about starting time, traffic management, car care or dealing with conditions. It’s all these things. To succeed in these four races such as this is a huge achievement and something I know does not consider it for granted.”
Sebring is the next box to mark the tandy. He had GTLM wins in 2018, 2019 and 2020, but the overall victory avoided him. With Porsche Penske Motorsport was Tuesday in 2023 and ninth last year.
“I’m lucky enough to win sebring three times in the GT class,” Tandy said. “Sebring, as a whole, will complete the so -called triple crown of events, which is sebring, daytona and Le Mans.
“It will also complete the big six multi -strength matches, which include the big four 24 -hour events and Petit Le Mans, which is 10 hours. I am more confident this year than the last two years and we have almost won the last two years.”
