Nick Tandy was named earlier today as the 10th 2013 Porsche Factory Driver , the 28 year old Briton joins Joerg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Wolf Henzler, Marco Holzer, Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, Patrick Long and Patrick Pilet on the roster.
“A big dream has come true. I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Tandy. “Ever since I first drove a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup it was clear to me that there could be nothing better than to become a works pilot for Porsche. It’s great that Porsche recognized what I have achieved so far and that they included me in the factory pilot family. I’ll do everything to merit this trust.”
“I’m delighted to welcome Nick as our tenth works driver,” said Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “His career is exemplary. He followed up his title victory in the Carrera Cup Deutschland with a convincing performance in the international Grand Touring scene. With his ability, he is a perfect complement to our driver line up which consists of the very best drivers from sports car racing.”
After successes in various series including Formula Ford, Formula Palmer as well as Formula 3 the death of his brother, F3 team boss Joe Tandy, in a road accident in 2009 almost ended Nick’s career as a race driver.
Then though long-time Porsche one-make series team principal Franz Konrad became aware of Tandy and his impressive performances at guest appearances in the Carrera Cup Great Britain. Konrad put him in the cockpit of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for one race in September. The Briton thanked him in his own special way: by clinching second in both the qualifying and the race.
In 2010, five victories in the Carrera Cup Deutschland earned Tandy vice championship honours and in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup only one driver bettered the Briton. In 2011 the Carrera Cup Deutschland title fell to Tandy.
Olaf Manthey (Manthey-Racing) contracted the 2011 champion for the International GT Open. Sharing driving duties with Porsche factory pilot Marco Holzer, he narrowly missed out on the title despite scoring five wins over the course of the season in the 911 GT3 RSR.
In addition Tandy and his teammate Christian Engelhart won four races of the ADAC GT Masters with a 911 GT3 R and there were runs and valuable experience too for Nick at Le Mans and in the American Le Mans Series.
Nick Tandy kicks off his first season as a Porsche works driver in Daytona with Porsche Junior driver Michael Christensen in a Konrad Motorsport Cup car.
In the 2013 season, Tandy is set to once again contest the International GT Open amongs other series and races.
