Porsche factory driver and 2015 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy has announced plans to field three 911 GT3 Cup cars in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB for 2017.
Early indications are that Tandy’s team, multiple single seater champions JTR, is looking to enter one car in each of the championship’s three classes: Pro, Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2.
JTR took reigning Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Dan Cammish to his 2013 Formula Ford title, but 2017 will be the team’s first time making the switch from single seaters to sports cars.
Team owner Nick Tandy made Porsche history after completing a similar move, the British factory Porsche race driver helping the Stuttgart marque to a record seventeenth outright victory at Le Mans last year.
In 2016 Tandy has been racing a works 911 RSR in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. Earlier in his career, he won four Porsche Carrera Cup GB races, placed second in the 2010 Porsche Mobil One Supercup and was the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland champion:
“I went from single seaters to racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, so I know how important success in these championships has been to my career and progress up the Porsche Motorsport pyramid into LMP1 last year.
“The role played by the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in helping aspiring drivers to the top level of motorsport has continued to grow every season, something reinforced by the status of the race weekends the championship has attended in 2016. This is the primary reason why JTR has taken the decision to aim for three cars in the championship for 2017.”
2016 has been a strong year for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, with rounds alongside the World Endurance Championship and a guest class in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup supporting the British Grand Prix underlining what the championship has to offer throughout its three main classes. JTR will be the seventh new team to join the grid since the start of the 2015 season.
James MacNaughton, Motorsport Manager for Porsche Cars Great Britain, commented:
“We’re always getting feedback from our teams and drivers and at the same time we monitor how things are moving within the world of motorsport. By taking all of this on board and planning ahead, we’re constantly striving to make the Porsche Carrera Cup GB the best platform we can for all our competitors.
“For 2017 we’re hoping to have a representation at Le Mans, along with developing all the links with top international motorsport that have proved so successful this season. Nick Tandy has been an amazing example of what a talented driver can achieve through racing with Porsche, and welcoming a team like JTR with the record of success they have is a proud moment for us.”
