Nick Tandy: The maestro of 24-hour sportscar racing

Yesterday, Nick Tandy was already one of the most decorated sports car drivers of all time. Today, he’s done something no one else has; won the Le Mans 24, Nürburgring 24, Spa 24 and now, the Rolex 24 at Daytona overall.

The 40-year-old Briton is paired with Felipe Nasr for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech season in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 GTP, while Laurens Vanthoor joined for this year’s Rolex 24. It’s two Rolex 24s in a row for the No. 7 car and Nasr, too.

“To be the first person ever to do something is quite unbelievable really,” Tandy said in a post-race press conference. “First of all you’ve got to be proud that you’ve been put in a position to compete in those races, then be in a car to compete for the win. It never really dawned on me, records and stuff like this until [I] won Spa.”

An overall win at Nürburgring came in 2018 with Manthey Racing in a 911 GT3 R and that Spa 24 Hours victory was in 2020, again in a 911. Other drivers have a mix of overall and class victories in these 24-hour classics, but Tandy is the only one to win these four outright.

“It’s something since that day in 2020 that I’ve wanted to check off the list,” Tandy said.

His chase for the overall Daytona win was getting more serious in 2023, when he rejoined Porsche after a couple years with Corvette Racing. Prior, he had a class win at the race in 2014, driving the factory Porsche 911 RSR in the GTLM class. His overall Le Mans win came with Porsche in 2015, the first victory for the 919 LMP1 car. Later that year, he was part of one of Porsche’s most remarkable modern victories, as part of the team that piloted a GTLM 911 RSR to an overall win at Petit Le Mans.

While the No. 7 Porsche dominated much of the race, it was not a straightforward victory for Tandy, Vanthoor, and Nasr. The No. 24 BMW was among the fastest cars in the field, though its race came unraveled when driver Dries Vanthoor — brother of Laurens — had contact with a GTD Ferrari, and later, the No. 6 Porsche.

Race winner #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor (Photo by: Andreas Beil)

The No. 6 and No. 7 cars battled fiercely in the final hour of the race, swapping positions a couple times. That also let the hard charging Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing make a late attempt for the win, taking the 2nd from the No. 6. But by that point, Nasr in the No. 7 had pulled what ended up being an insurmountable lead.

“To get the big four 24-hour wins, I mean one would just be an incredible career, so to be able to get four and a few Sebrings and a few Petits, it’s just dream stuff,” Tandy said.