Tandy: “Very Special” to “Check Off” Endurance Grand Slam

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Nick Tandy said he feels “very special” to become the first driver to “check off” the so-called ‘endurance racing grand slam’ of overall wins in the 24-hour races at Le Mans, Daytona, Nürburgring and Spa, all coming in Porsche machinery.

Tandy, a former class winner in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teamed with Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor to deliver Porsche’s 20th outright win in the Florida endurance classic on Sunday, in a 1-3 finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The 40-year-old Englishman, who gave Porsche its first Le Mans victory with the 919 Hybrid in 2015, notched top honors at the Nürburgring 24 in 2018 in a Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R, prior to his dramatic win in the 24 Hours of Spa in 2020 in a ROWE Racing Porsche.

Daytona had been the only other major 24-hour race that had eluded the longtime Porsche factory driver, despite his GTLM class win in the race in 2014.

“To be the first person to… do something is, it’s quite unbelievable, really,” Tandy said when asked by Sportscar365 on the feat.

“I think first of all, you’ve got to be proud that you’ve been put in a position to be able to compete in those sort of races and then be in a car that can compete for the win.

“It never really dawned on me about these sort of records and stuff like this until Laurens [Vanthoor], when we won at Spa and somebody said, ‘Well, you’ve got class wins in all the four majors now.’

“And then you kind of look into it and you see — there’s other people, legendary names on these lists who have won various things but never overall in all four. Class winners, yes…

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

Tandy’s achievements come in addition to his three GTLM class victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and overall win, in a Porsche 911 RSR, at the rain-shortened Motul Petit Le Mans in 2018.

“Winning Daytona is a massive thing anyway as a standalone event,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud to be sat here again. Obviously as an overall winner is special.

“To get the big four 24-hour wins, one would be just an incredible career, so to be able to get four and a few Sebrings and a few Petits is dream come true stuff.”