DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Nick Tandy completed a feat in sports car racing that has never been done before following Sunday’s finish of the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Co-piloting the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 alongside Felipe Nasr and Laruens Vanthoor, the 40-year-old British driver became the first driver to score overall victories in every major 24-hour sports car race.
That includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa, Nürburgring 24 Hours and the Rolex 24.
It’s an accomplishment that even Tandy felt was “quite unbelievable.”
“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 that sort of — those sort of races, and then be in a car that can compete for the win,” Tandy said.
“But yeah, it never really dawned on me about these sort of records and stuff like this until Laurens, 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.
“But yeah, it’s something that since that day in probably 2020, it’s something that I’ve definitely wanted to check off the list.”
Tandy scored a GT Le Mans class victory in 2014, however, Sunday was his first overall triumph.
Alongside Tandy’s monumental feat, it was team owner Roger Penske’s second straight victory at the famed twice-around-the-clock event, where Nasr also anchored the final stint en route to victory.
“Winning Daytona is a massive thing anyway as a standalone event,” Tandy said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m very proud to be sat here again. Obviously as an overall winner is special.
“But yeah, like you say, 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 (12 Hours of Sebring) and a few Petits (Petit Le Mans) is dream come true stuff.”
