Endurance motor racing star, Nick Tandy added to his legacy on the track with another record-breaking victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida on Saturday (15 March), landing the Bedfordian the ‘Triple Crown’ of endurance racing.
Alongside regular teammates, Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor, Tandy becomes just the 10th driver in motorsport history to claim overall wins in motorsport’s ‘Triple Crown’, including the 12 Hours of Sebring, Daytona 24, and Le Mans.
In January, Tandy became the first ever person in motorsport history to win the ‘Grand Slam’ of endurance racing after claiming overall victory in the Daytona 24 in the same state, extending his team’s lead in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the process.
The ‘Grand Slam’ includes Daytona 24, Le Mans, plus the 24-hour races at Nürburgring and Spa.
Read: Bedford’s Nick Tandy becomes first ever to win ‘Grand Slam’ of endurance races
His Penske team landed a one-two at the Sebring International Raceway on Saturday, with Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Kevin Estre’s number 6 Porsche claiming second place as the German car maker dominated the event.
“You rarely see a sports team or operation that does a single event without any faults or mistakes, and we’ve just celebrated with 40 people who have flawlessly run a car for 36 hours at Daytona and Sebring combined”, said Tandy.
“[It’s a] testament to what Porsche and Penske have put together to allow us to go racing. It’s just incredible that we’ve had this run the last two events”, he added.
The story of the race
Tandy’s Porsche 963 qualified in third for the main event, behind Team RLL’s BMW and the Cadillac V-Series of Whelan Racing but when the BMW was penalised for an incorrect start procedure, that left just the Cadillac to pass.
Tandy was in the car when the Porsche took the lead, overtaking Frederik Vesti, a name some Formula One fans may know as the Mercedes reserve driver.
The finish was slightly less dramatic than that of Daytona, where three cars finished within five seconds of each other, and while their Penske teammates finished just 2.2 seconds behind, the win looked assured a long way before the chequered flag was waved.
Acura Meyer Shank Racing finished in third.
Whether a microsecond or a minute, Tandy and his team won’t care how far ahead they are at the chequered flag, and Penske now have two wins from two in the early stages of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
“The ‘Triple Crown’ is probably one of the more historic accomplishments or accolades”, added Tandy.
“You look at the names of the people on that list that you are linked with, and that’s an unbelievable thing.”
Tandy’s Penske team now have a 91-point advantage after two rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship with the next round taking place in California at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
That race lasts for a far less demanding time of just 100 minutes, and takes place across Friday 11 and Saturday 12 April.
However the rest of the season may pan out remains to be seen, but Tandy’s legacy in motorsport is cemented with another rare achievement in the Triple Crown, adding to his unprecedented ‘Grand Slam’ at the beginning of the calendar year.
You can follow the progress of Nick and Team Penske throughout the summer and into the autumn at the IMSA website here.
