Why no Tandy?

I was saddened to see Nick Tandy, the Porsche factory driver, at the wheel of a Corvette at the Daytona 24 Hours race at the very end of January. To my mind Tandy is THE driver you need at the wheel of a Porsche on an American racetrack. I also know he’s a good friend of this magazine, so do you have any word on what happened between manufacturer and driver?

Unfortunately (and much to our dismay here at Total 911) Nick Tandy’s central works contract at Porsche was not renewed for the 2021 motor-racing season. The move was part of a big overhaul of Weissach’s driver lineup, brought about by the manufacturer’s decision to scale back its racing for 2021 in the midst of COVID-19 cost ramifications. As a result, Porsche pulled out of racing in the US IMSA series, which spelled the end for Tandy, who has enjoyed unprecedented success in 911s all over North America.

Porsche whittled down its driver numbers from 21 in 2020 to just 14 for this year, and some other big names have made way, including Earl Bamber, Tandy’s teammate for the 2015 Le Mans outright victory, plus seasoned GT driver Patrick Pilet (all pictured above). Tandy, quite rightly wanting to continue racing in the United States where his talents are so revered, opted to join the Corvette works team for the 2021 season. His friends at Total 911 wish him all the very best.