Tandy Finds Career, Life Balance at AO Racing
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
By Dennis Krause
He’s the namesake of the “Tandy Slam” as the first and only driver to claim overall victory in all four of world motorsport’s major 24-hour endurance races - the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Spa and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
With all those trophies and accolades, British driver Nick Tandy now finds himself enjoying racing, and life, in the Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTD PRO) class of IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. According to the 41-year-old Tandy, making the switch from GTP [Grand Touring Prototype] to GT cars and AO Racing was the perfect career move for him to make this season.
“Honestly, it was time for a change. I had three years in GTP, and we had great results. We had championship wins. We had Sebring and Daytona wins. We had lots of wins, but something just wasn't right for me. And you know, I needed a change to better the rest of my life, and honestly, I was very, very fortunate that there was an opportunity going at AO.
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
“I've said before how much I love IMSA racing. I love sports car racing. I love working with a team of people that respect every other person in the team, and it just made absolute sense when the opportunity came to join AO rather than doing anything else.
“I've been fortunate enough to race different cars, different series, win different races. But quite honestly, if you'd have asked me in July last year what I would like to race next year, it probably would have been a pro-level, factory-backed GT class because the racing is just so good. I get to race against top drivers. I get to race with a proper professional team of absolute, ultimate experts in their field. I get to still work with the manufacturer on developing their car, all the fun bits of being a factory driver, and get to enjoy life outside of racing as well.
“So yeah, it was just a lucky sequence of events that happened, and very happy to be here in the AO camp.”
In addition to driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport the previous three years, Tandy has also raced for the factory Corvette team and CORE back in the GT Le Mans days in IMSA and the American Le Mans Series. But the AO team, founded in September 2022 by software developer and entrepreneur P.J. Hyett and American racing driver Gunnar Jeannette, is every bit a top-notch organization, according to Tandy.
“It's obvious why they’ve won two championships on both sides of the Atlantic in major series [IMSA GTD PRO and LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series], and when you're involved in what goes on behind the scenes, you can see why.
“What Gunnar and PJ have put together is exactly from the infrastructure and the resource and the materials, everything like that. They know what's needed to go racing at the top level, and so it's not like the team wants for anything from a manufacturing or material side. What they've done very smartly, and what makes a team, is the people behind it. And you know, any team that operates well in any sport, or in any walk of life, is a team of people that work together well.
“Obviously, what they've done from a marketing point a standpoint with “Rexy”, “Roxy”, “Spike”, it's absolutely phenomenal. I think they should be lauded what they've done for the whole sport, for the whole of sports car racing, and especially IMSA. What they do to draw people to come and watch our sport, it's just phenomenal what they've done, and there's many people that have contributed to that.
Photo: Michael L. Levitt/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
“But that's just one side of AO” explained Tandy. “You've got that fun part. We all have the great autograph sessions when it's all fun and and everything's going on, but at the same time, when you go back in the office and you get in the the truck and and we sit down and we start talking about what's going on to try and win a race, it is absolutely single-mindedly focused about delivering the results.
“Gunnar does an extremely good job at focusing people into what they're doing. He sits there on a pit stand. He's fully involved with the strategy of what's going on. What Gunnar and PJ have done, and the rest of the people that evolved from the start, is just phenomenal.
“And I saw it a little while back. There were some people I know, some good friends that went from CORE, so I was always kind of keeping an eye on them. We were normally quite near them in the pit lane because Porsche Penske and AO were typically kind of further up the front in the championship, so you share the area of pit lane. So I'd always keep an eye on what's going on, and they struck me as a team that look after their employees, that keeps them happy, so everybody wants to go and work to their full ability, and enjoy themselves, and work as a team together. But also that they know when stuff has to get serious, when decisions have to be made, and there is instances where decisions have to be made for the good of the result, and that's exactly what happens.”
Tandy also notes that there’s an efficiency at AO Racing that some of the bigger teams that have, say, motorsports departments in Germany, or elsewhere, to answer to, that aren’t able to make decisions as quickly.
“Yeah, 100%,” said Tandy. “I've seen it recently when there's decisions made on one side that differ from the the opinions made on another side. Porsche obviously support us a lot. I'm a Porsche employee. I get sent to AO, the cars and the technical support is provided by Porsche, but at the end of the day, when we arrive at the track, it's down to the small group of people [at AO] that are in charge of making those decisions of how the actual car is operated and then what needs to be fed back to the factory to make the car better in the future. It's a very streamlined process, and it does help.
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
“The other thing is, it's a single car entry. Of course, we've got a two car team, but we're in different classes. So you've got single car entry. There is no BS that goes on around cars pitting in front of others and then getting swapped back, and then somebody else makes a decision not to do that, and then none of this crap. Then the whole team becomes pissed off at what's going on, and everyone stops working together. Everyone at AO Racing and “Rexy” and our 77 little green dino, we go racing together as a group. We win as a group. We sometimes lose as a group, but by God, we'll have fun and we'll do the best we can to win as a group.”
Speaking of winning, the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R has yet to taste victory this season, but is firmly in the running for the GTD PRO championship based on its consistent finishes of late, including a second-place at Road America. Going into this weekend’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, Tandy and co-driver Harry King are third in the class standings, trailing leader Dudu Barrichello by just 21-points. How important is it for Tandy and King to get a win yet this season?
“Do we need a win? If you ask me now, would I take a championship with three second places in the run to the to Atlanta? Then absolutely. You know, AO and Porsche and myself and Harry and everyone in the team are there to try and, of course, win races, but [also] win championships. This is the key aim at the start of the season every year. So, of course, everybody wants to win, but at the same time we appreciate how strong GTD PRO is and how strong it's become, and yeah, I would prefer to consistently score points and take a big trophy at the end than have a first and a few 10th and an 11th or something like we did at Detroit. Just to be in the fight and up there in the lead pack and have a chance to race with a bit of strategy, or whatever was going on the race, and get the drivers involved is all you ask for.
“So, yeah, more of the same. It's been good since the summer. It’s been good racing and very close, which is how we want it.”
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
In fact, Tandy has never seen the class championship battle this close with five teams within 113-points at this stage of the season.
“I don't remember it. Honestly, no, I don't. We still have three rounds to go, of course. Out of what do we do now, 10? So, it's still a long part of the season, but you know let's see what it is when it comes to Petit [Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta].
“It's obviously great for the for the series. It's great that different cars are winning. Obviously, the Paul Miller car. We said before Road America. The [No. 1] car was pulling a gap. They were always at the front. They were always competitive. They were always fast. And there was quite a gap to them. To the rest of you know the other five, including the Lexus at that point. But we said it only takes one bad result, one bad race for them, and everyone's back in it. And lo and behold, look what happened at Road America. The car that's got a decent lead has a bad result, and all of a sudden everyone's back in it.
“So yeah, hopefully it stays close and it's interesting to the end.”
Regardless of how the championship sorts itself out, Tandy will forever be known for the “Tandy Slam”. Does he consider that a blessing or a curse?
“It can't be anything but a blessing, can it? No, I mean it's just something you win. You go racing every weekend to try and win, and sometimes you win a major, let's say, and if you win enough of these things, eventually they all add up, and then somebody coins a phrase.
“I’m sure it will be done again. But yeah, to be the the first person in history to do it is something special, isn't it? It happened over 12 months ago, but we're still talking about it now. So it's a very good thing.”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute.