Tandy on “Attack Mode” After Post-Watkins Points Swing

Photo: Bob Chapman/Porsche

Nick Tandy said he and co-driver Mathieu Jaminet are on “attack mode” for the final four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP races of the season, in the hopes recapturing the points lead.

A post-race penalty for a technical infraction in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, where Tandy and Porsche Penske Motorsport co-driver Mathieu Jaminet initially claimed victory at, resulted in a 150-point championship swing that has taken the duo out of the lead and now at a 75-point deficit.

Tandy and Jaminet sit third in the standings entering this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, behind the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims, as well as BMW M Team RLL’s Connor De Philippi and Nick Yelloly, who inherited the win at The Glen.

“Losing those points, it makes the following weekends, starting here, a bit clearer,” Tandy told Sportscar365.

“Instead of trying to maybe protect a points lead, we still need to go chasing.

“The easiest way to do it would be to win four races to wrap up a championship, but realistically, we don’t have to look at protecting, we’re still on attack mode.

“It’s disappointing that points swing difference but it’s still mid-season.

“The good thing is that it’s shown the consistency as a team has been the reason why we were quite ahead on points pre-tech at Watkins Glen.

“Knowing that the operation of the team and how everybody, especially on the 6 side with me and Mathieu, has been performing this season gives us confidence.

“Of course we don’t know if we’re going to be quick but when we’re quick we need to maximize. It’s full attack.”

Tandy and Jaminet first took over the points lead following their breakthrough victory on the streets of Long Beach in April, in what could be characterized as an up-and-down start to the new GTP era in the points tables.

“We were shocked to see we were in the lead of the championship after Long Beach because it was the first race we finished,” the Englishman said.

“But it showed the inconsistency of cars and teams so far this year in GTP.

“That’s the thing. The 31 is leading because they’ve potentially made the least mistakes throughout five races.

“We were up there also because we made the least mistakes and when we finished, we had solid runs.

“It shows mistake-free weekends and consistency is key to championship runs. It’s not always the key to race victories but it’s good to know we’ve been one of those standout teams that over the first five races in that regard.”

With Porsche Penske, nor any of the GTP teams having previously tested at the track formerly known as Mosport, Tandy predicts that track time will be crucial to success this weekend.

“It is but the more we do it, the more weekends we race on both sides of the Atlantic, the more we’re learning,” he said.

“We went into Long Beach and we had no kind of idea of where the car was going to be and what we had to do for that type of circuit.

“We went to Laguna and it was a similar sort of scenario with the track surface and the level of downforce on how to set the car up.

“It’s a little bit like that here but everybody’s got that knowledge from other places, practice becomes more critical towards it.

“Here, if you have a problem with the car or something silly happens in practice and you lose one of your two practice sessions, it could be massive.

“Coming to a track where you haven’t been and haven’t tested, it brings more importance to the two practice sessions that we now have.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John