Andy
Wallace needs few introductions to sportscar enthusiasts.
His name has been top of the league ever since he helped
Jaguar to a memorable outright victory in the 1988 Le Mans
24 Hours, co driving with Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries.
Since then he’s made a total of seventeen appearances
at Le Mans, finished on the podium another three times,
taken two further class wins, and played a central role
in Bentley’s historic return in 2001 and 2002.
One of the most respected names in sportscar racing, British-born
Wallace is the only professional racing driver to have won
all the major contemporary classics. In an impressive career
he has finished on the podium in more than 70 top-ranking
events, winning more than thirty, including the Le Mans
24 Hours (1988), the Daytona 24 Hours (1990, 1997, 1999),
Sebring 12 Hours (1992, 1993), Silverstone 4 Hours (1995,
1996) and Petit Le Mans (1999). Before all that he was also
a star in single-seaters, winning the British Formula 3
title in 1986 with an impressive 11 victories.
In
recent years Andy Wallace has been one of the dominant performers
in American sportscar racing, mainly at the wheel of the
Dyson Racing MG Lola EX257 (right) in the American
Le Mans Series. His
knowledge of a car so essentially similar to the MG EX264
meant he felt instantly at home in the RML machine, and
his contribution to the team's dominant win in the LMP2
category at Le Mans in June 2006 was invaluable.
Another
achievement that was tucked neatly under Andy's belt (for
almost 7years) was that of having held the speed record
for a production-based road car. In March 1998 he achieved
240.14 miles-per-hour (386.5 kph) in a McLaren F1 along
the 9 km straight at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track
in Wolfsburg, Germany. (The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 currently
holds the production car record at 407.5 km/h or 253.2 mph.)
Despite
a lengthy parallel career, often as competitors on track,
he and Thomas Erdos had never actually shared a car until
Le Mans last year, but both have since agreed that it is
an experience they hope to repeat - not only at Le Mans
in 2007, but perhaps also in other events. They are clearly
well-matched, and work exceptionally well together.
This
season Andy is still driving for Dyson Racing in the American
Le Mans Series, but the team's weapon of choice has changed.
The EX257 has finally been retired from top-level sportscar
racing after an impressive six years of competition, and
Dyson now fields a pair of Porsche's fabulous LMP2 RS Spyders.
Andy shares the #16 Spyder with Butch Leitzinger.
The
Press Release (Here)
announcing Andy's drive with RML at Le Mans 2006 expands
on the information provided here, while his personal website
includes extensive historical galleries and results data.
Andy
is married with two children and lives near Buckingham.
Please
note: for a regularly updated biography, please visit www.rml-adgroup.com