Andrew Robert Watson (born 21 January 1995) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

racing driver from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

currently competing in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK. Throughout his career Watson has competed in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

and endurance racing, until his switch to

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

in 2023. He is a former

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

junior.

Racing career

Early career

Watson began his motor racing career at the age of 15, in the Ginetta Junior Ireland Championship, making regular podiums through to 2011. That year, Andrew joined Douglas Motorsport team to race in the final two rounds of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Silverstone. 2012 saw Watson contest the entire Ginetta Junior championship season, again with Douglas Motorsport. The season saw him deliver fifth place in the Championship, achieving six podium places, including second places and his maiden victory, with only two non-finishes out of the twenty-round season.

2013 – Ginetta GT Supercup

Watson's Ginetta Junior team decided to enter the senior competition, the

Ginetta GT Supercup The Ginetta GT4 Supercup is a one-make racing, Sports car racing series based in the United Kingdom, using identical Ginetta G50 and G55 sports cars. The championship supported the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) until the end of t ...

, using a

Ginetta G55 The Ginetta G55 is a specialist sports car, which has been built by Ginetta Cars since 2011. It is built to the FIA GT3 regulations, and the cars are raced in a one-make series; the Ginetta GT Supercup. In addition to this, they are also used i ...

. At the first meeting of the season at Brands Hatch Indy circuit, Watson qualified second despite having little experience in the much more powerful G55 car. This translated to a seventh-place finish in round 1, followed by an eighth place in round 2, both on the Saturday. Round 3 was held on Sunday an even more impressive finish in fourth place cemented his arrival in the senior ranks. Success at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

at the second meeting of the year, was not so easy to repeat but Watson did qualify 3rd and managed to get the fastest lap in round 5. Watson achieved his first podium in the GT Supercup, with a second-place finish in round 7, at the year's third meeting at Thruxton in Hampshire. At

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA-approved circui ...

, Watson achieved pole position for round 18 (being the meeting's 1st race) on 24 August. This could not be converted to a maiden race win in the GT Supercup owing to him having to serve a drive-through penalty. He eventually finished the race in 10th place. In round 20 at Knockhill, Watson led the race for 23 of the 24 lap race however he was overtaken for the lead by championship leader

Tom Ingram Tom Ingram (born 20 August 1993) is a British racing driver, currently racing in the British Touring Car Championship for Excelr8 Motorsport, Team VERTU. Having won the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2010 and the Ginetta G50, G50 class of the ...

. A last corner overtake saw Matt Nicoll-Jones take second place with Watson gaining holding on to third place. Watson finished the season in seventh place overall in the standings with 372 points.

2014 – Ginetta GT4 Supercup

For the now renamed 2014 Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Watson stayed with long-term team Douglas Motorsport alongside a new teammate, Harry Woodhead, winner of the 2013 Ginetta Junior Championship. Success came early, with pole position, fastest lap and a win in the opening round at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

, followed by second and third-place finishes in the next two rounds. A further win at Thruxton in round 9 of the series, saw Watson leading the championship with 230 points. Watson eventually finished the season in fourth place on 640 points.

2015 – British GT Championship

In 2015, Watson made a switch to the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports G ...

driving a McLaren 650S GT3 for Von Ryan Racing as part of the

McLaren Young Driver Programme The McLaren Driver Development Programme, formerly known as the McLaren Young Driver Programme, is a driver development programme operated by McLaren. It is intended to offer year-by-year guidance, assistance and endorsement to help promising y ...

. He is competing in the GT3 class, a step-up from the GT4 class he previously drove in the 2014 Ginetta GT4 Supercup. Watson scored his best result of the season when he and fellow McLaren GT “Young Driver” Ross Wylie finished seventh in the Silverstone 500 in May 2015, only 20 seconds behind the podium places. The race at Silverstone was preceded by races at Rockingham and Oulton Park. At Oulton Park in April 2015, Watson and his teammate Ross Wiley placed a ninth-place finish in the second race, whilst at Rockingham in May 2015, the team retired from the race on the opening lap following a collision. Watson also raced in 4 races of the International Open GT Championship, scoring 1 race win and 1 pole position. In addition, Watson competed in the Sepang 12 hours and secured a class victory.

2016 – Blancpain GT Championship

For 2016, Watson raced in the

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

with Garage 59 in a McLaren 650S GT3 as a member of the McLaren GT Young Driver Academy. 2016 also saw Watson make his debut at the famous Bathurst 12 hour race, where he finished a credible 9th overall on his first visit to the track.

2017 – Blancpain GT Championship

Watson continued to race in the

and also the

Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) with the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Born as the FIA GT Series in 2013, it was spon ...

again behind the wheel of the McLaren 650s, but this time representing Strakka racing in the 2017 Blancpain GT Series.

2018 – Blancpain GT Championship

Watson remained in the McLaren 650S GT3 racing with Garage 59 in the

. Andrew's 2018 highlights included achieving pole position in the AM class at the Blancpain 24 Hours of Spa and pole position in the PRO Class at Paul Ricard. Watson also achieved an excellent podium position at the 1,000 kilometres of Paul Ricard as Andrew in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren qualified on the front row and led for the majority of the race, before eventually coming home in 3rd place - marking a proud moment in Andrew's career as he achieved his first overall podium finish in the Blancpain GT Series. Watson also raced in the

for 3Y in a BMW M6 GT3, which included race victory in the Silver Class at Brands Hatch.

2019 – Blancpain GT Championship

Watson's 2019 season saw him compete in the European Blancpain GT Endurance Series with Andrew rejoining the Garage 59 team, following their switch to the

Aston Martin Vantage GT3 The Aston Martin Vantage is a series of hand-built sports cars from the British automotive manufacturer Aston Martin. Aston Martin has previously used the "Vantage" name on high-performance variants of their existing GT models, notably on the ...

's for the 2019 Blancpain campaign.

2019/20 – FIA World Endurance Championship

Andrew Watson was selected to join the Gulf Racing team in the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship. Racing a Porsche 911 RSR, Andrew collected his maiden World Championship podium in Bahrain as the tea
finished third
in the GTE-Am Class. Andrew also made his debut in the Aston Martin Vantage GTE as he featured in the FIA World Endurance Championship Rookie Test with Aston Martin Racing.

2020 – Daytona 24 Hours

Andrew Watson made his

Daytona 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout, ...

debut in January

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

after securing a late drive with

. Replacing the injured Paul Dalla Lana, the Northern Irishman joined

Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Nunes Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972), is a Portuguese former professional racing driver. He was the first Portuguese driver to score a point in a Formula One World Championship event, in the ...

Mathias Lauda Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver notable for winning the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Am category. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki ...

and Ross Gunn in the #98

. However, the team did not finish the race due to a crash after 189 completed laps.

2020 – Bathurst 12 Hours

On his fourth appearance at the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

s, Andrew Watson celebrated a podium finish at the 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race. Watson, along with Garage 59 team-mates Oliver Hart and Roman De Angelis, finished third in the Silver class and 14th overall at

Mount Panorama Mount Panorama Circuit, officially Mount Panorama/Wahluu via Dual_naming#Australia, dual naming, is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama, New South Wal ...

behind the wheel on an

British Touring Car Championship

Power Maxed Racing (2023)

On 18 January 2023, it was announced that Watson would drive for CarStore Power Maxed Racing in the

2023 British Touring Car Championship The 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (commonly abbreviated as BTCC) was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing ...

, driving a

Vauxhall Astra The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall since 1980. Over its eight generations, it has been made at several GM/Opel/Stellantis plants around Europe - however most versio ...

. This would be Watson's first time in

, and his first time racing a

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...

car. The Northern Irishman impressed on debut, qualifying ninth at the first round at

, ahead of teammate

Árón Taylor-Smith Árón Taylor-Smith (Given name#Name at birth, né Smith; Born 9 November 1989) is an Irish racing driver currently competing in the 2023 British Touring Car Championship, British Touring Car Championship for Speedworks Motorsport, Toyota Gazoo ...

and fellow rookie teammate Mikey Doble. In the first race of the weekend, he climbed 5 positions to finish 4th overall, and 1st in the Jack Sears Trophy.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete British GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 2002 just in feature races, 2003–present all races)

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Andrew 1995 births Living people Motorsport people from Belfast Racing drivers from Northern Ireland British GT Championship drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Ginetta GT4 Supercup drivers Ginetta Junior Championship drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Teo Martín Motorsport drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Strakka Racing drivers McLaren Racing drivers TF Sport drivers