Charlie Eastwood (born 11 August 1995 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

) is a 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 ...

who currently competes in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for

TF Sport TF Sport is an auto racing team founded by Tom Ferrier and headquartered in Slinfold, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom. It competed in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship with a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with support from Corv ...

. Having been an

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

factory driver, Eastwood was signed by

Corvette Racing Corvette Racing was an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing was originally the official racing program for General M ...

in 2023. The Irishman has collected a number of accolades in sportscar racing, including winning the 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the

2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup The 2019 GT Series Endurance Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup) was the ninth season of the GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 14 April at Monza and ended on 29 September in Barcelona. The ...

in the Pro-Am category, the LMP2 Pro-Am class of the

2022 European Le Mans Series The 2022 European Le Mans Series was the nineteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 17 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 16 Oct ...

, as well as the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series.

Early career

Having become the 2012 Rotax Max World Karting champion, Eastwood began his single-seater career in 2014, driving in the

BRDC Formula 4 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships, the GB4 Champ ...

for Douglas Motorsport. He would score two podiums at the season-ending round at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

to finish tenth overall. Eastwood began the following year with a campaign in the

Toyota Racing Series The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. ...

in New Zealand, where he would score three podiums as part of the M2 Competition outfit. Thereafter, he would compete in various rounds of the

Formula Renault NEC The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whole of Europe. Th ...

and

Eurocup Formula Renault Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault S ...

categories, where he would not score any podiums. At the end of the year, Eastwood would win a two-year scholarship to become a Porsche-supported driver. In 2016, Eastwood switched to sportscars, driving for

Redline Racing Redline Racing is a British racing team that is currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain and are defending team and drivers champions. They have previously competed in the Porsche Supercup between 2007 and 2008. Early h ...

in the

Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain The Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain is a multi-event one-make motor racing series that takes place in the United Kingdom for the Porsche 911 GT3. Being the fastest and most successful single marque GT championship in the UK, the Carrera Cup ...

. The Irishman impressed during his rookie season, claiming ten podiums and a win 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 ...

to finish the campaign in third place. He remained in the series in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, where four victories and a further six rostrum appearances helped him win the championship on countback against Dino Zamparelli.

GT career

Ahead of the 2018 season, Eastwood signed with

to compete in the Silver Cup class of 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 ...

as well as the LMGTE Am category of the

. In the former, Eastwood and teammates

Ahmad Al Harthy Ahmad Al Harthy (born 31 August 1981 in Muscat, Oman) is an Omani racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMGT3 Class in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 for BMW M Team WRT alongside nine-time MotoGP Champion Valent ...

and Euan McKay struggled, scoring a best in-class finish of fourth to end up seventh in the standings, last of all full-time entrants. The latter series brought more success, as the team finished on the podium four times, thus ending up third in the GTE Am standings. In 2019, Eastwood would remain with TF to race in both series. Partnering Al Harthy and

Salih Yoluç Ahmet Salih Yoluç (born 22 August 1985, Istanbul) is a Turkish racing driver. As a bronze-ranked competitor, Yoluç has taken notable accolades in sportscar racing, including the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2020 LMGTE Am class victory at Le Mans ...

in the Pro-Am Cup of the

Blancpain Endurance Series 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 G ...

, Eastwood would clinch the championship, having won in the Pro-Am class at the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

. In the WEC, Eastwood and Yoluç were joined by pro driver

Jonathan Adam Jonathan Robert "Jonny" Adam (born 4 September 1984 in Lochgelly, Fife) is a British racing driver and a factory driver for Aston Martin Racing. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons – winning in 2007 and ...

, alongside whom they won the LMGTE Am category at the

2020 24 Hours of Le Mans The 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''88e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars fielded by teams of th ...

and took the runner-up spot in the championship thanks to three further victories. During the COVID-19 pandemic-affected 2020 campaign, Eastwood and Yoluç took part in the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ...

series's pro class. The pair won three races, missing out on the title by just two points.

Prototype & GT mix

Having competed in the GT class of the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

to start out 2021, Eastwood would take his first step into prototype racing by driving in the European Le Mans Series's LMP2 category for TF Sport-run Racing Team Turkey. Listed in the Pro-Am subclass, Eastwood and Salih Yoluç scored a lone win at Le Castellet alongside

Harry Tincknell Harry William Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin THOR Team. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debu ...

and placed fourth in the standings, having withdrawn from the season finale due to a crash in practice. The year also saw Eastwood win at Snetterton in 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 ...

and take victory in a one-off round of the

. The following year once again started with a campaign in the AsLMS, where Eastwood led Oman Racing towards sixth in the standings. He then embarked on his sophomore season in the

ELMS The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, where he and Yoluç were joined by

Jack Aitken Jack Anthony Han-Aitken (Korean language, Korean: 한세용, ''Han Se-yong''; born 23 September 1995) is a British and South Korean racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Action Express Racing, Cadillac Whelen and i ...

for the majority of races. The trio scored three LMP2 Pro-Am victories, with a last-lap pass by one-off Aitken replacement

Will Stevens William Jonathan Richard Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota Sport, Jota. Stevens competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance ...

giving the team a fourth win at Spa, on their way to a Pro-Am championship; Eastwood contributing to the title with chasing stints during the middle part of races. In 2023, the Irishman switched to LMP2 for the AsLMS, driving for

DKR Engineering DKR Engineering is a Belgian-owned Luxembourgish racing team and preparation firm, which competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship. The company was founded in 2004 by Kendy Janclaes as a branch of the PSI Experience racing team from Belgium. A ...

along with Yoluç and category rookie

Ayhancan Güven Ayhancan Güven (born 2 January 1998) is a Turkish racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Born in 1998 in Istanbul, Ayhancan Güven was introduced to racing at four years old by h ...

. Podiums in all four races, including a win in the final round on

Yas Island Yas Island () is an island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates named after the Arabian Tribe- Bani Yas Tribe. It occupies a total land area of . It is a leisure island and one of the largest tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. Yas Island holds the ...

, gave the trio the title. This proved to be preparation for a double campaign, as Eastwood returned to the

to defend his and RTT's Pro-Am title, whilst also leading ORT by TF in the

, partnering

Michael Dinan Michael Dinan (born 25 June 1998) is an American racing driver and car collector currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile ...

and

in the LMGTE Am category. In the former, he, Yoluç, and

Louis Delétraz Louis Charles Hubert Delétraz (born 22 April 1997) is a Swiss people, Swiss racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and in the European Le Mans Series for AO Racin ...

recorded an overall LMP2 win at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and took a class win in France, but lost out on the title due to car issues at

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, a ...

and a spin by Yoluç in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The team finished third in the LMP2 Pro-Am subclass. In the latter, Eastwood and his teammates finished third at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

and scored a second place at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, which helped them towards fifth in the standings. During the winter, Eastwood and Yoluç returned to the AsLMS, where they finished seventh in the teams' championship together with Michael Dinan.

Corvette factory driver

Ahead of the 2024 season, Eastwood was announced as a

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

factory driver. He would return to the WEC with TF Sport, driving a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the newly formed LMGT3 category alongside

Rui Andrade Rui Andrade may refer to: * Rui Andrade (footballer) (born 1977), Portuguese footballer * Rui Andrade (racing driver) (born 1999), Angolan-Portuguese racing driver {{hndis, Andrade, Rui ...

and Tom van Rompuy.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Eastwood was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

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

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain results

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete International GT Open results

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

Complete British GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Eastwood was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

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

References

External links

* http://charlieeastwood.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwood, Charlie 1995 births Living people Motorsport people from Belfast Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers Racing drivers from Northern Ireland 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers 24H Series drivers British GT Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers International GT Open drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Strakka Racing drivers M2 Competition drivers AV Formula drivers Karting World Championship drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers NACAM F4 Championship drivers Irish racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers TF Sport drivers AF Corse drivers