James Robert Baldwin (born 28 August 1997) is a British racing driver and sim racer who most recently competed in the

GT World Challenge Europe 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 Stéphane Ratel Or ...

for Garage 59. He raced in the 2020 British GT Championship and has competed multiple times in 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 ...

, including a 38th overall and 11th in class finish in 2024. Baldwin achieved his first GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup podium with a 3rd place finish in the Bronze Cup category at the 2024 6 Hours of Jeddah.

Career

Baldwin began his racing career in karting aged 8, and won three DMAX National Championships at

Daytona Motorsport Daytona Motorsport Ltd is a motorsports company that owns and runs karting circuits in Milton Keynes, Sandown Park and Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth. (with a location previously in Lydd). It caters for drivers aged 6–80 years old and holds mon ...

between 2013 and 2014. He switched to

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

in 2015 and competed in four races. He ran competitively despite having little track time and facing mechanical issues, but was unable to raise the funds to continue racing. He shifted his focus to

sim racing Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempt to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a dr ...

and soon found himself invited to professional events with prize money available, offering a chance to reboot his career.

Race of Champions

Baldwin won the 2019 eROC Invitational Event, gaining entry to the 2019 Race of Champions. There, he won the eROC World Final. The prize was to represent Team Sim Racing All Stars in the Nations Cup, partnering future Formula One eSports Series rival Enzo Bonito. Baldwin returned to ROC for the 2020 edition, held this year as a virtual event. He teamed with

Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Lamborghini and serves as a reserve driver in the IndyCar Series for Prema. Grosjean competed under ...

to win the Nations Cup as Team All Stars, having earned his place by winning the eROC World Final for a second time. After not being held in 2021, Baldwin returned for the 2022 Race of Champions. Following two consecutive qualifications for the main event, he missed out on a slot in the Sim Racing All Stars team for the Nations Cup after losing out to Lucas Blakeley and Jarno Opmeer in the eRoc World Final.

World's Fastest Gamer

In 2019, his success in sim racing resulted in an invitation to Season 2 of ''World's Fastest Gamer (WFG)'', a twelve-day intensive competition between sim racers from multiple platforms. Baldwin went on to win the event and was awarded a $1 million sponsorship for a full racing season. He was the first WFG graduate to receive backing for a real-world drive. The competition was televised in a six-part documentary series on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

Formula One eSports

Baldwin signed for

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

as a third driver for the 2019 Formula One eSports series. He moved to

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

for the 2020 season, ending the season 17th with a best result of 8th and two fastest laps.

British GT Championship

On 5 March 2020, Baldwin was announced as a driver for

Jenson Jenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning ''"son of Jen"'', with Jen being a short form of Old French Jehan i.e. John. It may also be an Americanized form of the surnames Jensen or Jenssen.https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surnam ...

Team Rocket RJN, partnering team co-owner Chris Buncombe in a McLaren 720S GT3 in the

. Due to travel difficulties brought about by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, this was later amended to a full-season entry in the 2020 British GT Championship alongside Michael O'Brien. Baldwin reached national headlines by winning on debut at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. The pair went on to take three further podiums and three pole positions, finishing fourth in the overall championship and third in the Silver Cup. Baldwin dominated the 2021 British GT Esports Championship, with three wins from five races. On 29 April 2021, Baldwin was announced as a BRDC Rising Star.

24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps

On 20 June 2022, Baldwin announced, via his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account, that he would be racing in the 2022 edition of the

, thanks to the support of the company Travel Planet. He would be driving a Garage 59 entered McLaren 720S GT3, alongside

Nicolai Kjærgaard Nicolai Kjærgaard (born 29 July 1999) is a Danish racing driver who most recently competed in the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for Garage 59. Before making the move to sportscar racing in ...

, Manuel Maldonado, and Ethan Simioni, racing in the Silver Cup class. After qualifying 26th overall and 5th in class, ahead of all other McLaren entries, as well as dominating the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series virtual support race, Baldwin failed to finish the race following a radiator problem on lap 227. On the 30th of May 2024, via a post on X, Baldwin announced that he would be partaking in the 2024 edition of the race with Garage 59. Baldwin competed in the 2024 24 Hours of Spa, driving a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for Garage 59. He and his teammates finished 38th overall and 11th in the Bronze Cup class.

GT World Challenge Europe

Following his participation in the 2024

, Baldwin was called up by Garage 59 to race in the 2024 3 Hours of Monza. At Monza, Baldwin and his teammates qualified 31st but were forced to retire from the race due to a gearbox failure. Baldwin was then called up to race in the 6 Hours of Jeddah, where he and his team finished 22nd overall and 3rd in the Bronze Cup category, claiming his first-ever

podium.

FIA Motorsport Games

On 29 October 2022, Baldwin competed for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the FIA Motorsport Games Esports Cup hosted at

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Baldwin finished the Final in front of Dutch simracer Chris Harteveld and won the first Gold medal for the UK in

FIA Motorsport Games The FIA Motorsport Games is a biennial motorsport event administered by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It includes competitions from multiple motorsport disciplines and is entered by national motorsport authorities under t ...

history.

2025

Before the 2025 edition of the 24 Hours of Dubai, Baldwin tested a BMW M4 GT3 with Paradine Competition, his session plagued with a rear left damper failure. Then on the 5th of March, in the weeks leading up to the

2025 GT World Challenge Europe The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is a motor racing championship for Group GT3, GT3 cars, marking the 12th edition of the GT World Challenge Europe. Organised by the SRO Motorsports Group, it forms the European part of the broade ...

, he tested the same car for the aforementioned Paradine team around the

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

Circuit. In 2025, Baldwin joined 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 ...

commentary team, working alongside David Addison and Andy McEwan.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula One Esports Series results

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

Complete British GT Championship results

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

Fanatec GT Europe 2024 results

Complete Spa 24 Hour results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, James 1997 births Living people British racing drivers British GT Championship drivers FIA Motorsport Games drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers