Andrew Watson (racing driver)

Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson
	Watson at Silverstone Circuit in 2019
Nationality	British
Born	21 January 1995 (age 29); Belfast, Northern Ireland
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Toyota Gazoo Racing UK
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Car number	11
Former teams	Power Maxed Racing
Starts	60 (60 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	2
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	14th in 2024
Previous series
2022; 2021, 2019-20; 2016-2020; 2016-2020; 2020; 2020; 2016-2018; 2017, 2015; 2015; 2014, 2013; 2012, 2011	ALMS; FIA WEC; Intercontinental GT Challenge; GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup; IMSA SportsCar Championship; ELMS; Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup; British GT; International GT Open; Ginetta GT4 Supercup; Ginetta Junior Championship
Championship titles
2023	Jack Sears Trophy

Andrew Robert Watson (born 21 January 1995) is a British racing driver from Northern Ireland currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK.

Throughout his career Watson has competed in sports car racing and endurance racing, until his switch to touring car racing in 2023. He is a former Aston Martin Racing junior.^[1]

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, using a Ginetta G55.^[2]

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 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, 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. 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, 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 driving a McLaren 650S GT3 for Von Ryan Racing as part of the McLaren Young Driver Programme.^[3] 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 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 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and also the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe 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 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. 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 Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe 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'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 team 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 debut in January 2020 after securing a late drive with Aston Martin Racing. Replacing the injured Paul Dalla Lana, the Northern Irishman joined Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Ross Gunn in the #98 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.^[4] 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 Hours, 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 behind the wheel on an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

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, driving a Vauxhall Astra. This would be Watson's first time in touring car racing, and his first time racing a front-wheel drive car.^[5] The Northern Irishman impressed on debut, qualifying ninth at the first round at Donington Park,^[6] ahead of teammate Árón Taylor-Smith 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.^[7]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2011	Ginetta Junior Championship	HHC Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	28	19th
2012	Ginetta Junior Championship	Douglas Motorsport	20	1	0	2	6	367	5th
2012	Ginetta Junior Winter Series	Douglas Motorsport	3	1	1	1	1	55	6th
2013	Ginetta GT Supercup	Douglas Motorsport	27	0	0	2	3	372	7th
2014	Ginetta GT4 Supercup	Douglas Motorsport	27	5	1	5	12	608	4th
2015	International GT Open - GT3 Pro Am	Teo Martin Motorsport	4	1	1	0	1	13	10th
2015	British GT Championship	Von Ryan Racing	9	0	0	0	0	28	16th
2016	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup	Garage 59	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Garage 59	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Tekno Autosports	1	0	0	0	0	6	15th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Garage 59	1	0	0	0	0	6	15th
2017	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Strakka Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup		10	0	0	0	0	6	21st
	Intercontinental GT Challenge		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	British GT Championship - GT4	Black Bull Garage 59	1	0	0	0	0	6	23rd
2018	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Garage 59	5	0	0	0	1	19	24th
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup	3Y Technology	8	0	0	0	0	0.5	27th
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Silver Cup	3Y Technology	8	1	0	0	1	49.5	5th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	YNA Autosport	1	0	0	0	0	4	23rd
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Garage 59	2	0	0	0	0	4	23rd
2019	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Garage 59	5	0	0	0	0	2	33rd
2019-20	FIA World Endurance Championship - GTE Am	Gulf Racing	7	0	0	0	1	70	13th
2020	24 Hours of Le Mans - GTE Am	Gulf Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
	European Le Mans Series - GTE	Gulf Racing UK	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD	Aston Martin Racing	1	0	0	0	0	14	58th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Garage 59	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Garage 59	1	0	0	0	0	2	20th
2021	FIA World Endurance Championship - GTE Am	D'station Racing	6	0	0	0	1	51	9th
2021	24 Hours of Le Mans - GTE Am	D'station Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
2022	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	Inception Racing with Optimum Motorsport	4	0	0	0	0	38	5th
2023	British Touring Car Championship	CarStore Power Maxed Racing	30	0	0	0	2	92	15th
2024	British Touring Car Championship	Toyota Gazoo Racing UK	30	0	0	0	0	120	14th

Complete British GT Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
2015	Von Ryan Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	GT3	OUL 1 Ret	OUL 2 9	ROC 1 Ret	SIL 1 7	SPA 1 8	BRH 1 10	SNE 1 6	SNE 2 13	DON 1 10		16th	28
2017	Black Bull Garage 59	McLaren 570S GT4	GT4	OUL 1	OUL 2	ROC 1	SNE 1	SNE 2	SIL 1	SPA 1	SPA 2	BRH 1	DON 1 14	23rd	6

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos.	Points
2016	Garage 59	McLaren 650S GT3	Pro	MIS QR	MIS CR	BRH QR	BRH CR	NÜR QR	NÜR CR	HUN QR	HUN CR	CAT QR 19	CAT CR 21	NC	0
2017	Strakka Racing	McLaren 650S GT3	Pro	MIS QR 18	MIS CR 8	BRH QR 15	BRH CR 21	ZOL QR 22	ZOL CR 11	HUN QR 24	HUN CR 17	NÜR QR 16	NÜR CR 9	21st	6
2018	3Y Technology	BMW M6 GT3	Silver	ZOL 1 17	ZOL 2 17	BRH 1 DSQ	BRH 2 10	MIS 1 14	MIS 2 16	HUN 1 20	HUN 2 15	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	5th	49.5

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2019–20	Gulf Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	SIL 4	FUJ 8	SHA 9	BHR 3	COA 6	SPA 10	LMS 5	BHR	13th	70
2021	D'station Racing	LMGTE Am	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8	SPA 7	ALG Ret	MNZ 3	LMS 5	BHR 10	BHR 7			9th	51

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Points
2020	Aston Martin Racing	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8	DAY 17	DAY	SEB	ELK	VIR	ATL	MDO	CLT	PET	LGA	SEB	58th	14

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2020	Gulf Racing	Ben Barker Michael Wainwright	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	337	29th	5th
2021	D'station Racing	Tomonobu Fujii Satoshi Hoshino	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	GTE Am	333	33rd	6th

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	Pos.	Points
2020	Gulf Racing UK	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	LEC	SPA	LEC	MNZ	ALG Ret	NC	0

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)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	DC	Points
2023	CarStore Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	DON 1 4	DON 2 21	DON 3 12	BRH 1 Ret	BRH 2 20	BRH 3 23	SNE 1 18	SNE 2 18	SNE 3 18	THR 1 18	THR 2 16	THR 3 13	OUL 1 15	OUL 2 12	OUL 3 15	CRO 1 16	CRO 2 14	CRO 3 14	KNO 1 2	KNO 2 9	KNO 3 16	DON 1 9	DON 2 16	DON 3 11	SIL 1 3	SIL 2 6	SIL 3 18	BRH 1 14	BRH 2 18	BRH 3 18	15th	92
2024	Toyota Gazoo Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	DON 1 10	DON 2 12	DON 3 12	BRH 1 8	BRH 2 15	BRH 3 7	SNE 1 5	SNE 2 6	SNE 3 16	THR 1 13	THR 2 Ret	THR 3 12	OUL 1 14	OUL 2 10	OUL 3 14	CRO 1 12	CRO 2 12	CRO 3 NC	KNO 1 11	KNO 2 14	KNO 3 NC	DON 1 Ret	DON 2 14	DON 3 12	SIL 1 9	SIL 2 15	SIL 3 14	BRH 1 10	BRH 2 11	BRH 3 8	14th	120

References

^ "NI duo Charlie Eastwood and Andrew Watson secure factory Aston Martin deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 March 2019.
^ "Andrew Watson to graduate to Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup". Ginetta.com. Ginetta Cars. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
^ "McLaren junior drivers to race in British GT in 2015". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
^ Euwema, Davey (17 January 2020). "Aston Martin confirms Andrew Watson as Dalla Lana replacement at Daytona 24". MotorsportWeek. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
^ Newbold, James (18 January 2023). "GT racer Watson switches to BTCC with PMR Vauxhall". Autosport. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
^ "Andrew Watson impresses to lead rookie charge". TouringCarTimes. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
^ Simmons, Marcus (23 April 2023). "BTCC Donington Park: Cammish beats Hill in thriller". Autosport. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

External links

Official Website
Andrew Watson career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bobby Thompson	Jack Sears Trophy Winner 2023	Succeeded by Mikey Doble

[1] "NI duo Charlie Eastwood and Andrew Watson secure factory Aston Martin deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 March 2019.

[2] "Andrew Watson to graduate to Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup". Ginetta.com. Ginetta Cars. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2013.

[VonRyan-3] "McLaren junior drivers to race in British GT in 2015". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

[4] Euwema, Davey (17 January 2020). "Aston Martin confirms Andrew Watson as Dalla Lana replacement at Daytona 24". MotorsportWeek. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

[BTCC2023-5] Newbold, James (18 January 2023). "GT racer Watson switches to BTCC with PMR Vauxhall". Autosport. Retrieved 22 April 2023.

[6] "Andrew Watson impresses to lead rookie charge". TouringCarTimes. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

[7] Simmons, Marcus (23 April 2023). "BTCC Donington Park: Cammish beats Hill in thriller". Autosport. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

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