From Devon karting to the first driver to win at Le Mans in both LMP2 and LMGTE Pro, with a European Le Mans title and an overall Sebring win along the way.
A British endurance racer from Exeter, Tincknell won LMP2 at Le Mans in 2014 and LMGTE Pro in 2020. He took the 2016 European Le Mans Series title and the 2020 Sebring 12 Hours overall, and he returned to Aston Martin in 2025 for the Valkyrie programme.
Harry Tincknell is a British endurance racer from Exeter who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the first driver to win at Le Mans in both the LMP2 and LMGTE Pro classes, a feat he completed in 2014 and again in 2020. His career has also taken in single-seaters, the European Le Mans Series and IMSA.
Who is Harry Tincknell?
Harry William Tincknell was born on 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon. He is a British professional racing driver who drives for the Aston Martin THOR squad in the World Endurance Championship. He took LMP2 at his first Le Mans start in 2014 and LMGTE Pro in 2020.
He is also a former European Le Mans Series champion. He won the 2016 title by seven points at Estoril, and in 2020 he took an overall victory at Sebring's 12-hour event alongside Jonathan Bomarito and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
The first driver to win at Le Mans in both LMP2 and LMGTE Pro, with a career that has moved from karts to Aston Martin prototypes.
How did Tincknell start in karting?
Tincknell started karting in 2001 and placed in the top five across two South West series: the Dunkeswell club event and the South West British Championship. In 2003 he moved to TKM karts and won the Winter Series at Shenington in Oxfordshire. By 2005 he was fifth in the ICA Junior Belgian Championship.
That fifth place came 65 points behind the champion, Laurens Vanthoor. In 2006 he finished fourteenth in the WSK International Series, and in 2007 he competed in eight different championships or trophy races, with a best result of fourth at the South Garda Winter Cup.
His final karting season came in 2008, and it ended with a runner-up place in the Euro Rotax Max Challenge. The results gave him a clear route into car racing.
How did he move up through single-seaters?
In 2008 he took part in the Formula Renault UK Winter Series, finishing seventh with CR Scuderia. In 2009 he stayed with CRS Racing for a full season of Formula Renault UK, finishing fifth overall and winning the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers.
In 2010 he led a four-car challenge from CRS Racing and was one of ten drivers picked by the Motor Sports Association for its Team UK development programme. The squad received performance, fitness and nutrition training, along with sports psychology, through the Brabham Performance Clinic, run by David Brabham.
That season he took five podiums and a win in his first eight races, breaking a lap record at Snetterton on the way to the win. The final rounds were a struggle, and he finished fifth in the championship.
Did Tincknell win in Formula 3?
Yes. He won at Brands Hatch in 2011 with Fortec Motorsports. In 2012 he won four races with Carlin on the way to fifth overall, and in 2013 he became the first British driver to take a round win in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, a series that returned in 2012 after 29 years away.
His 2011 British Formula 3 season began badly at Monza, but he took his first podium at Oulton Park in the second race of the year and then finished second at Snetterton. The season ended early for him. A freak accident at Spa-Francorchamps broke his right hand severely, and the injury needed surgery back in the UK. He returned in 2012 with a podium at Oulton Park and went on to win at Rockingham.
That year he also raced the Macau Grand Prix for Fortec. He qualified seventh and finished the final ninth after a mechanical problem. In 2013 the highlight was a win at Silverstone from a double pole, followed by a second place at Brands Hatch after the race winner was excluded.
Why did Tincknell switch to sportscars?
In 2014 Tincknell moved from single-seaters to sportscars, signing with JOTA Sport for the European Le Mans Series and racing a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan. He finished second in the drivers' championship with 74 points, and he was named the series' Rookie of the Year.
The same year he made his World Endurance Championship debut. On his Le Mans bow he took the LMP2 class in a Zytek, finishing fifth overall, and that was the first of the two Le Mans class wins that define his career. He also took the BRDC Woolf Barnato Trophy.
In 2015 he was named a factory Nissan race and development driver, and he made his LMP1 debut at Le Mans in the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo. Nissan cancelled its LMP1 programme in December 2016, after extensive testing that summer.
While the Nissan race programme was delayed in 2015, he went back to JOTA and raced at the Six Hours of Spa, winning the LMP2 class with the fastest LMP2 time of the race. That year JOTA's ELMS car also helped him finish third in the drivers' championship, with one win and four podiums.
What did Tincknell win with Ford?
In 2016 Tincknell joined the Ford programme run by Chip Ganassi Racing Team UK, sharing the new Ford GT LM GTE with teammates. With Priaulx and Marino Franchitti, the car placed him fifth in the WEC drivers' table, and he won the Fuji and Shanghai rounds with Priaulx.
The 2016 Le Mans race was a difficult one, because a gearbox fault struck before the race began and the car finished ninth. In 2017 he was back with Priaulx and Pipo Derani, and the three of them opened the season with a Silverstone victory. They finished second at Le Mans and took a further win in Shanghai on the way to third in the drivers' championship.
The most alarming moment came at the 2018 Six Hours of Spa. A front-end mechanical failure sent the car head-on into the tyre barrier at Eau Rouge, an impact of 29G from which he walked away unharmed.
How did Tincknell win at Le Mans in GTE Pro?
In 2020 Tincknell drove the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage with Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin, and they took the GTE Pro win with a margin of 1 minute 33 seconds. That gave him a second Le Mans class victory and made him the first driver to take wins in both LMP2 and LMGTE Pro.
The 2020 season also brought an overall victory at Sebring's 12-hour event. He had raced with Jonathan Bomarito at Le Mans in 2019 as well, finishing fourth overall in that race for Ford.
Key results by season
| Season | Series and car | Headline result |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Formula Renault UK, CRS Racing | Fifth overall; Graduate Cup |
| 2011 | British Formula 3, Fortec | Eleventh with one win at Brands Hatch |
| 2012 | British Formula 3, Carlin | Fifth overall with four wins |
| 2013 | FIA Formula 3 European, Carlin | Silverstone win from double pole |
| 2014 | European Le Mans Series, JOTA Sport | Second in the drivers' championship; Rookie of the Year |
| 2014 | Le Mans 24 Hours, Zytek | LMP2 class win on debut, fifth overall |
| 2015 | European Le Mans Series, JOTA Sport | Third in the drivers' championship; one win |
| 2016 | European Le Mans Series, Gibson | Drivers' champion by seven points |
| 2016 | FIA WEC, Ford GT | Fifth in the drivers' championship |
| 2017 | FIA WEC, Ford GT | Silverstone win; third in the drivers' championship |
| 2018 | Le Mans 24 Hours, Ford GT | Fourth overall, demoted to ninth after a penalty |
| 2019 | Le Mans 24 Hours, Ford GT | Fourth overall, with Jonathan Bomarito |
| 2020 | Le Mans 24 Hours, Aston Martin Vantage | GTE Pro win by 1 minute 33 seconds |
| 2020 | IMSA, Multimatic Mazda | Sebring 12 Hours overall win; third in the drivers' championship |
| 2024 | FIA WEC, Porsche 963, Proton | Le Mans 45th overall, 16th in class |
| 2025 | FIA WEC, Aston Martin Valkyrie | THOR Team, No. 007 |
What did IMSA add to his career?
From 2018 Tincknell raced in IMSA, first with Mazda Team Joest and later with Multimatic. The 2019 Six Hours of Watkins Glen gave Mazda its first victory in seven years, with Tincknell among the winning drivers, and he and Bomarito also won at Road America.
The 2020 season with Multimatic brought the Daytona 240 win and a second place at Road Atlanta, before Sebring. In 2021 the team's No. 55 Mazda was shared with Oliver Jarvis and Bomarito. That run helped the team secure third in the drivers' championship. In 2021 Multimatic won at both Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta, and the team finished third again.
His time in IMSA also included Rolex 24 entries with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in 2022, where the team was second in the qualifying race before a mechanical failure ended its run after 663 laps. In 2023 he ran the Rolex 24 with the AO Racing team and finished 14th in class.
In 2024 he contested a full season in a Mustang GT3 with Christopher Mies and Mike Rockenfeller as teammates. Podium finishes at VIR and Indianapolis were its highlights, and the team ended sixth among GTD Pro entries.
What happened after his 2020 Le Mans win?
After his 2020 class win Tincknell moved through three teams in endurance racing: Dempsey-Proton in 2022, Proton Competition's Porsche 963 in 2023 and 2024, and then Aston Martin's Valkyrie in 2025, a return to a manufacturer he had raced for in 2020.
In 2022 Tincknell moved to Dempsey-Proton Racing, partnering Sebastian Priaulx and Christian Ried. Together the trio took LMGTE Am victories at Spa and at Monza, and the team placed sixth in the overall drivers' standings.
In 2023 he stayed with Proton Competition in LMGTE Am until the team's Porsche 963 was ready, and it appeared only for the last three rounds of the year. His best finish with the car that year was ninth at Fuji. In 2024 he drove the Porsche with Julien Andlauer and Neel Jani, and his best result was ninth, at the season-opening Qatar round.
In 2025 he was back with Aston Martin, running its Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercar under the THOR banner as car No. 007.
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