From farm to fame, Tandy recognised for 24 Hours grand slam

LONDON :Nick Tandy's thirst for speed began when he was barely a teenager, driving a combine harvester around an open field on his father's farm.

The only driver to have won every 24-hour endurance race - a grand slam of Le Mans, Nuerburgring, Spa and Daytona - the Briton was honoured on Tuesday with the Royal Automobile Club's Segrave Trophy for outstanding exploits on land, sea or air.

Past winners include Formula One champions Lewis Hamilton, Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell.

Speaking to Reuters at the London club, and slightly stunned to be there, the Porsche factory driver accepted his path was perhaps not the typical one.

Driving the combine had certainly made him want to go faster, though.

"You just wanted to get the job done so you could go out and play with your friends," he said.

Tandy still helps out when he can, going from 250kph around a racetrack to the wheel of a tractor at walking pace with a harrow on the back.

"Everyone has their own back story and I'm country folk," he said. "I enjoy going back to the countryside.

"I struggle going to places like Monaco but everyone's different I guess."

Tandy, now 40, took overall victory at Le Mans' Sarthe circuit a decade ago, a 2015 victory shared with Earl Bamber of New Zealand and German F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg.

At the time it was a box ticked, a dream come true.

"But then of course you wake up the very next morning and think 'Right. What's next?'," he said.

The answer came in 2018 when he won the Nuerburgring 24 Hours, again with Porsche. In 2020 he conquered the Spa 24 Hours with Bamber and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor.

That left Daytona and Tandy had won the U.S. race previously in the GT class.

"Somebody said to me 'you do realise nobody has ever won them all,