Simon Mann (born 10 February 2001) is a British-American racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with AF Corse. A mainstay at the Italian team, Mann has tasted success in the Italian GT Championship's Pro-Am class, winning the Sprint title in 2020 and 2021, the same year in which he would triumph in the Endurance championship.[2]
| Simon Mann | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Nationality |  British Americanvia dual nationality[1] |
| Born | 10 February 2001 United Kingdom |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2021 |
| Current team | Vista AF Corse |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 55 |
| Starts | 17 (17 entries) |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 12th (LMGTE Am) in 2023 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2021 2020–21 | Italian GT Endurance - Pro-Am Italian GT Sprint - Pro-Am |
GT3 beginnings
editMann started his career in 2018, competing in the GT3 Light class of the Italian GT Championship with AF Corse. The American-licensed driver returned with the team the following year, driving in the Pro-Am classes of both the Sprint and Endurance series. In the Endurance championship, he and Matteo Cressoni finished 12th in class, whereas the Sprint championship yielded four class podiums, including Mann's first car racing win at Vallelunga; Mann ended up third in the Pro-Am standings. In 2020, he once again raced alongside Cressoni in Italian GT. In the Endurance championship, Mann finished fourth in Pro-Am with two class podiums, though he and Cressoni would attain Sprint success, beating the Easy Race on a dead heat to claim the Pro-Am title.[3]
For the 2021 season, Mann returned to the Sprint and Endurance series, continuing his partnership with AF Corse.[4] Having started the year by competing at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Mann soon showed title-winning form in the Pro-Am class, winning his class at Misano and Imola alongside Toni Vilander and Matteo Cressoni respectively.[5][6] His Sprint campaign concluded with a pair of overall podiums at Mugello, which earned Mann the Sprint Pro-Am title. In Endurance, Mann also won the Pro-Am champioinship, attaining class wins at Mugello and the season finale in Monza.[7]
LMGTE career
editHaving made his LMGTE debut at the 6 Hours of Monza in 2021, Mann moved into the FIA World Endurance Championship the subsequent year, pairing up with Vilander and bronze-ranked Christoph Ulrich in AF Corse's LMGTE Am lineup.[8] The outfit performed unremarkably, taking a best finish of seventh and ending up 11th in the teams' standings.
Mann scored a podium in the Asian Le Mans Series at the start of 2023 before embarking on another season in the WEC, this time driving alongside Ulysse de Pauw and a rotating door of amateur drivers in the third seat.[9] Their campaign started off well, as the #21 crew took fourth place at Sebring and finished fifth in Portimão.[10] However, an early crash for de Pauw at Le Mans changed their fortunes in the second half of the year, as the team missed out on points thrice during the final four races and took home tenth in the overall championship.[11]
Racing record
editRacing career summary
edit† As Mann was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.* Season still in progress.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | AF Corse | LMGTE Am | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 | SPA | ALG | MNZ 10 |
LMS | BHR | BHR | NC† | 0 | ||
| 2022 | AF Corse | LMGTE Am | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 | SEB 7 |
SPA 11 |
LMS 7 |
MNZ 7 |
FUJ 10 |
BHR 11 |
17th | 28 | ||
| 2023 | AF Corse | LMGTE Am | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 | SEB 4 |
PRT 5 |
SPA 6 |
LMS Ret |
MNZ 9 |
FUJ 12 |
BHR 11 |
12th | 38 | |
| 2024 | Vista AF Corse | LMGT3 | Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6 | QAT 7 |
IMO 4 |
SPA 13 |
LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | BHR | 8th* | 21* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | AF Corse | GTD | Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V6 | DAY | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | PET |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
edit| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |  AF Corse
|
 Christoph Ulrich Toni Vilander
|
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | GTE Am |
339 | 41st | 8th |
| 2023 | AF Corse
|
 Ulysse de Pauw Julien Piguet
|
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | GTE Am |
21 | DNF | DNF |
| 2024 | Vista AF Corse
|
François Hériau Alessio Rovera
|
Ferrari 296 GT3 | LMGT3 | 279 | 33rd | 6th |
References
edit- ^ Goodwin, Graham (7 November 2021). "Toni Vilander Set To Return To FIA WEC In 2022 With Christoph Ulrich & Simon Mann". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ "Simon Mann Italian champion in GT3 Pro-Am". Menu dei Motori. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Campionato Italiano GT – Mann-Cressoni, Pro-Am champions after win at Vallelunga". Menu dei Motori. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (14 December 2020). "AF Corse to Tackle Rolex 24 with Italian GT Class Champions". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (14 December 2020). "AF Corse to Tackle Rolex 24 with Italian GT Class Champions". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ "Season Review 2021 – Simon Mann: My first Daytona". Menu dei Motori. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Simon Mann Italian champion in GT3 Pro-Am". www.ferrari.com. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ Euwema, Davey (7 November 2021). "Vilander to return to WEC with AF Corse". Motorsport Week. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "FIA WEC Reveal 38 Car Full Season Entry, 13 Hypercars For Breakthrough Season | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ "WEC GTE – Second season podium for Ferrari in FIA WEC LMGTE Am". Menu dei Motori. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Little, Martin; O'Connell, RJ (10 June 2023). "2023 LM24, Hour 2: Heaven & Hell At Cadillac". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ Dagys, John (3 January 2022). "AF Corse Confirms Single-Car Ferrari GTD Entry for Rolex 24". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
External links
edit- Simon Mann career summary at DriverDB.com