“The best mistake so far” led Phil Hensnon to lead the Man’s win

Phil Hanson has called it “the best mistake ever”. He is talking about the decision to start his car racing career in the world of endurance, rather than stepping on the single-seater ladder. After nine years, He is celebrating a 24 -hour win over a Ferrari wheel,

He is about the right when he makes his debut in the motorsport “a crazy story”.

Crazy because Hanson was a race winner and champion internationally in LMP3 in the Asian Le Mans series within one year of his first race. And a driver who is 25 years old AF ChorusS. Satellite Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar Robert Kubika And Yifei Ye won in LMP2.

The European Le Mans series and the World Dheeraj Championship title quickly followed, as well as another in Asia. Junior prototype ranks included the first Le Mans win in the classroom in their successes, to do so as the second youngest of Britain, back in 2020.

And it is also a bit crazy because his unconventional route was chosen for him at the top of the sportscar racing. Hanson was reduced towards sportscar at the behest of Talkwith Motisports, a team that he added after a small but successful carting career.

“It was a pure dumb fate, as it could be a mistake for my development to see back,” Hanson said, who made her debut at the age of 16 with an Audi R8 LMS GT 3 -winning campaign at the Urmal Endurance Championship.

“But I found myself in patient racing and were able to create experiences. Now I am 25 years old and have done Le Mans nine times and there are two wins. How I got it, there was really a strange turn of events.”

The unexpected story began courtesy of the BKC racing team, with Hanson won the Super One X30 Junior British Carting title in 2015: its alumni had links with Talkwith through another. The strange story continued after the split of Hanson with the Squad at Yorkshire after the introduction of its first Le Mans in 2017 – Talkwith gained P2 entry for the race after the success of the championship in Asia in the previous winter.

Hanson and Nigel MooreA part of the family running the Talkwith, won the 2016-17 Asian LMS P3 title, running a ligar-nisan JSP3 and then in Elms and Len Man’s in and lased the JSP 2LMP2 of the French Constant in Len. This was invited by Hanson to participate in some development testing by the ligier while taking the next step after farewell to the company with Tockwith after another race post-lezine.

“My father sat down with Jacques (Nicolate, owner of the ligier marks) and was told that he was developing a new gap for the P3 car,” recalled Hanson. “He signed a deal that I could go and could do some development items with him in magnny-curves and Aragon.”

This was an important moment in Hanson’s journey.

“Earlier, there were some glimpses, but I was not sure I had adapted to the car racing properly,” he said. “Everything was clicked in the test in magn-curves. The balance of the car was very good and I remember that the cloud was on the nine.

“Philip (Albuquerque) was the development driver of the ligar and I remember that I was on my time that I got on the fresh tire. I was thinking, it’s so easy, look at me now – and then rotates on one of a hairpin!”

Hanson’s move United autosports The direct result of that test was for the next phase of his endurance racing education. Albuquerque, with whom he will take the 2019-20 WeC P2 title and class Honors in Le Mans, was already on the books of the Anglo-American team. Back in 2017, United was strongly at the ligier camp – as well as running his P2 and P3 contenders, it was a British importer for the market.

Elms Plus was also located in Yorkshire by coincidence with United with United in Plus Plus Start Number Two. The successes began in a year as a silver-rated driver with Albuquerque with Hanson with a pair in the European chain in a year. Shared with another Asian title in winter, shared with Paul de resta Who completed the line-up in Le Mans 2018. A switch on ORECA 07 before the start of 2019-20 WeC produced WeC and Le Mans Silverware.

Hanson credited a disappointing season in 2022, taken into a gold position after his second campaign, as a twist in his career in WEC and Elms.

“A bit of a nightmare” is how he described that year. “We were really struggling with new rules for cars.”

He said, “It may seem that in 2023,” he said about a season in which he won three races in Elms and one in the respective championships in a WEC N route. “Usually steps do not come when you are getting results. You take steps when things are not going to your way.”

The ambition for Hanson to reach the top class of WEC was composed after a 2020 victory in the Mans. His idea was that “I live in class, so now the target is to win over the overall manner”, although he states that P2 was more competitive than the top class – that year there were only five LMP1 cars.

The 2023 season opened the door for the hypercar rank, in which he graduated in one of the British Jota team customer Porsche 963 LMDSH last year. He selected WeC with a program in 963 of the JDC-Miller Motorsports team in the five endurance round of the IMSA Sportscar Championship in North America.

“I was lucky because Jota was still driving a car in LMP2” in 23 (with his first 963), “Hanson explained. “The conversation began long ago in a year which I was performing strongly in P2.”

What Hanson is saying is that Jota, who contacted him, had a handle on what was being achieved in the last year for P2 as a full -time class in WEC.

With a full season ’24 in Hypercar Jenson button And Oliver rasmusen In the second join entry, Hanson allowed Hanson to show “what I could do” at the highest level. He left his mark, especially, on the way to the ninth in Le Mans and among the fastest Porsche drivers: his fastest race was the best by Lap only by Lap. Kevin Estre And Laurence venathur In the fourth place in the Penscay factory car, while he was there on the average race.

“This made me very attractive to other teams,” Hanson said.

A switch after the so -called customer entry of Ferrari Jota climb for factory position with cadilac And an influx of factory drivers from General Motors brand. This has occurred as a result of a one -year deal in a row for Hanson and now laying some roots in the target hypercar.

“What I am watching now in my career is a long-term deal,” Hanson said, who wants to achieve the holy grave of the entire-factor driver’s position. “We are interacting with some teams, but I am not sure where I want to be. Ferrari is clearly an incredibly competitive car. I am leaving no option from the table.”

In the short term, there is no less case of the title 2025 WeC. Jeet in Le Mans has put Hanson, Kubika and Tu in a dispute for Crown that Ferrari has so much. They are now 16 points behind the drivers of #51 Factory 499P, James Calado, Alesandro Pier Gudi And Antonio giovinazi At the top.

But more immediately is another priority for Hanson. To celebrate a Le Mans victory properly. He did not get a chance back in 2020. It was the year when Le Mans was delayed by September as a result of Kovid epidemic, which meant that the mask on the podium and the city had no chance to paint in red when they came back to their homes.

Hanson concluded,

“The goal of the medium -term is to try to keep yourself in position in the best position to be able to repeat with a commitment to a manufacturer.”

Or to insert it in another way, Phil Hanson’s story goes a little less crazy.

24 -hour Le Mans Photos – Race