About Sam
Info:
Nationality: British
Age: 32-years-old
Born: 09/01/80 Surrey, England
Lives: London, England
Family: Single
Hobbies: Skiing, guitar, running, triathlon
First race: Go-karts, Blackbushe, 1989
Career Highlights:
(MODERN)
- Aston Martin Racing Official Factory Driver 2010-2011
- 2004 Le Mans Series Champion, LMP2
- 6x Le Mans 24hr participations
- 1st - 2010 Spa 24hrs, GT4
- Finished 3rd in 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup GB, 3 wins
(HISTORIC)
- 1st - 2005 Whitsun Trophy, Goodwood Revival, Ford GT40 (Pole & Lap Record)
- Fastest Lap of the Meeting, Goodwood Revival 2005
- 1st - GP de L'Age d'Or, Dijon (Jaguar D-type)
Overview
Sam Hancock is a professional racing driver, co-owner of the Jota Group and founder of The Drivers Club private driver coaching service. In addition to his racing duties, he is also a professional writer, public speaker, TV pundit and driving consultant to the TV and film industry.
On the track Sam has enjoyed considerable success. He was the 2004 Le Mans Series Champion (LMP2) and is a veteran of six Le Mans 24hr participations spanning the LMP1, LMP2 and GT2 categories. Three of those occasions were in the capacity of official factory driver; initially for the prominent Courage Competition team, and more recently for Aston Martin Racing.
In 2010 Sam, making his debut for Aston Martin Racing, came within just 40mins of finishing 4th overall at Le Mans, when the V12 engine in the back of the LMP1 Aston Martin Lola-coupe expired.
Le Mans frustrations aside, Sam has been a regular visitor to the podium in his years contesting various endurance racing categories around the globe and has dovetailed this with recent 'sprint' racing success as a multiple race winner in the fiercely contested Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Sam took 2 wins in his debut season in the category in 2007 and went on to finish 3rd overall in the series in 2008 with his own team, Jota Sport.
Before moving into the world of sports cars, Sam aspired to be a Formula 1 driver and forged a successful single-seater career, starting in karts at the age of eight and ascending through the ranks as high as the FIA Formula 3000 championship in which he competed as a member of the Jordan Grand Prix junior team.
Sam is also an avid and prominent racer of historic cars, with highlights including victory in the 2005 Goodwood Revival Meeting Whitsun Trophy, setting pole position and the overall fast lap of the entire meeting on his way to victory aboard a JCB-entered Ford GT40. He also finished 6th overall on his debut in the Goodwood Revival TT race aboard a lightweight Jaguar E-Type “4WPD”; and has taken class wins both at Goodwood and in the Le Mans Classic driving Neil Twyman-prepared Lotus XIs. Other notable historic cars raced, tested and developed by Sam also include: 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, 1968 ex-Graham Hill Lotus 49 Formula One car, 1985 Lotus Renault 97T Formula One car (the car used by Ayrton Senna to claim his first grand prix victory), and many more!