THE ROOKIE BRITS
DAVID PITTARD
From Green Hell to sportscar heaven
David Pittard has enjoyed what could be described as an unconventional rise from Toyota MR2 club racer to driving an Aston Martin Vantage GTE at the Le Mans 24 Hours. His career path has been all the more unusual, at least for a British driver, because the springboard to a World Endurance Championship seat with NorthWest AMR in GTE Am this year was his exploits — and successes — on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
The 30-year-old, who now calls the Eifel region home, forged a new career direction after a year racing a Ginetta in the GT4 class of the British GT Championship in 2017. It came as the result of a conversation with two-time Nurburgring 24 Hours winner and long-time Audi driver Frank Stippler.
Pittard was doing some historic racing alongside a British GT programme that yielded third in class aboard a Lanan Racing Ginetta G55 GT4. His partner in the historic ranks was Graham Wilson, who is friends with Stippler and suggested that Pittard talk to him. “I said to Frank, ‘I’d like to be where you are, what is your advice?’ He suggested the Nurburgring because it’s the big four German manufacturers’ home turf,” recalls Pittard. “You can get noticed by BMW, Porsche, Audi and Mercedes racing on the Nordschleife whereas you
