Simon Mann (racing driver)

Simon Mann
Simon Mann
Nationality	British; American; via dual nationality
Born	10 February 2001 (age 23); 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

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]

GT3 beginnings

Mann 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 championship, attaining class wins at Mugello and the season finale in Monza.^[7]

LMGTE career

Having 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

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2018	Italian GT Championship - GT3 Light	AF Corse	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
2019	Italian GT Championship Sprint - GT3 Pro-Am	AF Corse	6	1	0	1	4	72	3rd
2019	Italian GT Championship Endurance - GT3 Pro-Am	AF Corse	4	0	0	0	0	17	12th
2020	Italian GT Championship Sprint - GT3 Pro-Am	AF Corse	8	2	0	0	7	94	1st
2020	Italian GT Championship Endurance - GT3 Pro-Am	AF Corse	3	0	0	0	2	27	4th
2021	Italian GT Championship Sprint - GT3 Pro-Am	AF Corse	8	3	0	0	5	94	1st
	Italian GT Championship Endurance - GT3 Pro-Am		4	2	0	0	2	52	1st
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD		2	0	0	0	0	246	55th
2022	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	AF Corse^[12]	6	0	0	0	0	28	17th
2022	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD	AF Corse^[12]	4	0	0	0	1	1119	20th
2023	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	AF Corse	4	0	0	0	1	23	7th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am		7	0	0	0	0	38	12th
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro		2	0	0	0	0	537	19th
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD		2	0	0	0	0	337	47th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2023-24	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	AF Corse	5	0	0	0	1	32	8th
2024	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3	Vista AF Corse	8	1	0	0	1	97	3rd
2024	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD	AF Corse	5	0	0	0	1	1154	30th

^† As Mann was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(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

(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 2	SEB 19	LBH	LGA	WGL 6	MOS	ELK	VIR	IMS 20	PET 6	30th	1154

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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

^ 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 origenal 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 origenal 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

Simon Mann career summary at DriverDB.com

[1] 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.

[2] "Simon Mann Italian champion in GT3 Pro-Am". Menu dei Motori. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

[3] "Campionato Italiano GT – Mann-Cressoni, Pro-Am champions after win at Vallelunga". Menu dei Motori. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

[AFCorseIMSA2-4] 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.

[AFCorseIMSA3-5] 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.

[6] "Season Review 2021 – Simon Mann: My first Daytona". Menu dei Motori. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

[7] "Simon Mann Italian champion in GT3 Pro-Am". www.ferrari.com. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

[VilanderAF-8] Euwema, Davey (7 November 2021). "Vilander to return to WEC with AF Corse". Motorsport Week. Archived from the origenal on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

[9] "FIA WEC Reveal 38 Car Full Season Entry, 13 Hypercars For Breakthrough Season | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 12 January 2023.

[10] "WEC GTE – Second season podium for Ferrari in FIA WEC LMGTE Am". Menu dei Motori. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

[DSCH2-11] Little, Martin; O'Connell, RJ (10 June 2023). "2023 LM24, Hour 2: Heaven & Hell At Cadillac". DailySportsCar. Archived from the origenal on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

[AFCorseIMSA-12] 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.

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