NEWS

With a population of just six million, Scotland has done a remarkable job of doing more with less.

In total, the country has delivered five Formula One world titles, two World Rally crowns, three IndyCar titles, one World Endurance Championship, a DTM title, and three victories in both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Indy 500 races plus success in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.

Quite the record for a relative minnow in the world of motorsport that has just one FIA approved racetrack.

After turning his attention towards GT racing after a stint in single seaters, Sandy Mitchell became a Young Driver Program member and race winner in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. A serial class podium finisher in the 24 Hours of Spa [two victories, a second and a third in four years with Barwell Motorsport], he joined the official ranks of Lamborghini Squadra Corse after winning the British GT Championship title in 2020.

Since then, he’s been a key figure in Lamborghini’s GT3 operations, racing primarily in GT World Challenge Sprint Cup with Barwell and Endurance Cup with VSR. 

What were your early years in motorsport like?
“My first full season of karting came when I was nine years old, and I had a lot of fun in those years, racing at all of the Scottish tracks like Golspie [in the north of the country]. The grid sizes were really big at the time in the Cadet class; we would go there as a family, doing it with some other friends, so it was just a bit of fun then. To think about to where things have progressed now is quite crazy. I eventually moved into the British championship, coming second in the Cadet class and then the Junior Rotax. And then, naturally after that, the next step was Formula 4, and I had a couple of good seasons there, but GT racing was always something that I was keeping an eye too.”

Why did you decide to make the move to GT racing at such a young age?
“I think it was quite rare for someone who was so young to immediately make that switch from single seaters to GTs. Formula 4 was still a good experience, but as a 15/16-year-old, it’s kind of difficult to basically say goodbye to your F1 dream at quite a young age. That said, I knew it was the right call and it has definitely been justified. I was mentored for a time by Jonny Adam, another Scottish driver, and I knew that there were more career opportunities in GTs. Initially, I raced in GT4 with another brand and then GT3 with Lamborghini. My first season was in 2018 as a Silver driver with Barwell Motorsport, and then using Super Trofeo in 2019 to further my development in North America. I’ve sort of always been a Lamborghini GT driver since then and I’ve definitely developed over the years, eventually becoming a factory driver, which was the dream.”

You’ve had a lot of success at Spa-Francorchamps: is that your favourite track?
“Yeah, I would say Spa is definitely my favourite track, I like a lot of the American circuits as well, like Virginia and Watkins Glen, and I like the kind of old school nature of these tracks. Which is why I like Spa, and Brands Hatch GP too. A lot of the European drivers, when they come to visit Brands for GT World Challenge, they enjoy the challenge and it’s kind of like going back in time a bit because you can’t afford to make any mistakes with the grass and the gravel so close to the edge of the road. These sorts of tracks reward the drivers more because you need to be more comfortable with being right on the limit because the consequences are much higher. The more modern tracks with lots of run-off allow you to make more mistakes.”

Away from the track, what keeps you busy?
“I love sports in general, so I like to keep fit by doing that. Tennis and padel are the ones I do the most of at the moment because they are fairly ‘safe’ sports where you don’t risk getting injured that much! It’s nice when I go back to Scotland to do a bit of golf; I’m quite lucky to be from the east coast of Scotland where we have a lot of nice courses. Fitting that in around racing is always pretty nice; I grew up playing a lot of football, but that’s a lot more injury prone so I try to keep that to a minimum.

But the Italian lessons still need a bit of work?
“They do, yes! It’s improving each year and it is getting there a bit but it’s definitely something that needs a bit more attention in the next few years.”