Ultra-talented Briton excited for fresh challenge in elite sportscar category
Britain’s Callum Ilott will contest the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship racing a Porsche 963 Hypercar for Hertz Team JOTA.
Next season’s eight-round series will mark Ilott’s first association with the burgeoning British-based JOTA squad and his maiden WEC campaign.
Callum’s impressive CV (over 230 races) has been, until now, centred primarily on single-seaters. Having finished third in the 2018 GP3 Championship (seven podiums), Ilott placed second in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship (six podiums).
A former Red Bull Junior Team (2015) and Ferrari Driver Academy (2017-21) member, Callum was test driver for Scuderia Ferrari (2021) and reserve driver for Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen F1 team (2021).
More recently, Ilott has raced in the IndyCar series (2021-23), claiming two top-five placings and a creditable 12th in the Indy 500 this year.
Ilott ventured away from single-seaters when he contested the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and made his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut the same year, finishing third in the LMGTE Am category.
But an exciting new era now dawns for the talented Cambridgeshire ace who sampled the 640bhp, 4.6-litre, twin-turbo V8 hybrid Porsche recently in a two-day test at Qatar – the venue for the opening WEC race next March.
Hertz Team JOTA won the 2023 FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams despite missing the opening two races of the season.
2024 FIA WEC Calendar
24-25 Feb: Official Prologue (QAT)
02 Mar: Qatar 1,812Km or 10hrs (QAT)
21 Apr: 6 Hours of Imola (ITA)
11 May: TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)
15-16 Jun: 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA)
14 Jul 2024: 6 Hours of São Paulo (BRA)
1 Sep: Lone Star Le Mans (USA)
15 Sep: 6 Hours of Fuji (JPN)
2 Nov: 8 Hours of Bahrain (BAH)
Callum Ilott (GB)
Date of Birth: 11 November 1998 (25)
Born: Cambridge
Lives: Bishop’s Stortford
« I’m so excited to be racing a Porsche in the top-class with Hertz Team JOTA. I had a two-day test recently and the car felt great and was enjoyable to drive.
« I’ve been ultra-impressed with the team, they’re incredibly professional, and I already know that with the Porsche, we’re going to be challenging for top results next season and hopefully success at Le Mans itself.
« The team were incredibly impressive this season especially considering they began their season at Spa in May after limited running and then performed extremely well at Le Mans the following month.
« 2024 will mark my first full year in WEC having made a one-off Le Mans appearance a couple of years ago. The calendar looks fantastic and it’ll be great racing at some of the historic European tracks again like Imola, Spa and of course Le Mans.
« It’s a super impressive series [WEC] attracting many famous car manufacturers and top-class drivers from around the World. I can’t wait for Qatar. »