Nathan Kinch

Nathan at Donington '04

• Nathan Kinch Top Page
• Nathan Kinch's Racing CV

<< Back

Nathan Kinch

Born on 4th June 1982, former BRDC "Rising Star" NATHAN KINCH from Aberdeen in Scotland was poised to become a great British exponent of sportscar and GT racing - following in the wheel-tracks of people like Derek Bell, James Weaver and Andy Wallace.

2005 saw only Nathan's fifth season of car racing - indeed, he did not do a full season in 2002 - and his progress within the sport has been rapid, as his "Racing CV" testifies. He has actually won in every racing category in which he has participated.

Driving alongside Jamie Campbell-Walter in the lead "works" Lister Storm in the 2003 FIA GT Championship, Nathan had caught the eye of team boss, Laurence Pearce, during his five highly-successful races in the GNM Saleen in the 2002 British GT Championship.

In "Autosport" in February 2003, Laurence Pearce said : "I went after Nathan because he's good. We tested him at Donington and he was immediately quick".

One of Nathan's outings in the Group C BudLight-liveried Jaguar XJR-16 stirred Autosport's Marcus Pye into writing : "....here is a gifted young man.....who demonstrated his ability on the limit" ["Autosport" 13/06/02].

Nathan Kinch was a great prospect for future success after his exceptionally strong performances with the Lister Storm in '03, the RML Lola at Le Mans in '04 and the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 GTC in both British GT (2004/5) and the Le Mans Endurance Series in '05. He was closely watched by Team Managers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nathan decided to return to the British GT Championship in both 2004 and 2005 - partnering fellow Scot, Andrew Kirkaldy - with Stewart Roden's Scuderia Ecosse outfit in a Ferrari 360 GTC. The pair won six times in British GT in 2004 - despite the disadvantages they encountered with the 2004 handicapping system. In 2005 Nathan's domination was total - eleven wins in thirteen races to lift the British GT Championship crown. At season's end Nathan also scored his first class victory in the Le Mans Endurance Series by bringing the red Ferrari 360 home ahead of strong opposition on the very last lap of the six-hour LMES round in Istanbul in November.

Nathan is also seen in other top-line sportscars and GTs. In 2004, he tested the impressively fast Creation Autosportif Team's LMP675 DBA4-Zytek at Paul Ricard and did a bit of testing too for Team AKA with their Formula Renault car. Nathan joined the RML squad for the Le Mans 24-Hours in June 2004, teaming up in their Lola MG prototype with Mike Newton and Tommy Erdos. The car is pictured in our Action Gallery, accessed at the foot of each page.

In 2006, Nathan embarked on a campaign in a brand new Ferrari 430 GTC with Scuderia Ecosse in the FIA GT2 Championship, once again with Andrew Kirkaldy alongside him. The pair won the Category twice and, as at the half-way mark of the championship, were just 11 points away from the Championship lead.

However, a championship win was not to be but it was a strong year in which to bow out of top-line international racing and Nathan decided to retire in order to pursue another passion - flying. He will continue to drive his father, Larry's, historic racers from time-to-time but Nathan, his talent and his self-effacing charm will largely be missing for a bit from the sportscar paddocks around the world.

We wish him luck in his fresh endeavours and it was our pleasure to have been involved with him over five extremely successful seasons.

In 2007, Nathan did indeed do some racing at a different level by driving a Team Vertu Ferrari Dealer Team GB car in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli, in Ferrari's 60th Anniversary Year. And two podium finishes were the result during the first weekend at Misano in April. "This Series is unbelievably competitive," said Nathan, "with several drivers who have been racing against each other for many years - they know how to make their cars very wide and difficult to pass!" A podium second place finish followed in Race One at Paul Ricard in early September and again in Race One in the pouring rain at the Mugello Circuit in Tuscany at the Ferrari World Finals during the last weekend in October.

However, Nathan is to return on a regular basis to the historic racing scene in 2010 - under the wing of his old mentor, Lawrence Pearce - driving his father's Spice-Chevrolet SE92, prepared by QM Engineering, in the 2010 Group C/GTP Series. The SE 92 was raced by Jim Mullen in period. Nathan's father (Larry) and brother (Elliot) will campaign a pair of Group C2 Spice-Cosworths (run by Damax), including the "works" SE89C that ran at Le Mans in the 24-Hours in 1991.

Good news indeed.