Brendon Hartley, 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion: A man in demand

It’s fair to say that, for the last five weeks, the feet of the newly crowned 2017 World Endurance Driver Champion from Porsche, Brendon Hartley, haven’t touched the ground… and are unlikely to do so until Christmas.

From the beginning of October to the end of November the New Zealander will have competed in three different championships, eight different races in seven different countries on eight consecutive weekends.

The month of October started well for the 27-year-old (28 tomorrow!) with victory in the final round of the IMSA championship at Petit Le Mans in the Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi.  Brendon then flew direct to Japan for the 6 Hours of Fuji where he and his team mates Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber finished fourth.

It was while in Japan that the popular and immensely likable driver learned he would be competing with Scuderia Toro Rosso in F1 for the US Grand Prix at Austin…a deal which has now been extended to the end of the 2017 season in Abu Dhabi on 26 November.

So, the Kiwi’s travel schedule has been along the lines of USA-Japan-USA-Mexico-China-Brazil-Bahrain-Abu Dhabi over the last few weeks, putting his endurance stamina to an extreme test and racking up plenty of airmiles along the way.  

Second place in the 6 Hours of Shanghai last weekend was more than enough to secure a second FIA World Endurance Drivers Championship for the Palmerston North (North Island, NZ) man, who also took his first 24 Hours of Le Mans win in June this year.

The WEC champion will be able to finally relax once Christmas comes and he returns home to New Zealand for a much-needed holiday.  You will definitely deserve it Brendon and good luck for the remaining races!