Hand joins Gradient Racing GTD Mustang team
Gradient Racing will premiere its new Ford Mustang GT3 at the upcoming Rolex 24 At Daytona, and the Austin-based team has finalized its line-up for Daytona and the remaining Michelin Endurance Cup events in GTD.
For the Endurance Cup, Ford Performance factory driver Joey Hand will share the No. 66 Ford with Lola Cars owner Till Bechtolsheimer and second-year Gradient Racing driver Tatiana Calderón. They will be joined at Daytona by Harry Tincknell, who joined Aston Martin as one of its factory Hypercar drivers for 2025.
Hand captured overall honors in the 2011 Rolex 24 and a GTLM class win in 2017, both with Chip Ganassi Racing. The American has also won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Sebring 12 Hours. He's coming off a season where he drove the first-year factory Mustang to a best finish of fourth at VIRginia International Raceway.
“I’m really looking forward to this new endeavor with Gradient Racing," said Hand. I’ve felt right at home with them from the start, and can’t wait for this program to get underway and getting to know and work with my new teammates. It’s going to be fun to have my pal Harry Tincknell in the driver lineup with me as well.
“It’s exciting to come into the season with a new car for the team, but obviously I am extremely familiar with the Ford Mustang GT3 and I’ll be aiming to help with getting everyone up to speed quickly so we can all be comfortable driving it over the course of 24 hours. The first win for the Mustang is still up for grabs, and nothing would make me happier than to be able to achieve that feat.”
“The Rolex 24 is obviously one of the biggest races in the world and I am delighted to be a part of it,” said Bechtolsheimer, who last competed in IMSA with Gradient in 2022 when the team won Petit Le Mans.
“I’m thrilled to be back with Gradient Racing and Andris [Laivins, team owner], whom I have a longstanding history with. We have a great group of drivers with an incredible amount of experience, and I believe that if we go into these next couple of weeks with the right mindset, we can come away with a top result.”
Calderón reprises her Endurance Cup role from Gradient Racing last year, when she drove the team's previous Acura NSX GT3 Evo22.
“I’m super excited to be returning for another opportunity to win the Rolex 24,” she said. “I know we can continue to build on the experience gained with Gradient Racing in 2024, but this time driving the Ford Mustang GT3 beast. We have a fantastic driver line-up with Joey, Harry and Till, and although there is a lot to learn in what will be our debut with the Mustang, I’m confident we can deliver a strong start to the year.”
Multimatic Motorsports driver Tincknell scored the Ford Mustang GT3's first GTD PRO podiums at VIR and Indianapolis last year, while also driving Proton Competition's Porsche 963 in the WEC. He finished third overall in the 2021 Rolex 24.
“I’m really excited to get going at Daytona with Gradient Racing,” said Tincknell. “I’ve been following their successes over the past few years while I’ve been competing in IMSA, and I know they are a tight knit team and I’m looking forward to racing with them. I also know Joey extremely well as we were a part of the Ford factory team last year, and I also raced with Tatiana in Formula 3 back in the day. I’m eager to work with Till for the first time, I know he has a lot of experience.
“I am very familiar with the Mustang, having developed it from the beginning and been a part of that journey. I feel proud to have helped Ford achieve their first podiums with this new edition of the car, and hopefully we can bring home its first win here at Daytona.”
Together with the two-car Ford Multimatic Motorsports team in GTD PRO, Gradient Racing hopes to capture the Mustang GT3's first victory in worldwide competition after going winless in its first year across IMSA, WEC, and GT World Challenge Europe.
Gradient Racing will announce its drivers for the IMSA sprint races at a later date.
R.J. O'Connell
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