| Charlie Eastwood | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Charlie Eastwood.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Irish
| |
| Date of Birth | 11 August 1995 | |
| Experience | World Endurance Championship Blancpain GT Series | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Tests | 2 | |
| Début |  2023 Rookie Test
| |
| Current Season | ||
| Team |  NEOM McLaren Formula E Team
| |
| Role | Test Driver | |
Charlie Eastwood (born 11 August 1995 in Belfast, Antrim/Down, United Kingdom) is an Irish racing driver who served as a test driver for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team during the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.[1] A GT racing Champion and Asian Le Mans Series Champion, Eastwood would get his first taste of FE at the 2023 Rookie Test and would go on to be employed by the British squad to run at the 2023 Rome E-Prix I in the specially arrange Rookie practice session at that E-Prix.[2]
Background[]
Eastwood's career began in 2005 in karting, with the Irish racer competing in various UK and later European series until 2014, when Eastwood graduated to the BRDC Formula 4 Championship.[3] Finishing tenth, Eastwood would open the 2015 season with a campaign in the Toyota Racing Series, claiming seventh, whiel spending the rest of the season in Formula Renault, competing without major success in the NEC and Eurocup series.[3] A switch to sportscars would follow for Eastwood in 2016, where the Irishman would enjoy an impressive rookie campaign in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, finishing the season in third win one race victory.[3]
Sporting Calling: 2017 - Present[]
After making a one-off return to single seaters in the NACAM F4 Championship, Eastwood would sweep to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title in 2017, resulting in TF Sport hiring him to drive for their various Aston Martin supported programmes in the World Endurance Championship, Blancpain GT Series and a run at the 24 Hours of Lemans.[3] Eastwood duly went on to claim third in the LMGTE Am class in the WEC, before following that up with a run to second in the same class in 2019/20 with four class victories.[3] 2019 also saw Eastwood sweep to the Pro-Am class title in the Blancpain Endurance Cup, while 2020 brought Eastwood the runner-up spot in the International GT Open after the Covid-19 Pandemic messed with schedules and resulted in various travel restrictions.[3]
2021 saw Eastwood get a variety of drives, ranging from a full campaign in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series, a run in the GT class of the Asian Le Mans Series and various other outings in British GT, IMSA SportsCar Championship and the International GT Open, although Eastwood would not challenge for titles in any series.[3] 2022 would see a similar mix of programmes, with Eastwood's best results coming with a run to sixth in Asian Le Mans Series, before the Irishman opened the 2023 season with the outright title in the ALMS after moving up to the LMP2 class.[3] 2023 also saw Eastwood make a return to the WEC and the LMGTE Am class, and make a winning start to a third season in the ELMS.[3]
Formula E History[]
Eastwood was offered the chance to test for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team ahead of the 2023 Rookie Test, who would hire the Irishman to lead their test programme for the day alongside Luke Browning.[1] Eastwood would ultimately be the slowest of the Nissan powered drivers on outright pace, some half a second slower than temporary teammate Browning, although the Irishman was committed to a race focused programme rather than going for outright fastest laps.[2] Regardless, McLaren would ultimately invite Eastwood rather than Browning to drive in the FP0 session at the 2023 Rome E-Prix I, as a result of the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship rulebook including a requirement for teams to field a rookie driver in that practice session.[4]
Full Formula E Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Charlie Eastwood's career in Formula E in statistical form:
| Charlie Eastwood's Formula E Test Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Role |
| 2022/23 | NEOM McLaren Formula E Team[1]
|
58 | Nissan e-4ORCE 04 | Test Driver |
See Also[]
| File:WEC Wiki Logo.png | See related content on the World Endurance Championship Wiki |
| Charlie Eastwood |
|---|
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'NEOM McLAREN Formula E Team Announces Driver Line-Up for Berlin Rookie Test', mclaren.com, (McLaren Racing, 13/04/2023), https://www.mclaren.com/racing/formula-e/neom-mclaren-formula-e-team-announces-driver-line-up-for-berlin-rookie-test/, (Accessed 13/04/2023)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Drugovich fastest at Berlin Rookie Test', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/04/2023), https://fiaformulae.com/en/news/419335/drugovic-fastest-at-berlin-rookie-test, (Accessed 19/06/2023)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 'Charlie Eastwood', driverdb.com, (DriverDB AB, 2023), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/charlie-eastwood, (Accessed 08/07/2023)
- ↑ 'Charlie Eastwood set for rookie return with NEOM McLaren', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 04/07/2023), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/431732/charlie-eastwood-set-for-rookie-return-with-neom-mclaren, (Accessed 08/07/2023)