The Le Mans winner in the wrong car

This week, Britain's newest Le Mans winner heads back to the scene of the greatest moment of his career so far. But Nick Tandy won't be joining Porsche's LMP1 challenge; he's back in GTE, as is fellow 2015 outright winner Earl Bamber.

Even before the New Year, Tandy knew he was one of the victims of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, as both Porsche and Audi reduced their LMP1 Le Mans assaults by a car each. The winning crew of Tandy/Bamber/Nico Hulkenberg has yet to race an LMP1 machine again.

To say it was hard to take would be an understatement, but Tandy is very much focused on looking ahead.

"I have experienced what it is like to race for the overall victory and I'm disappointed I don't have the chance to defend the 2015 win," says the 31-year-old, who will share his 911 RSR with Patrick Pilet and Kevin Estre this weekend. "But it's not like I'm not racing."

And it's not like the challenge isn't high either. The GTE category has even greater manufacturer involvement than LMP1. Porsche's old rivals Ferrari, Chevrolet and Aston Martin all field entries with star drivers, and there is a major assault from Ford, 50 years after the Blue Oval's first outright success at La Sarthe. In all, there are 14 cars in the GTE Pro division.

Ferrari's new twin-turbo 488 has had an advantage rarely seen in the GT classes so far in 2016. There have been murmurings about a need to tweak the Balance of Performance, but as it stands, the AF Corse machines head to Le Mans as favourites.

"It's clear the Ferrari has been in a different class in the first two Word Endurance rounds," adds Tandy.

"The Corvettes are in a similar position to us in that they are in an updated car rather than an all-new one, and they know how to win at Le Mans. They will always be a big threat. And Aston Martin are a wildcard because they are running on new Dunlop tyres this year."

Having already raced against the Chip Ganassi-run Ford GT in the American IMSA SportsCar Championship, Tandy also expects the red and blue cars to be in the mix.

"If the Fords don't break down they will be in the reckoning," he adds. "The car is designed for the Le Mans circuit and they have four cars going! They had problems at Daytona and Sebring, but they will be quick."

Adding to the challenge is Porsche's difficult start to the season.

Tandy helped Pilet and the team to IMSA SportsCar GT Le Mans class titles last year - along with a remarkable outright Petit Le Mans win - but pickings have been scarce in 2016.

Victory came in Long Beach, helped by Frederic Makowiecki in the sister 911 punting the leading Corvette of Tommy Milner in the closing stages, but generally the team has found the new aero rules, which allow bigger rear diffusers, difficult to get on top of.

In the other three North American events, Tandy and Pilet have failed to get into the top six and languish in seventh in the GT Le Mans points table, though Bamber and Makowiecki are higher up thanks to greater consistency.

"It hasn't started well," concedes Tandy. "We've struggled with the car with the new aero regulations.

"We've been competitive at Sebring and Daytona in the rain but we were always off in the dry, so we know we're missing a bit of speed compared to where we were last year. We haven't got the new aero matched with the new [Michelin] tyres.

"It seems tougher to figure out which tyre - we have two at a race weekend and four before the weekend - to use. Normally, once we work it out, we'll have the same tyre all year, but we haven't got the match yet."

Worryingly, even the sole success hasn't really answered Porsche's questions.

"We won at Long Beach because the tyres worked really well on that surface on that day," adds Tandy. "We don't know why.

"Looking at how Porsche has also struggled in the two rounds of the WEC it looks like it could be a tough year for us."

Tandy was second - to Antonio Garcia's Corvette - at the Le Mans test day earlier this month, but no one is taking those times too seriously. And, in any case, less than a second covered the top four marques.

It's not only the opposition that could make life tougher for Tandy this year. The obvious extra speed of the LMP1s aside - Tandy describes them as "ridiculously fast" ­- there are a number of things that actually make the GTE machines harder work over the 24 hours.

His previous two GTE starts at Le Mans - 2011 and '14 - yielded a retirement and seventh, but they do mean he knows what to expect when it comes to dealing with faster cars coming past around the Circuit de La Sarthe.

"The race is so much easier in the LMP1 because you're basically looking forward," says the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist.

"You're only looking forward to pass cars, whereas in the GT you're constantly looking behind. It's harder work in the GT car.

"In some corners you also have to think more about positioning in the GT. At the Porsche Curves, you can run wider in the LMP and still get it where you need to for the next corner. They have so much downforce.

"If you do that in the GT car, you can never get back over. You have to string the corners together more."

Few drivers have as much experience, or have scored as many successes, in Porsches in recent years and it would not be a surprise to see Tandy back in an LMP1 car at some point in the future. Perhaps even 2017.

Until then, Tandy can live with the idea of battling for class honours while looking out for the prototypes he could - indeed, should - be driving. Particularly if it means adding another endurance podium to his CV.

"I'm going to Le Mans, racing a factory Porsche, going for a GT Pro win," he says. "Who wouldn't be happy to do that?"