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🏳️ James Cottingham

Racing driver from ENG. WEC, Manthey DK Engineering.
Driver facts
Full name
James Cottingham
Born
21 January 1984(b. 1984)
Nationality
ENG
Current team
Manthey DK Engineering
Series
WEC
Status
Active
Career wins
3
Career podiums
8
Career starts
48
Career DNFs
6
Racer Rating
4,534
James Cottingham
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Racer Rating
4,534
Rank 1883 of 38,983 indexed, +177 this season
FIA Categorisation
Bronze
FIA driver categorisation
Source: fia.com
Synthesized from 1 source, updated 0h ago

James Cottingham is a racing driver from ENG who competes in WEC for Manthey DK Engineering. Cottingham has recorded 3 wins and 8 podiums from 48 starts.[1]

A Racer Rating of 4,534 ranks Cottingham 1883th of 38,983 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications
2026 form
Last 20 races, finish position (higher is better)
P1P5P10P20DNF
Recent results
Tap a row for the full race
2026-07-12SAO PAULO LMGT3WECP4+106
2026-06-13LE MANS LMGT3WECDNF−90
2026-05-09SPA FRANCORCHAMPS LMGT3WECP7+50
2026-04-19IMOLA LMGT3WECP4+111
Career-best drives
Ranked by rating won, which prices the opposition
Rating wonRaceSeriesFinish
+159Donington Park 2022British GT ChampionshipP2
+154Oulton Park 2023British GT ChampionshipP1
+142LOSAIL 2025WECP2
+140Spa Francorchamps 2022British GT ChampionshipP2
+134Donington Park 2023British GT ChampionshipP1
Circuits
Rating per start against their own form that season
Raises their game
Snetterton4 starts+12
Oulton Park4 starts+4
Season by season
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPodiumsDNFsPolesPointsPosGain/LossRating
2026▸WECManthey DK Engineering400100—+1764,534
2025▸WECUnited Autosports801100P10−1234,357
2024▸WECUnited Autosports800100P8+3984,481
▸Asian Le Mans SeriesOptimum Motorsport400000P16−178
▸GT World Challenge EuropeGarage 59300000P40−151
2023▸British GT Championship2 Seas Motorsport935000P2+6564,313
▸24H Series7TSIX100000P28−62
2022▸British GT Championship2 Seas Motorsport902200P4+4323,818
2021▸British GT ChampionshipRAM Racing200100P15+2,0363,386
Recent coverage
No recent coverage found.
Head-to-head
Most-raced and strongest-beaten: times Cottingham finished ahead vs behind
RivalRatingRacedAheadBehindRecord
🇬🇧 Darren LeungFIA Bronze4,39036211558%
🇮🇪 Charlie EastwoodFIA Gold4,6722671927%
🇮🇹 Alessio RoveraFIA Platinum5,1692591636%
🇮🇹 Davide RigonFIA Platinum3,9622415963%
🇧🇪 Maxime MartinFIA Platinum4,93123111248%
🇬🇧 Sandy MitchellFIA Platinum4,92723101343%
🇺🇸 Simon MannFIA Silver4,81923101343%
🇫🇷 François HeriauFIA Bronze4,80123101343%
🇬🇧 Ian Loggie4,6182391439%
🇫🇷 Sean GelaelFIA Silver4,5292213959%
🇦🇺 Broc FeeneyFIA Gold, 1× champion6,59721150%
🇩🇪 Maro EngelFIA Platinum, 1× champion6,38531233%
🇬🇧 Jake DennisFIA Platinum, 1× champion6,242110100%
Raced wheel-to-wheel, not as team-mates
On the leaderboard
Global rank, 38,983 drivers indexed
#DriverSeriesRating
1,873🇮🇹 Toni VilanderIMSA WeatherTech4,539
1,874🇬🇧 Alex BuncombeGT World Challenge Europe4,538
1,875🇺🇸 Jimmy HensleyNASCAR Xfinity4,538
1,876🇩🇪 Laurents HoerrIMSA WeatherTech4,538
1,877🇺🇸 Bill ElliottSVRA4,537
1,878🇸🇪 Eje ElghFormula 3 Macau4,536
1,879🇮🇹 Richard AntinucciLamborghini Super Trofeo NA4,535
1,880🇺🇸 Ron Hornaday Jr.NASCAR Truck4,535
1,881🇫🇷 Eric AngelvyInternational Formula 30004,534
1,882🇵🇹 Henrique ChavesEuropean Le Mans Series4,534
1,883🏳️ James CottinghamWEC4,534
1,884🇺🇸 Dave BlaneyNASCAR Truck4,532
1,885🇬🇧 Justin KeenFIA GT Championship4,532
1,886🇺🇸 Mike AlexanderNASCAR Xfinity4,532
1,887🇹🇭 Sak NanaNürburgring Langstrecken-Serie4,532
1,888🇩🇪 Ben BünnagelNürburgring Langstrecken-Serie4,531
1,889🇺🇸 Bill SchindlerFormula 14,531
1,890🇳🇱 Roelof WunderinkFormula 14,531
1,891🇫🇷 David TerrienFIA GT Championship4,530
1,892🇺🇸 Duncan EndeIMSA WeatherTech4,530
1,893🇮🇹 Simone IaquintaLamborghini Super Trofeo Europe4,530
Full leaderboard →
RacerDB. Race results and driver ratings.Aggregated from 1 source, synced 4d ago
Series and team names are trademarks of their respective owners.Privacy
Synthesized from 2 sources, updated 709h ago

James Cottingham is a British semi-professional sportscar driver with a Racer Rating of 4,559, placing him among professional-level competitors in endurance racing. The FIA rates him as Bronze, denoting an amateur-level driver competing within the GT and endurance sphere, typically alongside full professionals. His career spans six seasons from 2021 to 2026 across 47 starts, averaging a ninth-place finish. Cottingham represents the calibre of gentleman driver who secures occasional race wins in the British GT Championship but faces the full weight of international competition in higher-tier series.[1]

Cottingham's early record came principally through the British GT Championship between 2021 and 2023, where he scored three wins and seven podiums from 20 starts for 2 Seas Motorsport, a team fielding drivers of comparable professional standing. He finished runner-up in the 2023 championship, his headline career achievement. Since stepping up to the World Endurance Championship in 2024, he has competed at a higher level; his head-to-head records against established full professionals show mixed results. Against Alessio Rovera and Daniel Harper, both Platinum-graded champions, Cottingham trails significantly in their shared races. He holds even records against mid-tier rivals such as Sandy Mitchell and François Heriau, whilst running ahead of Darren Leung more often than not. Isolated performances against world-class drivers such as Broc Feeney and Maro Engel represent single outings rather than sustained competitiveness at that level.[2]

His current WEC tenure with Manthey DK Engineering since 2024 has yielded one podium from 20 starts and no wins. The 2026 season has brought continued participation in the championship's LMGT3 class, where he competes in a professional team environment but has yet to score in four rounds this year. Cottingham's career reflects the profile of a businessman and car restorer who maintains competitive sportscar racing as an established pursuit, operating at the upper boundary of the gentleman driver category within GT and endurance fields.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications[2] Wikipedia
Manthey ‘firmly back in the fight’ after São Paulo podium[1]
FIA WEC
17 Jul 2026
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Le Mans 24h, H18: BMW in lead as Porsche crash triggers safety car[2]
Motorsport.com
16 Jun 2026
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Porsche customer team Manthey faced a challenging Le Mans race[3]
newsroom.porsche.com
14 Jun 2026
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