Peter Dempsey’s WEC Comeback Could Be Short-Lived After Standout GT Season

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI

Peter Dempsey has turned an unexpected return to top-level racing into a season of wins and championship contention. The harder question is whether he’ll get another year on the grid: his results have earned him an FIA Silver rating, and he worries that the change could leave him without a seat next season.

The 40-year-old Irishman is still in the mathematical fight for the FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 title ahead of the Monza finale. He and TF Sport teammates Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc trail their team’s Jonny Edgar by 22 points. Their route to the finale included a retirement at the Imola opener, followed by a class victory in Brazil and a podium. Dempsey says the team scored points in all but two races.

That comeback is one part of a busy year. Dempsey also won the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Bronze Sprint Cup title in a Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo for Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing. He took an Am-class win at the Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour with Mad Joker Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, and plans to race in the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter.

A return few years in the making

Dempsey rose through the junior single-seater ranks during the 2010s and reached Indy Lights, but didn’t progress further. He had not raced in a top-level series since 2013, turning instead to team management. A conversation with fellow Irishman Eastwood helped open the door to a WEC return with TF Sport’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Dempsey joined the line-up as a Bronze-rated driver.

Asked whether he expected the season to go this well, Dempsey told Sportscar365 that he had trusted his ability and hoped his racing would match his ambitions. The results, he said, had gone “really well.” He described the mix of opportunities and the recovery from the Imola retirement as “phenomenal,” particularly with the LMGT3 title still within reach.

Brazil carried extra meaning. Dempsey said he had grown up a major Ayrton Senna fan, making his first visit to the country and his first win there a personal milestone. Returning to race alongside Eastwood, whom he has known for nearly all his life, was another part of a year he once thought unlikely to happen.

The range of machinery has also put his adaptability to work. The Corvette and Porsche both run in GT3, but moving between a car, team and series brings more than a change of cockpit. Dempsey said the Porsche itself was not the main hurdle; learning the racing style in GT World Challenge Europe, which differs from the WEC, took time. Once he adjusted, he enjoyed the series. His team then won the final four races in its class.

Silver rating brings a question mark

Those results have come with a complication. Dempsey said he is “not the fastest Silver around,” and acknowledged that he may have to return to the sidelines despite wanting to keep racing. His new rating changes the terms of the opportunity that brought him back, leaving his next step uncertain even after a season that has included several different GT3 programs.

Le Mans remains an option he would welcome. Dempsey has a year of experience behind him and believes he did a good job, but he said he is not counting on a place. The Asian Le Mans Series gives him a planned opportunity to continue racing this winter; what follows after that depends on whether a suitable seat becomes available.

For now, Dempsey’s focus is on finishing the WEC season. He has been able to bring his wife and children to most of the races and says he has enjoyed every minute of racing at a high level again. The Monza result will settle the LMGT3 title fight, while his season already includes the GT World Challenge Europe class crown and wins across three different programs. His comeback has delivered more than he expected; the Silver rating will help determine whether it continues.