Ryan Cullen

Ryan Cullen (born 26 March 1991) is an Irish^[1] racing driver currently competing in the European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport.^[2]

Ryan Cullen
Ryan Cullen in 2023
Nationality	Irish
Born	(1991-03-26) 26 March 1991 (age 33) Somerset, United Kingdom
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season	2019–20
Current team	Vector Sport
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Car number	10
Former teams	Jackie Chan DC Racing
Starts	14 (14 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	14th (LMP2) in 2022
Previous series
2018–20 2016–17 2015–17 2015 2013–14 2013 2012	European Le Mans Series Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Porsche Supercup Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain GP3 Series Toyota Racing Series British Formula Ford
Championship titles
2016–17	Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge ME

Early career

Cullen first drove in the British Formula Ford in 2012 as a novice driver which means a driver has no race experience as stated in the MSA regulations, placing sixth overall in the standings and obtaining three podium positions. After partaking in the post-season GP3 test, Cullen signed with Marussia Manor Racing to compete in the GP3 Series in 2013.^[3] He failed to score points all year, finishing 29th in the standings, having been beaten by both teammates in all qualifying sessions and races where each driver was classified.^[4][5] During the winter, Cullen drove in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship and finished sixth overall.

He stayed with Marussia Manor for the 2014 GP3 season.^[6] Following seven scoreless weekends from Cullen, the team withdrew due to financial troubles, meaning that Cullen would miss the round at Sochi.^[7] He returned for the season finale with Trident Racing, but was unable to prevent himself from going a second successive season without scoring.^[8] Cullen drove for Koiranen GP during the post-season test.

Cullen went back to the MRF series for 2014/2015, where he finished second with three victories, which turned out to be his only race wins in single-seaters.

Sportscar career

Porsche series

In 2015, Cullen performed double-duties, partaking in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain with G-Cat Racing whilst also racing for VERVA Lechner Racing Team in the Porsche Supercup from round 4 onwards. He scored a best race finish of eighth in the former and 12th in the latter.

After finishing third in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East during the off-season, the Irishman returned to the Porsche Supercup with Lechner Racing whilst also competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany at Konrad Motorsport. In the latter, Cullen finished tenth in the standings, being beaten by all full-time drivers, meanwhile he classified 11th in the Supercup with a best result of seventh at the Red Bull Ring.^[9]

For his third season in the Porsche world, Cullen remained with Lechner in the Supercup, but switched to Huber Racing in the PCCG.^[10] He would end up 11th again in the former, whilst improving to ninth place in the latter's standings.

LMP2 venture

Cullen switched to prototype racing in 2018, driving in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series for APR - Rebellion Racing alongside Gustavo Menezes and Harrison Newey.^[11] The team ended up ninth in the standings, having finished all six races.

At the start of 2019, Cullen took his maiden endurance racing victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, having driven for DragonSpeed together with Pastor Maldonado, Roberto González, and Sebastián Saavedra.^[12] For the main 2019 season, the Irishman remained in the ELMS, this time partnering Alex Brundle and Will Owen at United Autosports.^[13] Cullen and his teammates scored their first podium of the year at Monza, finishing third, but were unable to match the results of the sister car, finishing eighth in the teams' championship.^[14] Cullen made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut the same year, finishing 14th in class.^[15]

Without a full-time programme in the COVID-stricken 2020 campaign, Cullen had to make do with one-off appearances. He raced in two races of the ELMS with DragonSpeed, drove for Jackie Chan DC Racing at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and competed at Le Mans for G-Drive Racing.^[16][17]

Cullen underwent another patchy season during 2021, as he raced in two events of the FIA World Endurance Championship with Risi Competizione, which included another appearance in Le Mans - where he and his teammates retired due to engine troubles.^[18]

The following year saw the Irishman step into the WEC for the entire season, as he drove with new team Vector Sport in the LMP2 category.^[19] Despite scoring a podium at Monza, Cullen and the team struggled, ending up tenth and second-lowest of the Pro class entries in the standings.^[20][21]

Returning for the team's second season in the category, Cullen partnered Gabriel Aubry as well as fellow silver-ranked driver Matthias Kaiser for the 2023 WEC season.^[22] With numerous technical issues and a collision at Monza, Vector Sport finished tenth overall, once again ranking second-lowest. However, a strong drive by Aubry carried the team towards a seventh place in class at Le Mans.^[23][24]

Personal life

Cullen was born to an Irish father and a Cypriot mother.^[25] He was coached by Adam Carroll during his early years in car racing.^[12]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2012	British Formula Ford Championship	Race Car Consultants	23	0	0	0	3	340	5th
	Formula Renault BARC Championship	Cullen Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	5
	Formula Renault BARC Winter Series		2	0	0	0	0	30	12th
2013	GP3 Series	Marussia Manor Racing	16	0	0	0	0	0	29th
2013–14	MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship	MRF Racing	13	0	0	0	0	45	8th
2014	GP3 Series	Marussia Manor Racing	14	0	0	0	0	0	25th
		Trident	2	0	0	0	0
2014–15	MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship	MRF Racing	12	3	2	2	6	174	2nd
2015	Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain	G-Cat Racing	10	0	0	0	0	40	14th
	Porsche Supercup	VERVA Lechner Racing Team	7	0	0	0	0	10	18th
2015–16	Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East	Cullen Motorsport	12	2	0	3	7	235	3rd
2016	Porsche Supercup	Lechner Racing Middle East	10	0	0	0	0	45	10th
	Porsche Carrera Cup Germany - Class A	Konrad Motorsport	12	0	0	0	0	91	9th
	Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe - Pro		3	0	0	0	0	17	12th
2016–17	Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East	Cullen Motorsport	12	8	4	2	11	265	1st
2017	Porsche Supercup	Walter Lechner Racing Team	9	0	0	0	0	41	11th
		Lechner Racing Middle East	2	0	0	0	0
	Porsche Carrera Cup Germany	raceunion Huber Racing	13	0	0	0	0	73	10th
2018	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	APR - Rebellion Racing	6	0	0	0	0	23.25	12th
2019	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	United Autosports	6	0	0	0	1	37.5	12th
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	DragonSpeed	1	1	0	0	1	35	8th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2	United Autosports	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	14th
2019–20	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Jackie Chan DC Racing	1	0	0	0	0	8	16th
2020	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	DragonSpeed USA	2	0	0	0	0	4.5	24th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2	G-Drive Racing by Algarve	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2021	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Risi Competizione	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2022	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Vector Sport	6	0	0	0	1	21	14th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	22nd
2023	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Vector Sport	7	0	0	0	0	29	16th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	7th
2024	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	Vector Sport	6	0	0	0	1	21	14th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th

† As Cullen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete British Formula Ford Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Pos	Points
2012	Race Car Consultants	OUL 1 8	OUL 2 5	OUL 3 10	BRI 1 9	BRI 2 9	BRI 3 Ret	ROC 1 5	ROC 2 7	ROC 3 5	BHGP 1 Ret	BHGP 2 Ret	BHGP 3 Ret	NÜR 1 6	NÜR 2 4	NÜR 3 5	SNE 1 6	SNE 2 6	SNE 3 Ret	SIL 1 6	SIL 2 5	SIL 3 3	DON 1 6	DON 2 3	DON 3 C	6th	324

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2013	Marussia Manor Racing	CAT FEA 21	CAT SPR Ret	VAL FEA 20	VAL SPR 20	SIL FEA 21	SIL SPR 17	NÜR FEA 19	NÜR SPR 25	HUN FEA 23	HUN SPR Ret	SPA FEA 18	SPA SPR 17	MNZ FEA 20	MNZ SPR Ret	YMC FEA 20	YMC SPR 24			29th	0
2014	Marussia Manor Racing	CAT FEA 15	CAT SPR 16	RBR FEA 17	RBR SPR 13	SIL FEA 19	SIL SPR Ret	HOC FEA 20	HOC SPR 19	HUN FEA 24	HUN SPR 21	SPA FEA 14	SPA SPR 13	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 16	SOC FEA	SOC SPR			25th	0
	Trident																	YMC FEA 19	YMC SPR Ret

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
2015	VERVA Lechner Racing Team	CAT	MON	RBR	SIL Ret	HUN Ret	SPA 19	SPA 12	MNZ 20	MNZ 22	USA C	USA 15	18th	10
2016	Lechner Racing Middle East	CAT 13	MON 14	RBR 6	SIL 20	HUN 8	HOC 14	SPA 14	MNZ Ret	USA 14	USA 14		11th	45
2017	Walter Lechner Racing Team	CAT 21	CAT 16	MON 12	RBR 12	SIL Ret	HUN Ret	SPA 15	SPA 11	MNZ 6	MEX 9	MEX 9	11th	41

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2018	APR - Rebellion Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC 15	MNZ 8	RBR 6	SIL 5	SPA 15‡	ALG 12	12th	23.25
2019	United Autosports	LMP2	Ligier JS P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC 12	MNZ 3	CAT 8	SIL 8	SPA 9	ALG 4	12th	37.5
2020	DragonSpeed	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC 8	SPA 14	LEC	MNZ	ALG		24th	4.5
2024	Vector Sport	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	CAT 10	LEC 10	IMO 3	SPA 8	MUG 12	ALG Ret	14th	21

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2019	DragonSpeed	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 1	SEB	MDO	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	PET	8th	35

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2019	United Autosports	Alex Brundle Will Owen	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	348	19th	14th
2020	G-Drive Racing with Algarve	Oliver Jarvis Nick Tandy	Aurus 01-Gibson	LMP2	105	DNF	DNF
2021	Risi Competizione	Oliver Jarvis Felipe Nasr	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	275	NC	NC
2022	Vector Sport	Sébastien Bourdais Nico Müller	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	357	27th	22nd
2023	Vector Sport	Gabriel Aubry Matthias Kaiser	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	325	15th	7th
2024	Vector Sport	Patrick Pilet Stéphane Richelmi	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	297	19th	5th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2019–20	Jackie Chan DC Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SIL	FUJ	SHA	BHR	COA	SPA 6	LMS	BHR	16th	8
2022	Vector Sport	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SEB NC	SPA 10	LMS 13	MNZ 3	FUJ 9	BHR 9			14th	21
2023	Vector Sport	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SEB 9	ALG 11	SPA Ret	LMS 5	MNZ Ret	FUJ 7	BHR NC		16th	29

References

1. Balasundaram, Nemesha (18 February 2015). "Ryan Cullen on his Formula One dream, racing idols and driving under the Irish flag". The Irish Post. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
2. Lloyd, Daniel (12 January 2022). "Record 39-Car Grid for WEC Season". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
3. "Ryan Cullen competes Marussia Manor Racing Team". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
4. Allen, Peter (23 December 2013). "2013 GP3 Series season review". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
5. "Comparison between Ryan Cullen and 2013 | Racing Years". www.racingyears.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
6. "Marussia F1 Team reveals 2014 GP3 Team driver line-up". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 19 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
7. "Marussia's junior team pull out of Russian GP3 race but team stress decision not because of Jules Bianchi crash". 8 October 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
8. Allen, Peter (6 December 2014). "2014 GP3 Series season review". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
9. Motorsport-Magazin.com. "Supercup Gesamtwertung 2016 - Supercup 2016". Motorsport-Magazin.com (in German). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
10. Bonham, Lee (29 March 2017). "Ryan Cullen: Britain's Secret Supercup Star". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
11. Kilshaw, Jake (6 March 2018). "Cullen Completes APR-Rebellion Lineup – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
12. "Cullen: Winning The Rolex 24 "Was A Dream Come True!"". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
13. "41 Cars On The Full-Season ELMS Entry". Dailysportscar. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
14. "4H Monza: Post-Race Notes". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
15. "FIA WEC – 87º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans – Race – Final Classification" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 12 July 2019. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
16. Lloyd, Daniel (15 January 2020). "Reigning LMP2 Champion Rojas Joins New DragonSpeed Lineup". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
17. "2020 Le Mans Tales: Ryan Cullen". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
18. "2021 24 Hours Of Le Mans: Event Info". Motorsport Stats. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021. "Le Mans 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans: Race". Autosport. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021. Barstow, Ollie (22 August 2021). "2021 Le Mans 24 Hours – Final Official Classification after 24h of 24h". Crash. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021. "FIA WEC: 89º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans: Race: Final Classification" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 22 August 2021. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
19. Lloyd, Daniel (12 January 2022). "Record 39-Car Grid for WEC Season". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
20. Euwema, Davey (10 July 2022). "Alpine Drivers Extend Points Lead with 6H Monza Win – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
21. "WEC 2022 results and standings for top drivers and teams". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
22. Lloyd, Daniel (18 November 2022). "Vector Sport Planning for Second Season in LMP2 – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
23. "FIA WEC 91º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans Race Final Classification – Amended" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 11 June 2023. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023. "Le Mans 24 Hours 2023". Racing Sports Cars. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
24. Heinemeier Hansson, David (12 June 2023). "@dhhracing on Twitter".
25. Balasundaram, Nemesha. "Ryan Cullen on his Formula One dream, racing idols and driving under the Irish flag". The Irish Post. Retrieved 4 May 2023.

External links

• Cullen Motorsport
• Ryan Cullen career summary at DriverDB.com