James Vowles to make racing return at Gulf 12 Hours

This comes three years after the Williams F1 boss last started a competitive race

Williams Formula 1 boss James Vowles will return to endurance racing when he contests the 2025 Gulf 12 Hours with Garage 59 on 14 December.

The 46-year-old last raced competitively in 2022 when he entered all four rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series with the Garage 59 squad, aboard its McLaren 720S GT3.

Vowles will race the Evo spec of that McLaren this December at Yas Marina Circuit, which comes just a week after the 2025 F1 season ends at the same Abu Dhabi venue.

He will drive alongside 2024 Pro-Am winner Alexander West, two-time International GT Open Pro-Am champion Marco Pulcini and that championship’s 2025 Am runner-up Mark Sansom.

Vowles said: “The chance to put on a race helmet again is something I relish. Garage 59 is a team I know well from our time together in 2022.

“The Gulf 12 Hours is a fantastic event with a competitive grid. It will be a pleasure to share the car with Alex, Mark and Marco, and to experience racing from the driver’s seat again.”

#188 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO: Guilherme Oliveira, Shaun Balfe, Thomas Fleming, Jack Hawksworth

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

Vowles joined Williams in 2023, meaning he was still the strategy director of Mercedes when he contested the Asian Le Mans Series, where he scored two points across the rounds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

That added to saloon racing he had done in the United Kingdom back in 2015, while having also done show runs at events like Goodwood Festival of Speed – this year, he attempted the hillclimb in the 1992 F1 world-championship-winning Williams.

Garage 59’s team boss Andrew Kirkaldy said: “We thoroughly enjoyed working with James during the 2022 ALMS campaign.

“His approach and professionalism, and of course his knowledge of strategy, made it a very enjoyable collaboration.

“Bringing him back for the Gulf 12 Hours is something we’re all excited about, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together in Abu Dhabi.”

Garage 59 was founded in 2016 and has since competed across various championships like GT World Challenge Europe, Intercontinental GT Challenge, ALMS and British GT.

It specialises in running McLaren, Ferrari or Aston Martin GT cars, and for 2026 is set to enter GT World Challenge and the World Endurance Championship.