Kyffin Simpson
Simpson in 2024
Nationality	Caymanian
Born	(2004-10-09)9 October 2004 (age 21) Bridgetown, Barbados
IndyCar Series career
17 races run over 1 year
Team	No. 8 (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Best finish	21st (2024)
First race	2024Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last race	2025Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix (Nashville Superspeedway)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 1 0
European Le Mans Series - LMP2 career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Algarve Pro Racing
Racing licence	FIA Silver(until 2023) FIA Gold(2024–)
Car number	25
Starts	6
Championships	1 (2023)
Wins	2
Podiums	5
Poles	2
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	1st in2023
Previous series
2022–23 2021 2020–21 2020	Indy NXT Indy Pro 2000 Championship FR Americas Championship F4 United States Championship
Championship titles
2021	FR Americas Championship
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2024
Teams	Nielsen Racing
Best finish	25th(2024)
Class wins	0

Kyffin Simpson (/ˈkɪ.fən/KIH-fən; born 9 October 2004) is aCaymanianracing driver competing in theIndyCar Series withChip Ganassi Racing. He won the2023 European Le Mans Series championship withAlgarve Pro Racing.

Simpson was born inBridgetown, Barbados; the son of Caymanian businessman David Simpson.^[1] Simpson competes as Caymanian,^[2] saying, "I really feel connected with the people of Cayman. It’s cool to fly the flag on the side of my car."^[3]

Simpson made his car racing debut in 2020 for Velocity Racing Development in the2020 Formula 4 United States Championship after 9 years of karting across the Caribbean and United States.^[4]

Simpson would dovetail a season in the Formula 4 United States Championship with a season in theFormula Regional Americas Championship in 2020, and dominated the championship in his second season with podiums in all but five races.^[5]

Winning the FR Americas title awarded Kyffin with aHonda Performance Development scholarship fund worth $600,000 towards aSuper Formula campaign in 2022, but Japan’s ongoing travel restrictions due to COVID-19 prevented these plans coming to fruition.^[6]

Parallel to his Regional F3 campaign, Simpson also entered theRoad to Indy ladder withIndyCar teamJuncos Racing, competing in 16 of the 18-raceIndy Pro 2000 Championship season, scoring three podiums.^[7]

In 2022, Simpson signed a multi-year deal as a development driver withChip Ganassi Racing, whilst also progressing toIndy Lights, partneringJames Roe Jr. at TJ Speed Motorsports.^[8] Following eight races with the team, Simpson moved toHMD Motorsports.^[9] He finished ninth in the Indy Lights standings with a best result of fifth in Barber and Detroit.

Simpson confirmed a return to the newly rebrandedIndy NXT series in 2023 withHMD Motorsports.^[10][11] He scored two podiums and ended up tenth overall.

Alongside his Indy Lights duties, Simpson made hisIMSA SportsCar Championship debut with Gradient Racing at the wheel of anAcura NSX GT3 EVO II at the2022 24 Hours of Daytona. He, along with his teammatesMario Farnbacher and Till Bechtolsheimer, won the2022 Petit Le Mans in the GTD class.^[12]

Simpson joined Tower Motorsports for a part-time role in the2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship competing inLMP2.^[13] After finishing fifth at the24 Hours of Daytona, Simpson, along with teammatesScott McLaughlin andJohn Farano, won the LMP2 class of the12 Hours of Sebring, marking the Barbadian's second triumph in IMSA.^[14]

Alongside his duties in junior formulae, Simpson would compete full-time in the2023 Asian Le Mans Series together withJames Allen andJohn Falb as part ofAlgarve Pro Racing^[15] in preparation for a campaign in that year'sEuropean Le Mans Series.^[16] The season opener inDubai yielded a perfect start, as the trio took victory despite a spin from Falb.^[17] Simpson played a major role in said victory, taking second place from Indy NXT rivalChristian Bogle near half-distance, before closing the gap between himself and leaderAyhancan Güven from 25 to mere seven seconds by the end of their stints.^[18] The following day, a puncture prevented the No. 25 from battling for a win; they eventually settled for fourth.^[19] Race one at theYas Marina Circuit saw Simpson battling the experiencedOliver Jarvis for a podium spot, however he would take himself out of contention owing to a spin into the turn sixteen wall mere minutes before the end.^[20][21] On Sunday, fourth place meant that Simpson, Allen and Falb would end up third in the LMP2 classification.^[22]

Simpson would stay with Algarve Pro Racing to compete in the2023 European Le Mans Series, where Simpson once again partnered James Allen, the pair being joined byCadillac Hypercar driverAlex Lynn.^[23] An unspectacular maiden race inBarcelona was followed by a markedly improved showing at theCircuit Paul Ricard, where Simpson's ability to stay close to leaderVladislav Lomko throughout the opening stints - exemplified by the Bajan setting the race's fastest lap - enabled teammates Lynn and Allen to get embroiled in the battle for victory, with the latter executing a late-race pass onLouis Delétraz to bring first place to APR.^[24] Prior to the third race, held atAragón, Simpson received praise from Lynn, the Brit stating that "Kyffin is a fast learner" and praising him for his pace, whilst remarking that Simpson needed more experience.^[25] The team finishedthe race in third.^[26] In a chaoticSpa event a month later, Simpson and his APR teammates drove an error-free race to claim victory, putting them into the championship lead.^[27] Thanks to a pair of second places at the 4 Hours ofAlgarve andPortimão, the APR crew won the ELMS title.^[28][29] Simpson struggled for pace in wet conditions during the latter, but held the car on track whilst others did not.^[30]

In January 2023, Kyffin completed his firstNTT IndyCar Series test withChip Ganassi Racing atSebring International Raceway.^[31] Following the end of the2023 IndyCar season, Chip Ganassi announced that Simpson, who had been the team's development driver over the past two years, would be stepping up to IndyCar in 2024.^[32][33] He started his season atSt. Petersburg with a twelfth place finish, ending up ahead of all other rookies and setting the fastest lap of the race.^[34] Following three further top-twenty finishes, Simpson ended up 21st in his first appearance at theIndy 500, having qualified a then-record eighteenth.^[35][36] The Caymanian soon experienced two retirements, being spun into the barriers byChristian Rasmussen atRoad America early on and getting spun byAgustín Canapino inMonterey.^[37][38] Two top-twenty results atIowa were followed by a retirement inToronto, where Simpson crashed at turn eight with seventeen laps to go.^[39] Another mistake came atGateway: Simpson spun into the wall on lap 86, having struggled for pace during the weekend.^[40] After sixteenth atPortland, Simpson took thirteenth in the secondMilwaukee race and finished 22nd atNashville.^[41][42] Though Simpson finished 21st in the drivers' standings — behind all four of his teammates, and with the second-worst grid position average of all full-time drivers - though he was retained by Ganassi for the2025 season, moving to the No. 8.^[43][44]

Simpson started the season with eighteenth place atSt. Petersburg and fifteenth atThermal Club.^[45][46] He then claimed his maiden top-ten result in IndyCar, finishing tenth atLong Beach after using the alternate strategy.^[47] Having qualified tenth atBarber, Simpson finished one lap down in 21st; this preceded another tenth place in qualifying for theIndy Road Course race, one which Simpson could not start after suffering mechanical trouble on his way to the grid.^[48][49][50] He qualified thirteenth for theIndy 500 but got taken out mid-race after being clipped by a spinningKyle Larson.^[51] During the next weekend inDetroit Simpson posted the fastest lap alongside a fifth place, one achieved after going on the alternate strategy.^[52] A fifteenth place finish atGateway preceded a sixth place atRoad America.^[53][54] After qualifying third atMid-Ohio, the Caymanian disappointingly crossed the line tenth after stalling in pit lane and then receiving a penalty after running over the foot of a crew member for Rinus Veekay's pit crew.^[55][56] TheIowa double header saw him finish eighteenth and thirteenth respectively.^[57][58] Simpson charged through the field with a well-executed two stop strategy inToronto, qualifying fourteenth and starting thirteenth, making up ten places to finish third for his best ever result and first podium in the Indycar series.^[59][60][61]

Simpson retired from theGrand Prix of Monterey on the opening lap, having caused a collision withFelix Rosenqvist at turn 6. He received a six-place grid penalty for the following event atPortland.^[62][63] After qualifying twelfth, Simpson dropped to 21st in the race.^[64][65] An unspectacularMilwaukee race yielded a finishing spot of 20th. Meanwhile, the final race of the season atNashville brought around Simpson's best oval performance to date: having qualified tenth, Simpson found himself battlingScott McLaughlin for a podium place in the final laps, eventually ending up fourth after being re-overtaken on the last lap.^[66][67] Simpson's racecraft was later praised by McLaughlin, who complimented his ability to battle cleanly and called him someone who "respected the outside lane".^[68] Thanks to his six top ten finishes, Simpson improved to 17th in the standings.^[69]

^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2024	Nielsen Racing	David Heinemeier Hansson Fabio Scherer	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	291	25th	11th

• Official website
• Kyffin Simpson career summary at DriverDB.com

• 2004 births
• Living people
• Caymanian sportsmen
• Sportspeople from Bridgetown
• Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers
• Indy Lights drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers
• Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
• Dale Coyne Racing drivers
• Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers
• WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
• United States F4 Championship drivers
• HMD Motorsports drivers
• Asian Le Mans Series drivers
• European Le Mans Series drivers
• DragonSpeed drivers
• Algarve Pro Racing drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• 21st-century British sportsmen
• Velocity Racing Development drivers

• CS1 German-language sources (de)
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