Tigani Motorsport field a handful of Mercedes-AMG GT3 race cars in GT World Challenge Australia. Image: Race Project
The team is the brainchild of Nathan Tigani, who raced karts competitively for the best part of 15 years. A mechanic by trade, Tigani worked on Radical Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup, and other GT3 cars across multiple teams before beginning his own endeavours.
“I got to see a lot of different teams from behind the pit wall and how they ran and operated,” Tigani told Speedcafe. “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Tigani stepped away from motorsport completely before moving to Wollongong. It was there that a former racing customer approached him to run a Porsche on his behalf. He rented a hoist in a 150 square metre workshop and Tigani Motorsport was born.
With a wealth of experience at other teams, he believed he could do things differently and provide a better customer experience for amateur drivers.
“It snowballed from that to taking on the full premises, to running more cars,” he explained.
“One car led to two cars led to three cars, which led to buying a transporter. From there, it kept snowballing to a bigger workshop and just more infrastructure.”
What started as a one-car team quickly grew. Now the team boasts a fleet of GT3 machines from multiple brands, including Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz.
At any given point, the workshop is littered with upwards of 15 cars.
“One of the guys that I had wanted to step up to GT3. We started that journey, running amateur guys just with a pure intent of customer satisfaction more than anything,” Tigani said.
“Then we decided to bite the bullet and move to a larger premises to bring everything in-house and consolidate it all to about a 300 square meter facility.”
Tigani Motorsport’s eponymous owner Nathan Tigani.
With growth came more personnel and seven full-time staff members, including an operations and logistics manager, two full-time engineers, and a bunch of mechanics.
The team took its first step towards being a real force by stepping up to Pro-Am competition with highly-regarded Mercedes-AMG junior and Supercars co-driver Jayden Ojeda.
“That’s what really transitioned us from that customer racing team to being results-driven,” said Tigani of the transition to Pro-Am.
“We shifted the focus to not only customer satisfaction but to performance. We turned the team around from having reliable and solid cars to cars that can win at any given minute they step out on track.
“Obviously, amateur racing is heavily based around the Am, so your results aren’t always truly indicative of where you’re at performance-wise. Given what Juice (Ojeda) has done the last 12 months, every time he hops in the car, he’s either first or top three.
“That’s starting to translate down the line of the Am and other guys. Having a team that’s now performance-oriented and getting on track for results, that’s just opened more and more doors for us in the future and currently.”
Theo Koundouris and James Koundouris raced an Audi R8 LMS GT3 with Tigani Motorsport before switching to a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Image: Race Project
Racing overseas is on the team’s radar, too. The team looks set to enter the Gulf 12 Hour at the Yas Marina Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with an all-star line-up later this year.
“Now we’ve started consolidating, our focus is GT3 in its entirety. That’s our home and where we want to put out full attention,” said Tigani.
“The product is so appealing, given that what we race here in Australia we can fly anywhere around the world and race anywhere. For us, that’s a massive plus to go and do that at a cool track like Fuji or Spa or Abu Dhabi. It’s not impossible.
“Australia runs at a super high level, more than I probably realised. So to take that anywhere in the world and know we can be competitive is appealing to us as a team and compelling to the customers more than anything, so the business model makes sense.”
Midway through the 2025 season, the team has a throng of cars from different brands sitting in its Wollongong workshop.
When asked if the team wants to continue down the path of supporting multiple manufacturers or aligning with one, Tigani said he was open to both models but has spoken to manufacturers about formal ties.
“We’re exploring the next thing as a team and what’s the next motivating factor and situation that we can transition into, whether it be manufacturer status or overseas in the near future, which is exciting,” he said.
Tigani Motorsport has fielded cars for Porsche customers alongside its Audi R8 LMS and Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers. Image: Race Project
To date, the direction of what cars they’ve acquired has been directed by customer preference, but Tigani Motorsport race engineer Matt Harvey believes customers would join them on the journey if they gained brand backing.
“The customers come to the team with what they want to do and what they want to race, but then there are other elements to it where you go, ‘Okay, moving forward, it’s good to be part of something that’s building’,” said Harvey.
“Everyone wants to achieve something great together, and if that means forming an alliance or falling into line with one manufacturer or one of the brands that we have in-house falls by the wayside to make way for a stronger Mercedes alliance or a stronger Porsche alliance, then you the customers are seeing the big picture there.
“MPC (Melbourne Performance Centre) is the benchmark. They’ve got longevity in the game, they’ve got a massive customer base, they’ve got the fullest trophy cabinet — it’d be pretty hard to see that all being possible without their alliance with Audi.
“You can’t win races without a fast Pro, you can’t win races without a motivated and well-budgeted Am, you can’t win races without the mechanical infrastructure and the technical knowledge, so if you align yourself with your manufacturer, you have more tools in the toolbox or more feathers in your cap.
“For me, it’s just a no-brainer. Nathan’s risen with the appetite of his customers, and they also want to do bigger and better things. So why not? Why not find a way to do it where there’s more scope? Why would you not want to have the affiliation with the manufacturer and provide more opportunities and a higher quality service to your customer base?
“If we were to support a manufacturer in the region, it would be to do that job well, and then for that to flow into the knowledge base of the race team and the opportunities that open up for drivers and then to open up opportunities for customers to be on the receiving end of the newest, biggest and baddest race cars.”
Tigani Motorsport conclude its GT World Challenge Australia season at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on October 31-November 2.