24h Le Mans
Two of the three members of KCMG's driver line-up recruited for the 84th edition of the 24 Hours won in the LM P2 class last year at Le Mans with the Chinese outfit. Indeed, Richard Bradley and Matt Howson will compete along with head driver Tsugio Matsuda.
Though present this year solely in the LM GTE Am class in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), Paul Ip's outfit decided to accept the automatic invitation it was offered in LM P2 thanks to its win at Le Mans last year. Because you don't fix what isn't broken, KCMG will once again compete with the Oreca 05-Nissan, and two of the three winning drivers - the third, former official Toyota driver Nicolas Lapierre, having been recruited by Signatech Alpine this year.
Former official Nissan driver Tsugio Matsuda will take his place and join the duo Howson-Bradley. It's a return for the Japanese driver who raced with KCMG during the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series and WEC campaigns. He racked up in 2014 in the latter, scoring a victory in LM P2 at Austin, Texas.
Matsuda having been hired by Nissan, Paul Ip put his trust in the experience of Nicolas Lapierre, a major player in the win in 2015, to support Matt Howson and Richard Bradley. Bradley is free for Le Mans since he will compete in the 2016 WEC season in the second Oreca 05 of the Manor team. The entry of the second car having taken place after the close of the registration for the 24 Hours, it is not eligibile to be at the start.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, TUESDAY JUNE 9 2015, AUTOGRAPH SESSION. Matt Howson and Richard Bradley, flanking Nicolas Lapierre, will return to the 24 Hours with KCMG this year.
