24h Le Mans
German team Proton Competition has entrusted an all-American team with the Porsche 911 it will be fielding in the LM GTE Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
As co-drivers in the GTD class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Alex Job Racing, Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen already know each other well. The third driver, Marc Miller, competes in the same class with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating, who will share the wheel of an Oreca 03R - Nissan for Murphy Prototypes at Le Mans.
This June, Bleekemolen will be driving in LM P2, the class he won in 2008. As for Keen, he was second in LM GT2 in 2010 with a Ferrari 430, while Miller drove at Le Mans for the first time last year with Riley Motorsports T1 Auto.
MacNeil was set to compete in LM GTE Am in 2014, but ended up in LM GTE Pro when co-driver Bret Curtis had to pull out following an accident in the qualifying sessions. To qualify for LM GTE Am, driver teams have to include at least one bronze-rated driver. Unfortunately, Curtis was the only one of the three to meet the criterion. His injury meant the Porsche 911 was reclassified in LM GTE Pro with MacNeil and Bleekemolen covering the duration of the race between the two of them. However, they held their own against the constructor-backed teams and finished fifth in class.
Let’s hope the American team can compete in their intended category this June!
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translated from French by Emma Paulay
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, LE MANS 24 HOURS, MONDAY 8 JUNE 2015, SCRUTINEERING. Marc Miller will be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans again this year.
