24h Le Mans
At the 4 Hours of Estoril, the final round of the 2015 European Le Mans Series (ELMS), Greaves Motorsport took its second series title while Frenchman Ga
Thanks to the Nissan GT Academy, the training scheme for young drivers run by Nissan and Playstation, Gaëtan Paletou went from games console to the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit in just one year, following in the tracks of former Academy winners like Spaniard Lucas Ordonez, Brit Jann Mardenborough, Russian Mark Shulzhitskiy and German Wolfgang Reip. On Test Day on 31st May this year, he drove the ten laps required by all Le Mans rookies at the wheel of the Greaves Motorsport Gibson which took the LM P2 title at Le Mans in 2011. Five days later, he heard that he would competing in the race! He teamed up with Gary Hirsch and Jon Lancaster but unfortunately they had to withdraw on the Saturday evening with electrical issues.
After Le Mans, Gaëtan Paletou and Greaves Motorsport resumed their respective ELMS seasons. In five races, the French driver claimed two podium finishes and a victory (last weekend at Estoril, with Mike Simpson) in LM P3, driving the Ginetta for Team LNT, a Nissan partner. He finished the Series second overall in this new class. With two victories and three top 5 finishes, Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster and Björn Wirdheim (who let Paletou take his place at Le Mans) gave Greaves Motorsport its second ELMS LP P2 title after its 2011 victory. Four years ago, the British team persuaded Nissan to become an LM P2 engine supplier. Fast forward to 2015 when the Japanese firm’s engines have played a part in every single victory in the class in both ELMS and the World Endurance Championship. Meanwhile, the Nissan GT Academy has ambitions of developing a new gateway to a career in motorsport.
“The Nissan GT Academy taught me a lot but having the opportunity to work with Team LNT and this brand new car has been a fantastic experience,” says Gaëtan Paletou. So will 2016 see the French driver move up to LM P2 or Greaves Motorsport join the World Endurance Championship? Time will tell...
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO | Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
(Quote courtesy of Nissan Motorsport Global press service)
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, TUESDAY 9 JUNE 2015, DRIVERS’ AUTOGRAPH SESSION. After the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Gaëtan Paletou (right) resumed his apprenticeship in LM P3, while Jon Lancaster (centre) and Gary Hirsch (right), his teammates at Le Mans, went on to win the LM P2 title in the 2015 European Le Mans Series.
