Filipe Albuquerque to remain with United Autosports 

United Autosports will enter two Ligier JS P217s in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) in 2018. Phil Hanson, 18 years old, has already been confirmed to take the wheel of one, and will be joined by experienced driver Filipe Albuquerque. The Portuguese competitor will continue his collaboration with the American team after participating this year in the ELMS with the #32 Ligier JS P217 he shared with Hugo de Sadeleer and Will Owen. The three men won two races (Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring) and were contenders for the title through the finale at Portimão, Portugal. They ended up finishing second in the championship. Felipe Albuquerque will also compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with United Autosports after the team was granted an automatic invitation for its ELMS title in the LMP3 class. He has already participated in the legendary Endurance race four times, finishing fifth in 2017 (fourth in LMP2). 

Stéphane Sarrazin back in Rally

Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Stéphane Sarrazin will take part in the finale of French Rally Championship with the R4 Kit (developed by ORECA) at the wheel of the #0 car with co-driver Jacques-Julien Renucci. This final round, the Rallye du Var, will take place November 23-26, 2017. Stéphane Sarrazin has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 15 times. The French native has triumphed in Rally, winning the French Rally Champion crown in 2004. He also founded his own team, Sarrazin Motorsport (read article), in early 2017 and celebrated his 42nd birthday just yesterday! 

Loïc Duval returns to Endurance racing

Loïc Duval is set to take the wheel of G-Drive Racing's #26 ORECA 07-Gibson at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the finale of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) on November 18th. The previous 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (in 2013 with Audi) will be replacing Nico Müller. He will join the driver line-up including Roman Rusinov and presumably Léo Roussel who has been called to take Pierre Thiriet's spot at the 6 Hours of Shanghai in China this coming weekend on November 5th in the same car. It's great news for the new ELMS champion (read article) and Karting driving instructor at Le Mans!

The new Sarthe Objectif 24 project

Since 2012, Sarthe Objectif 24 has allowed drivers native to the Sarthe region to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including Bastien Brière, Vincent Capillaire and Thomas Dagoneau. Now SO24 has decided to launch another initiative: to give a young local driver between the ages of 15 and 24 the opportunity to make his or her dream of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans come true! The young driver will be accompanied by SO24 staff throughout the season for a program adapted to his or her potential, and will benefit from the coaching and experience of Vincent Capillaire - an SO24 driver since 2014 - with the goal of participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Click here for more information (content is in French).

Information taken from various team press releases.

PHOTO: Filipe Albuquerque will participate in his fifth 24 Hours of Le Mans next year with the United Autosports team.