Scott Sharp, Extreme Speed Motorsports’ founder, never made any secret of his ambition to take to the start line of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He did that this year and now the team boss and driver will get to live his dream a second time as his team will be back in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) next year.

The team’s main sponsor, an American spirits’ brand, is looking to boost its presence in the countries visited by the championship, which swung the vote in the WEC’s favour, especially since Ed Brown, the brand’s CEO, drives the second Ligier JS P2 entered by the team.

ESM competed with two Honda-powered HPD ARX-03b for the full 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, except at Petit Le Mans: the team passed on this race to give themselves time to set up for the Chinese leg of the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship. They then started 2015 with two Honda-powered ARX-04b cars, but changed tactics mid-season. Reliability issues with the new Honda convinced Scott Sharp to switch to two Ligier JS P2s from Onroak Automotive, which they took delivery of before the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last May.

Both cars crossed the finish line at the 83rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours and again at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring at the end of August. This weekend, ESM will be back where it all started: Circuit of the Americas in Texas was the setting for their first appearance in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but also the scene of the team’s first podium finish.

Text Cécile Bonardel/ACO
Translated from French by Clair Pickworth

PHOTO : LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY 13 JUNE, RACE. The two Ligiers fielded by Extreme Speed Motorsports had a special livery designed for Le Mans.