24h Le Mans
The entry list for the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) at the Nürburgring in Germany has changed slightly in comparison to the two preceding races of six and 24 hours, respectively, as several drivers also participating in the Formula E championship will be competing in the New York round the same weekend.
Though there will be as many teams at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring as there were at Spa-Francorchamps, with 29 competitors on the track (the Tockwith Motorsport team having decided to compete in the last European race of the season), several driver line-ups have been altered, primarily in the LMP2 class.
The team most affected by the scheduling conflict between the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and Formula E is Vaillante Rebellion with two drivers replaced. Luis Felipe "Pipo" Derani, second in LMGTE Pro with Ford at the 24 Hours, will join Mathias Beche and David Heinemeier Hansson in Nelson Piquet, Jr.'s place at the wheel of the #13 Oreca, and Filipe Albuquerque, former official Audi driver and fourth in LMP2 with United Autosports at Le Mans, will replace Nicolas Prost and join Julien Canal and Bruno Senna in the #31 sister car.
With Jean-Eric Vergne competing at the New York round of Formula E, the CEFC Manor TRS Racing team will welcome Roberto Mehri once again after 2016 to share the #24 Oreca with Tor Graves and Jonathan Hirschi. G-Drive Racing will do the same with Ben Hanley, head driver with DragonSpeed at Le Mans, replacing Alex Lynn at the wheel fo the #28 Oreca shared with Roman Rusinov and Pierre Thiriet.
Only one driver in the LMGTE Pro class, Sam Bird (Alex Lynn's teammate in Formula E), will miss the round in Germany. AF Corse has called upon Toni Vilander, a regular Risi Competizione driver across the Atlantic, to join Davide Rigon in the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE.
On the other hand, official Toyota LMP1 drivers Sébastien Buemi, though leading the Formula E championship, and José María López will hit the track with the #8 and #7 TS050 HYBRIDs at the Nürburgring, as will Marco Bonanomi, continuing ByKOLLES Racing Team's efforts in the #4 Enso CLM P1/01 after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 6 Hours of Nürburgring, the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC), will take place Sunday, July 16th.
PHOTO: Nicolas Prost, here at Scrutineering for the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, will not take the wheel of Vaillante Rebellion's #31 Oreca at the Nürburgring.
