There are now fewer than six weeks until the WEC cars will first take to the legendary Sebring International Raceway track in Florida in preparation for round six of the WEC Super Season, the 1000 Miles of Sebring and the good news keeps coming!
An updated entry list has today been released with some new names plus some returning favourites…the driver line up for the full field of 35 cars is slowly taking shape.
Welcome to a new, well-known face at SMP Racing!
It’s a warm WEC welcome to former F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin who joins the LMP1 team to replace Matevos Isaakyan in the team’s No.17 BR Engineering BR1-AER entry with Stéphane Sarrazin (FRA) and Egor Orudzhev (RUS). Sirotkin will be making his second WEC start, his first having been at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with SMP Racing, and will make his debut at Sebring. SMP Racing is due to announce soon who will replace Jenson Button in the No.11, the Briton unable to compete in the USA due to racing commitments elsewhere.
Another change in the LMP1 category is in the No.3 Rebellion R13 Gibson, with Frenchman Nathanaël Berthon – confirmed last week by the Swiss team – returning to the WEC for the first time since Le Mans. He will team will fellow countryman Thomas Laurent and one of the two American drivers in the field, Gustavo Menezes.
In LMP2 there is a significant change at Jackie Chan DC Racing, with an all-new line up in the No.37 ORECA 07 Gibson. US-based Dane, David Heinemeier Hansson, a very familiar figure in WEC paddocks, returns to LMP2 competition alongside two fast British drivers, Jordan King and Will Stevens. They replace the Fuji-winning Malaysian trio of drivers who are unable to complete the season.
Among the LMP drivers are recent Rolex 24 at Daytona winners, Kamui Kobayashi and Fernando Alonso (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and Renger van der Zande (DragonSpeed LMP1) plus Roberto Gonzalez and Pastor Maldonado (DragonSpeed LMP2) and they, among the 15-strong prototype field, will be keen to ‘do the double’ on American soil.
The strongest LMGTE Pro competition…anywhere
The 10 regular GTE Pro entries from Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche are on the list, and they are joined once again by the welcome sight and sound of US fan-favourite, Corvette Racing. The single-entry Chevrolet Corvette C7.R (No.64) will be driven by 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar GTLM Champions Jan Magnussen (DNK) and Antonio Garcia (ESP) plus former Audi Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller (DEU).
BMW has confirmed the third drivers for each of the BMW Team MTEK entries, with Alexander Sims (GBR) joining Martin Tomczyk (DEU) and Nicky Catsburg (NLD) in the No.81. Daytona GTLM winner Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Antonio Felix da Costa (PRT) will be teamed with Canadian Bruno Spengler in the No.82 BMW M8 GTE.
The only modification so far to the LMGTE Am class is confirmation that Aston Martin driver Jonny Adam(GBR) will once again be part of the No.90 TF Sport line up with Salih Yoluc (TUR) and Irishman Charlie Eastwood.
In keeping with the US style of racing and the WEC’s philosophy, the paddock and starting grid will be open to fans with a joint WEC/IMSA autograph session available. WEC practice begins on Wednesday March 13, including a night practice, with qualifying taking place on Thursday March 14 from 9:30 pm and the green flag dropping for the 1000 Miles of Sebring at 4:00 pm (local time) on Friday March 15.
