Carlin, one of the new teams in the European Le Mans Series this season announced a title partnership agreement with British tech company Thunderhead for the upcoming season. The partnership will see the team race under the banner of Thunderhead Carlin Racing with an exciting driver line-up.
Thunderhead Carlin Racing has already confirmed it will run the only Dallara P217 in the series, and announced 24 House of Le Mans LMP2 winner Harry Tincknell and Ben Barnicoat will join Jack Manchester in an all British team. Tincknell will however miss the opening round and will be replaced by Olivier Pla. For Harry Tincknell it's a return to the championship he won in 2016 with Simon Dolan and Giedo van der Garde in the Jota/G-Drive Gibson 015S.
Joining the team for the 2019 season Barnicoat said, “I’m delighted to be joining Thunderhead Carlin Racing for the 2019 European Le Mans series season. I’m extremely grateful to both Thunderhead and Trevor Carlin for giving me this opportunity to test my skills in the Dallara LMP2 machinery against some of the best drivers out there. I’ve been close with Carlin for many years but never had the opportunity to represent the team, I am extremely excited. I have great teammates in both Jack, who’s progressing rapidly, and Harry, who I am a big fan of and greatly respect, so I’m confident we will be a force to be reckoned with.”
2016 ELMS champion Tincknell, who will race for the team from Monza onwards added, “I can’t wait to get started with Thunderhead Carlin Racing at Monza. Jack and I are good friends and he’s really going places in sportscars, while Ben is already very established. As a trio, and with Carlin’s pedigree, we have an exciting year ahead! It’s great to be back racing with the team that guided and coached me back in my Formula 3 years, I wouldn’t be where I am now without them. I am sure Carlin’s debut sportscar season in the Thunderhead colours will be the start of something very special.”
Manchester, who was previously announced as embarking on an LMP2 programme with Carlin, said, “I am very excited to be racing with Ben and Harry, two incredibly talented fellow British drivers. We all get on extremely well, already there is a great team spirit and to get the opportunity to race with Olivier at Paul Ricard is a real bonus. It is going to be an exciting debut season for Thunderhead Carlin Racing.”
Substituting for the opening race of the season in Paul Ricard, Pla said of the upcoming race, “I am looking forward to joining Thunderhead Carlin Racing for their debut in endurance racing in the ELMS championship and sharing the car with Jack and Ben. It will be a new experience for most of the team and I look forward to helping them in Harry’s absence.”
Team Principal Trevor Carlin said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Thunderhead to the team as a partner going forward. The ethos of the company is very similar to that of us here at Carlin – innovative, extremely professional and very proud of their reputation and results. We believe that this partnership will provide a fantastic foundation for the season ahead and we cannot wait for the first round in Paul Ricard next month. “Together we have created an exciting team of drivers. Jack, who is a very promising driver at the start of his career in sportscars, will have a great mentor in Harry who we know from our days together in Formula Three. Similarly, Ben is an extremely exciting driver who has made a big impact in testing and we have the best super sub you could wish for in Olivier for the first round. It’s going to be an exciting season.”
Thunderhead CMO Jason Hemingway said, “We feel as though there are parallels between Thunderhead and Carlin in terms of first-class engineering, impressive design and performance and a relentless commitment to innovation to achieve results. At Thunderhead we are continuously evolving and developing pioneering technology and we can see this level of commitment from Carlin too – it’s certainly a natural synergy. I’m looking forward to partnering as Thunderhead Carlin Racing and supporting Olivier and the young British driver trio Jack, Harry and Ben in the exciting season ahead.”
