ELMS: Carlin signes Tincknell in LMP2 and announces partnership with Thunderhead

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.”

FIA WEC: Cetilar Racing enters 2019/2020 season with Dallara in LMP2

Cetilar Racing announced their plans to enter the 2019/2020 World Endurance championship in the LMP2 class.  An new name and an exciting challenge for the team which was known as Cetilar Villorba Corse. 

After competing in the European Le Mans Series for 4 years, with an LMP3 in 2015 and 2016 and the Dallara P217 in the LMP2 class in the past 2 years, the Italian team now steps up to the FIA World Endurance championship in 2019/2020.  

Racing in the WEC is the next “natural” step for Cetilar Racing, which retains its “Italian Spirit of Le Mans”. A full Italian driving crew formed by Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Andrea Belicchi.  Belicchi returns to the team in 2019 after recovering from back problems which kept him from racing in the second part of the 2018 season.  An all-Italian team with 3 Italian drivers, supported by an Italian manufacturer (Dallara) and a highy experienced team structure who haven been by the team for several years now. 

Villorba Corse will start its new adventure at the 4 Hours of Silverstone during the first weekend of September at the first round of the 2019/2020 FIA World Endurance Championship.  Pre season tests are scheduled at Le Castellet, Barcelona and Monza.  The team will apply for a “wild card entry” in the European Le Mans Series at Monza in May.  An application has also been entered for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

The entry of Cetilar Racing the second new team in LMP2 for the FIA WEC, after United Autosports confirmed they will race with a Ligier JSP2 next season.

"We are ready for a new challenge and adventure” said Roberto Lacorte, driver of Cetilar Racing. It's an 18 month adventure both intense and very challenging, divided into two steps: the first will end at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year – if we get an invite from the ACO that is. Before that we will race in the ELMS 4 Hours of Monza.  A race we can't miss out because it's the best opportunity to get in touch with our numerous fans. From September we'll head into the WEC, an exceptional challenge for our team. We're very excited for this new challenge and the desire to do well is high. We are also very happy to be able to race again with Andrea Belicchi, who has perfectly recovered from last year's back injury. His presence and his experience are really important for us, both from a technical and human point of view ".

Gerard Neveu, CEO of the WEC, said “We are very pleased to welcome Cetilar Racing to the WEC, and their planned entry to the 2019-2020 season is the perfect demonstration of how a well-established team can move through the formulas to the world stage.  Their presence will reinforce our LMP2 grid for next season, and we congratulate everyone involved for making the move to the WEC.  Welcome Cetilar Racing!”

Kristof Vermeulen
Picture: Jellybaby.Media

Le Mans: Dragonspeed confirms return to the LMP1 class

Elton Julian, owner and team manager of Dragonspeed, announced the teams' return to the LMP1 class at Le Mans in a video posted on twitter yesterday.

Julian started off with Pietro Fittipaldi's recovery which is going very well in Indianapolis.

The Dragonspeed LMP1 program will be started up immediately again, beginning with the Le Mans test day next week.  The reason is that the Dragonspeed team is happy with the findings regarding Fittipaldi's accident. Everything posts to a very obvious problem that will be rectified by the Dallara and gives the team the confidence to build a new car which will be hopefully ready in time for the test day. 

An announcement regarding our LMP1 @FIAWEC @24hoursoflemans participation from Team Owner Elton Julian #oneteamonedream @DallaraGroup @SMP_Racing @Michelin_Sport @gibsontech1 @GerardNeveuWEC @fillon_pierre @Rengervdz @benhanley85 @PiFitti #HenrikHedman @fia pic.twitter.com/PSlXBg4Jx6

— DragonSpeed (@DragonSpeedLLC) 25 mei 2018

There's a lot if work to be done to build a new car in less than two weeks time but the team is confident and will go for it ... it's Le Mans ! Dragonspeed heads toward the Le Mans testday with confidence and excitement.

With the funding issues CEFC suffered from in Spa also likely to be resolved, it seems we'll see a full grid of LMP1 cars at Le Mans next week !

Kristof Vermeulen.
Picture: Jellybaby.Media

FIA WEC: Jan Lammers set for his 24th Le Mans with Racing Team Nederland

Jan Lammers will return to Racing Team Nederland for his 24th Le Mans 24 Hours in June, joining Frits Van Eerd and Giedo van der Garde in the Dallara P217. 

© Racing Team Nederland

Racing Team Nederland earlier announced its entry to the 2018/2019 FIA World Endurance Championship "super season", which includes twice the Le Mans 24 Hours. Last season Lammers drove the entire European Le Mans Championship together with Frits Van Eerd and was joined by Rubens Barichello at Le Mans.  Lammers will also join Van Eerd and van der Garde at the opening round at Spa-Francorchamps in May, whether he will continue to race with Racing Team Nederland after Le Mans is still unsure. 

Jan Lammers (61) won the race in 1988 and with his 24th participation will become part of a highly select group; only 5 drivers have more starts to their name in the 95-years old Le Mans 24 Hours. Henri Pescarolo hold the all time "record" with 33 starts, ahead of Bob Wollek (30), Yojiro Terada (29), Derek Bell (26) and François Migault (25). 

Frits van Eerd, founder as well as one of the drivers of Racing Team Nederland: “Jan is a true Le Mans legend and involved with Racing Team Nederland from day one. I think it is fantastic that he will join us this year for his 24th Le Mans 24 Hours. It will be a very special milestone.”

Jan Lammers: “Frits and Racing Team Nederland are giving me the chance to do my 24th Le Mans 24 Hours this June, which is really great! To be perfectly prepared, I will also join Frits and Giedo for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May, the opening round of the world championship. Frits owes it to his ambitions to gather the fastest drivers around him. I may still be quick “for my age”, but if after Le Mans a fast and young successor will be available, I will step back in the interest of the team and the results. I may have other opportunities to keep on racing after Le Mans, and of course I will remain closely involved with Racing Team Nederland.  I can’t express how grateful I am for being given this chance!”

Jan Lammers will also feature as guest of honour at the annual Classic British Welcome on Friday before the race. 

Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC: Racing Team Nederland enters 2018/2019 Super season

Racing Team Nederland announced they will enter the FIA World Endurance Championship, making it the first Dutch team to compete in the world championship for sportscars since its inception in 2012.

© JellyBabyMedia

Racing Team Nederland debuted in this year’s European Le Mans Series, running a Gibson powered Dallara P217 in the LMP2 class, driven by team owner Frits Van Eerd and Le Mans legend Jan Lammers.  The team also made its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Rubens Barichello joined the 2 Dutchmen behind the wheel of their Dallara, finishing in 13th place overall, 11th in its LMP2 class. 

The team has now submitted its entry for the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship "super season", including 2 times the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  They will hold on to their Dallara P217 which makes them the first team to enter the FIA WEC with another chassis than Oreca in the LMP2 class.  

More information about the team's entry and the announcement of the two drivers joining Frits Van Eerd behind the wheel of the Jumbo sponsored car will be given early February 2018. 

Frits van Eerd, founder and one of the drivers of Racing Team Nederland: “I am truly proud that following our debut year we will be making such a significant and ambitious step. With our participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship, The Netherlands will be represented at the highest level of sportscar racing.”

The coming weeks, Racing Team Nederland will orientate itself regarding the drivers who will race its LMP2 Dallara P217 alongside Frits. Subsequently, the team will present all details of its FIA World Endurance Championship 2018/19 during its official press launch next year.

Kristof Vermeulen.

Picture: JellyBaby.Media

FIA WEC: BR1/Dallara LMP1 presented in Bahrain yesterday

Exactly one year after BR Engineering announced its plans to build a new LMP1 racecar in conjunction with Dallara, its BR1 has been presented in the Bahrain paddock yesterday. The BR1 is the first of the new LMP1 prototypes that officially breaks cover ahead of the 2018/2019 FIA WEC super season. 

Boris Rotenberg, president of BR Engineering unveiled the car together with test drivers Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.  Rotenberg praised the hard work that has been done in the past 365 days by chassis builders Dallara in conjunction with Russian engineers and students of techincal universities who participated in the deveopment of the prototype:  “The significant fact is that we’d announced the agreement between BR Engineering and Dallara to start working on the BR1 prototype exactly a year ago on November the 17, during the FIA WEC 2016 final round. Today we are honoured and pleased to present you the result of these 365 days of hard work. Having the best racing car production experience and the achievements of one of the best companies – Dallara. As well as Russian experts and SMP Racing drivers Vitaly Petrov, Sergey Sirotkin, Mikhail Aleshin, Victor Shaitar, Kirill Ladygin took part at different stages of the car’s development. The drivers worked on the simulator and their task was to make their professional suggestions into key aspects of the prototype development - from ergonomics to the car’s behavior on the track." 

© BR Engineering

The car arrived in Bahrain straight from its initial test in Aragon, Spain earlier this week.  During its 2 day rollout Petrov & co managed to run over 1000 km already which is pretty impressive for a first real test of new car.  Petrov said the car felt really good from the beginning and they just wanted to keep on running, despite the engineers calling them to ease up a bit. 

BR Engineering has an impressive line-up of test drivers who will continue to work on the development of the car. Mikhail Aleshin stepped out of his Indycar program to develop the BR1 and is joined by former F1 driver Vitaly Petrov, Sergey Sirotkin and LMP stalwarts Victor Shaytar & Kirill Ladigin.  It's expected that the BR1 which will run under the SMP Racing flag, with support of ART Grand Prix will feature an all Russian driver line-up.  Testing will resume as soon as possible when the car gets back in Europe. 

The BR1 has a weight of approximately 930 kg and will be powered by a twin turbo AER V6 engine with a power output of 720 hp.  It's also possible to fit other engines like the Mechachrome (which well feature in some of the Ginetta LMP1's), the new Gibson engine or other manufacturers.

The AER engine has also been introduced yesterday, in the wake of the BR1 presentation. The engine is the successor to the successful P60 LMP1-L engine, and features substantial technical upgrades. Like its predecessor, the new P60B is a very compact, lightweight twin-turbocharged GDI V6 and specifically designed for peak fuel optimization and the FIA WEC in the LMP1-L class.

“AER’s LMP1 engine has been in a state of constant development since its inception in 2013,” said Mark Ellis, the company’s technical director, noting that AER have gained huge experience from testing, racing, and dynamometer development in the past three years. “But the specific, integrated package of upgrades we’ve been working on since this past January represents a sufficient step forward that it warrants the change in nomenclature. The P60B incorporates improvements that make it a step up from the P60 in terms of both performance and reliability that’s required for continued success in endurance racing.” According to Ellis the most prominent of the optimised component specifications include implementation of updates to the high-pressure fuel system, cylinder head casting, scavenge system/oil tank, ignition system and engine calibration. “Following impressive dyno test results, the first P60B was delivered to a customer last month,” Ellis said. “AER have since built several P60Bs in support of track-testing, as well as the 2018-2019 racing super season.”

Ellis noted that as a complement to endurance track-testing, AER is undertaking constant in-house dynamometer testing that substantially exceeds the demands of the Le Mans 24-hour race’s duration.

Mike Lancaster, AER’s Managing Director, noted the larger technical and organisational context of the introduction of the P60B. “This has been done in parallel with heavy investment in AER’s facilities in 2017, and in support of AER’s planned and future racing activities. All of our clients are now benefiting from this program and those benefits will only increase with the passage of time.”

Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC: BR Engineering and Dallara to build a new LMP1-L prototype

On the eve of the final round of the FIA World Championship, the Russian company BR Engineering announces the decision to continue the participation in the championship in 2018 in the LMP1 class with a prototype of its own manufacture.

Boris Rotenberg, president of BR Engineering, and Andrea Pontremoli, CEO of Dallara, signed a collaboration agreement. The joint development and creation of a racing prototype BR1 in 2018 is the target of the Russian and Italian team work.

The BR Engineering new project started in Italy yesterday, and the process of creating the future prototype has already been launched. The company intends to spend 2017 on design, constructoen, all the necessary studies and tests, as well as the whole homologation process. In 2018 Russian team SMP Racing team once again take part in the FIA WEC on BR Engineering prototype. The team of specialists from ART Grand Prix is also involved into participation of the development of the new car and subsequent technical and operational services.

The BR1 will be created in accordance with the FIA regulations for LMP1 prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The newest prototype is the next step after the launch in 2015 of the BR01 (LMP2), which had several podium finishes and achieved an overall third place in the ELMS this season and finished third in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours. 

For next season some fundamental changes in the LMP2 class will be introduced; reducing the list of manufacturers. This influenced the decision of BR Engineering to focus its efforts on the development of a new prototype in the LMP1-L class with the target to continue in the 2018 FIA WEC championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, in a new car and stepping up to the top class of endurance racing.

"We raised a challenge to ourselves", - said Boris Rotenberg. - It was possible to buy on the chassis of one of the four manufacturers, also it was possible to leave prototype racing, but we have always chosen our path. Not necessarily, and not always the easiest, but it is for sure - the most interesting and promising. The aim of the project was and remains the development of Russian motor sport, including the field of technology. We invest a lot in support of the Russian pilots to help talented young drivers to start a career in karting and successfully continue in GT, prototypes or single seaters. Our LMP2 BR01 prototype was the first Russian car on the Le Mans podium. BR1is the continuation of this project, aimed primarily at attracting higher technology in our country. Dallara's name is known to anyone who is familiar with motor racing. Now we have become partners, and BR Engineering's new project started here in Italy, where the best designers and engineers, both from Russia and from Europe will create a Russian prototype for the Russian SMP Racing team. They will face a lot of work. "   

The world-famous manufacturer of racing technology of the highest level,  Dallara, is the chassis supplier for the cars involved in IndyCar, FIA WEC, ELMS, GP2 , GP3, Formula 3,5 V8, Super Formula, represented in Formula 3, and Formula E.  Dallara is also collaborating with Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bugatti, Ferrari , KTM, Lamborghini, Maserati and many other manufacturers. Every weekend, about 300 racing cars built by its plant in Parma, where the BR Engineering office is now open, successfully performing on tracks around the world.