FIA WEC: New driver line-up for Jackie Chan DC Racing N°37 Oreca

Jackie Chan DC Racing announced a completely new driver line-up for their #37 Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Championship.  A surprising announcement since the all Malaysian line-up with Nabil Jeffrey, Jazeman Jafaar and Weiron Tan won the 6 Hours of Fuji are currently third in the championship. 

© JellyBaby.Media

According to Jota's press release, "regrettable circumstances beyond the control of any of the drivers" brought and end to their succesful efforts.  The loss of financial backing by the Sepang Circuit is believed to be the reason behind the fallout of the three talented Malaysian drivers. 

As from Sebring, the #37 "Fortune Cat" will be driven by David Heinemeier Hansson, Jordan King and Will Stevens.  For Heinemeier Hansson this is a return to the FIA WEC after winning the GTE Am championship in 2014 with Aston Martin Racing and racing with Rebellion in LMP2 in 2017.    

Jordan King is a 24 year old English driver with a lot of single seater experience. He won the 2013 British F3 title and has since then raced in GP2 from 2015 to 2017 & Indycar (2018).  He was test and development driver for Manor F1 in 2015 and 2016, driving in 2 Friday practice sessions in 2016.  The 1000 miles of Sebring will be his debut in prototype and endurance racing.  

Will Stevens has become a familiar face in the FIA WEC and ELMS paddock in the past years, including a class win in GTE Am at Le Mans in 2017.  In the European Le Mans Series, Stevens goes into his second season with Panis-Barthez Competition in the LMP2 class.  If that team gets an invite for Le Mans, DC Racing will have to find a replacement driver for the 24 Hours. 

David Clark, director of Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport said “The changes which we are announcing today have been forced upon the team by commercial and business complexities outside of its direct control. We were left in a position where these changes had to be implemented and whilst this was a difficult process, it is in the best interests of the team".

“I would like to go on record in thanking Jazeman, Nabil and Weiron for their professionalism and dedication to the project over the five races that they were with the team. They proved to be a race-winning force and we wish them nothing but the very best for their futures in racing."

FIA WEC: Stephane Richelmi completes Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport driver line-up

Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport have announced Stephane Richelmi as their final driver for this season's line-up in the FIA World Endurance Championhip.  Richelmi joins Gabriel Aubry and Ho-Pin Tung in the #38 Oreca, completing the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours winners’ driver line-up for the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Tung, one of the team’s core driver and part of the 2017 Le Mans winning crew, remains in #Mighty38 Oreca-Gibson 07. The 35-year-old Chinese, who led the iconic 24-hour race overall for two hours at Circuit de la Sarthe last year, will start his third full WEC season and remains an important part of the Anglo-Chinese team.

Richelmi, son of former World Rally Championship driver Jean-Pierre Richelmi, was the 2016 FIA WEC LMP2 Champion and Le Mans 24 Hours winner. He claimed the 2017-18 Asian Le Mans Series title with Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport and now will make his return to the FIA WEC and the famous Le Mans 24-hours with the China-flagged team.

After achieving five victories in Formula Renault over 2017 with two years of experience in the category, 19-year-old Aubry managed to stand on top of the LMP3-class podium in only his second race for Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport at the final round of the 2017-18 Asian Le Mans Series and played a pivotal role in clinching the LMP3 title for the team.

The new crew will head to the Prologue, which will take place at Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France on 6th-7th April.

David Cheng, co-founder of Jackie Chan DC Racing

Knowing that the #FortuneCat37 is in good hands this year with our returning Asian Le Mans crew of all Malaysian drivers with the support SIC, equally we have a formidable #Mighty38 line-up returning from Asian Le Mans with Richelmi, Aubrey and Tung. Ho-Pin and Stef both have Le Mans winning experience and has been teammates in sister cars in the past, and Aubry has shown great speed and mental fortitude with us. I’m confident in our team’s ability this year to challenge for top honors, and we look forward to kicking off the Super Season this weekend.

David Clark, director of JOTA Sport

It is great to welcome Stephane to the team. His pace and experience speak for themselves and alongside Gabi and Ho-Pin they will no doubt be challenging for the 2018-19 FIA WEC LMP2 title.

Ho-Pin Tung, driver 

The #Mighty38 is back! Once again, we have used our Asian Le Mans program to groom drivers for the WEC team, leading to these strong line-ups for both #Fortunecat37 and #Mighty38. With a great mixture between experience and talent the objective is clear: winning. The partnership – Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport has been highly successful in just its first year and we are all looking forward to reaching new heights together in the upcoming Super Season.

Gabriel Aubry, driver

I’m incredibly happy to take part in the WEC super season with Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport. It is a childhood dream to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which has been my motivation since I started Go-kart at 8! Joining such a prestigious team like Jackie Chan DC Racing x JOTA Sport is a blessing, and I’m much looking forward to learning from my teammates Stef and Ho-Pin!

Stéphane Richelmi

I’m delighted to be part of the team for the WEC Super Season. I’ve been close to David and Ho-Pin since we met in Alpine two years ago, I really appreciate them. They work hard together with JOTA Sport to become a reference in endurance races. While we together already won the Asian Le Mans, it was a kind of new starter: big things are now coming. I can’t wait to come back in this great championship after a difficult year with the GTs, and endurance suits me well.

FIA WEC: Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport announce Full Malaysian line-up in #37 Oreca

Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport confirmed that the car #FortuneCat37 will feature the first ever full Malaysian driver line-up for the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

After a record-breaking season in the previous year, the winning squad of 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours in LMP2 class has committed to WEC by submitting its entry with two ORECA 07s powered by Gibson in the 2018-19 campaign.

Ahead of the Prologue, which will take place at Circuit Paul Ricard in South of France on 6th-7th April, the Anglo-Chinese team now confirms Nabil Jefferi, Jazeman Jaafar, Weiron Tan and Afiq Ikhwan Yazid will take the responsibility for car #FortuneCat37 to participate in all eight rounds of the Super Season, with three of them behind the wheel and the fourth one taking the reserve role.

Jaafar, Tan and Yazid already teamed up in 2017-18 Asian Le Mans Series sharing one of the team’s two ORECA-Nissan LMP2 cars and scored their first class win at the Buriram 6 Hours in Thailand early this year. Jeffri, who took part in GP2 and F2 in the previous two years, also impressed the China-flagged squad with his performance at Sepang 4 Hours where he finished on podium at his sports car debut.

© Jota Sport

David Cheng, co-founder of Jackie Chan DC Racing said "I am very happy to have the full Malaysian line-up and the massive support from Sepang International Circuit on our #FortuneCat37 car going to the WEC Super Season, Le Mans 24 Hours and the planned Asian Le Mans Series". 

They showed their speed, capability, commitment and working ethics at the previous Asian Le Mans series. It all makes sense they as drivers can deliver for the team. The whole deal came together very quickly and smoothly, as we share the same vision of achieving great result at one of the most competitive racing environments.

Also, we are very excited to be the host of the opportunity for the first ever full Malaysian line-up in a WEC season. And to do something like that is a special thing. As a team together, I think we can achieve great result and we are really looking forward to kicking-off the season at the Prologue."

Sam Hignett, director of Jota Sport: "It’s very exciting to have all Malaysian drivers squad in our #FortuneCat37 car in WEC Super Season and two editions of Le Mans 24 hours.  All four drivers have showed great pace in their sports car debut over the winter. And it will be an impressive line-up which will have three drivers in the final race seats. As a team, we have a lot of success with complete single-nationality driver line-up winning Le Mans in 2014 with an all British line-up. So it will be great to win Le Mans again with an all Malaysian driver line-up.