ELMS: Arjun Maini completes RLR Msport line-up in LMP2

Indian driver Arjun Maini joins Bruno Senna and John Farano in the RLR Msport Oreca 07 this season in the European Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24 Hours. 

21 year old Arjun Maini raced in the Formula 2 championship last season with Trident Racing.  He finished 16th in the championship, his best results in Baku and Monaco with a fifth place finish. In 2017 he became the first Indian driver to win a race in the GP3 series in Barcelona.  Since May 2017 he is also one of Haas F1 development drivers.  

Maini is now set to broaden his horizons and divert his attention from open-wheeled competition to endurance sportscar racing, as he will join RLR MSport for the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June and a full season in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).  He will share the RLR MSport-prepared ORECA with ex-F1 star Bruno Senna and Canadian gentleman racer John Farano in the European Le Mans Series, although other commitments will force Senna to relinquish his seat at Le Mans, and his replacement will be announced before the Automobile Club de l’Ouest reveals the 2019 entry on 11 February.

“I’m extremely excited to make my endurance racing debut this year in the European Le Mans Series,” said Maini. “The highlight of the year will surely be the race at Le Mans and I’m hoping I can do my country proud as it is one of the most prestigious events in motor racing. It is imperative for anyone to succeed to be backed by a strong team and I think the team at RLR MSport will provide the perfect environment for me to perform at my very best, especially considering I will be racing in a category I have no prior experience in. Given that they are the reigning ELMS LMP3 Champions, the expectations for the 2019 season will be quite high and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”

RLR MSport Director of Motorsport Operations, Nick Reynolds: “RLR MSport’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series’ headlining LMP2 class is an important milestone for the team and we feel it’s absolutely imperative to maximise our chances of achieving great results by recruiting the best drivers. Arjun Maini has shown a great deal of innate speed during his illustrious single-seater career and his talent is unquestionable. I’m certain his transition to prototypes will be a successful one and that he will give a positive contribution to RLR MSport’s 2019 programme at Le Mans and throughout the European Le Mans season.”

ELMS: RLR MSport defends LMP3 title with new driver line-up

After confirming Bruno Senna and John Farano in the LMP2 class last week, RLR MSport today announced their drivers who will defend the team's Euopean Le Mans Seriers LMP3 title in LMP3. Danish young guns Christian Olsen and Martin Vedel will join British gentleman racer Martin Rich in the Nissan powered Ligier JSP3.

Martin Rich, aged 45 from London, last raced LMP3 machinery to podium success during a one-off outing with RLR MSport in the 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup. His Le Mans Series debut came in 2009, although that has been followed by several appearances in a wide array of high-profile sportscar racing categories, including the 24H Series, Blancpain Endurance Series, and the now defunct Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, as well as two outings in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His 2018 programme included the Le Mans Classic and two class wins in the Masters Endurance Legends with an LMP2 race car, but the gentleman racer has been anxious to return to modern-day machinery and is anticipating a successful season with defending LMP3 Champion, RLR MSport.

“Our aim is quite simple – bring the LMP3 title back to RLR MSport for the second year in a row,” said Rich. “The championship will be won by being consistent over the course of the year, but at the same time we won’t win it unless we’re contending for a podium at each round. I absolutely believe we have the ability to compete successfully; the team knows how to win at this level, Martin (Vedel) and Christian (Olsen) are extremely quick and I can play my part, so it’s game on! My job is quite simply to be one of the quickest Bronze drivers in the field, while remaining extremely consistent and staying out of trouble. 

Much like Rich, Olsen has a strong track record in historic racing; the Dane’s roots are in historic Formula 3 and he was an unknown quantity when, in 2018, he embarked on his maiden sportscar racing campaign in the ACO-sanctioned ELMS.  His maiden campaign in entry-level LMP3 prototypes yielded three podiums and a highly respectable fourth-place finish in the final championship classification, therefore he feels he can only shoot for top honours with the Champion RLR MSport team in 2019.

“I am already very familiar with RLR MSport, as I had my first LMP3 experience in a test with the team over a year ago and I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better and see how they work,” said Olsen. “For me, as much experience as I can get at this stage, the better. RLR MSport has clearly shown its discipline and capability at this level and that, coupled with the driver line-up, should be a formula for a successful season where we will be gunning for a win at every round.

Olsen’s new teammate and fellow countryman Vedel cut his teeth during a ten-year karting career, before making a seamless transition to car racing in 2012, when he won four championships in his native Denmark, as well as two additional Nordic categories. Last year Vedel raced in Lamborghini Huracan GT3. His eye-catching performances during tests at a rain-lashed Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal and a wintry Donington Park, where he was merely half a second off the LMP3 lap record in sub-optimal temperatures,  convinced the team to sign the young Dane for its ELMS title defence.

“I have high expectations for the 2019 season when I will make my European Le Mans Series debut, as my ultimate goal is to show what I can do by winning races and the championship title, repeating what RLR MSport achieved last year,” said Vedel. “I’m spending a lot of time in the simulator and all signs from winter testing have been positive, so I’m confident I will be ready and capable of fighting at the top from the very beginning of the season in Le Castellet.

ELMS: Bruno Senna joins John Farano at RLR MSport in LMP2

RLR MSport has signed Bruno Senna and John Farano for its return to the LMP2 class in the 2019 European Le Mans Series.

The 35 year old Brazilian, who started his career in endurance racing in 2010 with Oreca, will share the Bolton-based team’s newly-acquired ORECA 07 with reigning ELMS LMP3 Champion John Farano and a third unnamed driver.  Senna will drive all rounds in the European Le Mans Series at all-but-one: the 4 Hours of Silverstone.  If the team gets an invite for Le Mans, the team will also need to replace Senna as both races conflict with his drive at Rebellion Racing in the FIA WEC.

The 2017 FIA WEC LMP2 champion said he is very excited to take on this new challenge and to be joining the European Le Mans Series’ highly competitive LMP2 field with RLR MSport. The team has had great success in the past, most recently winning the ELMS LMP3 Teams’ and Drivers’ titles, and I’m sure the LMP2 step will be another successful one. Our experiences combined should make us a strong contender for the races and I’m really looking forward to kicking things off.”

Farano, meanwhile, began with select appearances in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and Ferrari Challenge, before winning the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Drivers’ title during his first full season of competition in 2012.

However, the 59-year old Am has become something of an RLR MSport stalwart. His long-standing association with the Bolton-based team has been a successful one and, having magnanimously sealed the 2018 ELMS LMP3 titles, Farano will remain within the RLR fold as he takes the next step of his motorsport career in LMP2. Farano was first to sample the RLR MSport-prepared Oreca 07 during a test at Silverstone in August, but countless more miles will be covered during a test and development programme that will only intensify on the approach to the season-opening ELMS 4 Hours of Le Castellet mid-April.

“I am super excited to be rejoining the RLR MSport team and to be part of its return to the LMP2 category in the European Le Mans Series,” said Farano. “I am also extremely happy to welcome Bruno Senna to the RLR MSport family; he will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the team’s success and play a major role as a mentor to me and other drivers to follow. I can’t wait to be back on track with the gang at RLR MSport whose dedication and hard work helped bring us the 2018 ELMS LMP3 championship. I’m looking forward to another great season and sharing new experiences with everyone at RLR MSport.”