Le Mans: class of 2018

It's Tuesday at Le Mans, so one of the traditions is the annual group shot with all 180 drivers who will be out on track this week. 

With rain pooring down heavily at certain times, it was a bit of a challenge to find a dry moment and set up the group shot in a record time. 

The weather forecast is as unpredictable as it can be at the moment and changing daily.  Yesterday saw som heavy downpoors during scrutineering, today is a mix of reasonably dry and very wet conditions.  Race weather seems to be improving with showers on Wednesday and Sunday.   

Picture: JellyBaby.Media

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.

ELMS: French driver line-up for Duqueine Engineering in LMP2

Duqueine Engineering steps up to the LMP2 class in the 2018 European Le Mans Series with a Gibson powered Oreca 07 and a completely French driver line-up. 

Yann Belhomme's team moves up to the top class of the championship after acquiering Norma at the end of 2017.  After announcing their participation in the LMP2 class for the European Le Mans Series, Duqueine Engineering has unveiled a talented completely French crew, composed of Pierre Ragues, Nelson Panciatici and Nicolas Jamin. This strong and powerful trio is looking forward to competing together on European races and will bring all their experience to the team. This first season will be a learning experience and each member of the team will be keen to gain as much experience as possible on the use and operation of the car.

Yann Belhomme, Team manager : 

"I am very excited about this new ELMS season in an LMP2 category, which we will discover at the wheel of this Oreca 07 that has proven its abilities in endurance racing. We have a competitive crew composed of three distinct profiles just waiting for the opportunity to assert themselves on the track! Nico Jamin is a professional driver, fast and very sharp on a technical level. He’s been working a lot on simulators, and we will work hard together to make the simulation model of our new car as perfect as possible.

I am delighted to work with Pierre Ragues. He has a huge experience in LMP2, especially driving an Oreca. He is one of the fastest and most experienced silver drivers in the competition. And finally Nelson Panciatici, needless to talk about his top speed in LMP2. 

Nelson Panciatici : 

"I have had three amazing seasons with Duqueine Engineering and being present for the team’s participation in LMP2 makes me very happy. I won my first ELMS title in 2013 with Pierre Ragues, and it is good to be back in the same line-up with him this season and we will give Nicolas Jamin the warmest welcome we can. The ELMS competition has never been as dense as this year and we will make efforts to fight relentlessly to achieve positive results."

Nicolas Jamin : 

"I am extremely happy and eager to start this 2018 season, which will be full of opportunities for me! After the last 4 years I spent in the United States, I am proud to return to this side of the Atlantic ocean and focus my career on endurance. This season is a real turning point in my professional career and I feel ready for this new challenge!"

Pierre Ragues : 

"I am absolutely delighted to join the Duqueine Engineering team and proud to announce my return to the ELMS Championship that I particularly enjoy. Teaming up with Nicolas and Nelson is very motivating and I can’t stop thinking about the title we won in 2013 with Nelson! I really like this new challenge lot and Duqueine Engineering has really showed professionalism and competitiveness these last seasons, so I can’t wait to be at Paul Ricard for the official tests."

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.

FIA WEC: Renger van der Zande joins Dragonspeed in the BR1

Dragonspeed completed its driver line-up for its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Renger van der Zande will join Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley behind the wheel of the Gibson powered BR1 LMP1 prototype. 

© van der Zande/facebook

Signing for Dragonspeed means a return to the team van der Zande already raced for in the 2013 American Le Mans Series with an Oreca FLM09 in the LMPC class.  He moved up the prototype category where he won at Laguna Seca last season with Marc Goossens in the Visit Florida Ligier .  This year van der Zande got a seat in the Wayne Taylor Cadillac DPi and immediately set pole for last months 24 hours of Daytona. 

The Dutch - gold rated - driver has raced one before in the FIA WEC in 2012 with a Lotus/Lola coupe at the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps.  He will make his debut at Le Mans in June.  It's unclear yet if will be able to race at Spa in May, since the opening race of the WEC season clashes with the IMSA race at Mid-Ohio. 

The US based team will also remain active in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series. Drivers for their Gibson powered Oreca07 still to be announced. 

Le Mans 2017 : Driver 'cheat sheet'

The Club Arnage Driver 'cheat sheet' is now online and ready to download on this   LINK