ELMS Silverstone : GTE Preview

9 cars will fill the GTE field at the season opening race in Silverstone this weekend, of which 8 will race the full season. GTE will be a battle between Ferrari (5 cars), Porsche (2 cars) and Aston Martin (2 cars).

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Title defenders Formula Racing lead the field in their #60 Ferrari 458 GTE. After a succesfull season last year, gentleman driver Johnny Laursen returns with Mikkel Mac at his side. The youngster impressed last year at the wheel of the Ferrari with some very mature driving and bold overtaking moves. The team will be completed by Christina Nielsen, who combines her drive in the IMSA championship with a full season ELMS and Le Mans campaign. Christina won the GTD class at Sebring last month.

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No Ferrari without AF Corse on the grid. The Italian team has 2 cars on the full season entry list for 2016. Ferrari regulars Rui Augas and Marco Cioci join Pierguiseppe Perazzini in the #51, Aaron Scott, Matt Friggin and Duncan Cameron will share the #55.

JMW Motorsport also returns to the ELMS with their faithful 458 GTE. The yellow/black #66 will be driven by Robert Smith, Rory Butcher and Ferrari veteran and factory driver Andrea Bertolini.

The fifth Ferrari is fielded by Austrian team AT Racing, driven by Alexander Talkanitsa Sr and Jr, joined again by Alessandro Pier Guidi. They scored their maiden victory at Imola last year and will be eager to do that again this season.

Proton Competition takes on the challenge to the Ferrari armada, entering 2 Porsche 911 RSR's. The #77 will be driven by Michael Hedlund and Marco Seefried who will be joined by Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler, who returns to the European circuits after several successfull years in the States (and doubles the weekend with driving duties in WEC also). The #88 will be in the hands of Gianluca Roda, Christian Ried and factory driver Richard Lietz who won the WEC GTE title last year.

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2 Aston Martins complete the GTE field in Silverstone. The #96 Aston Martin isn't a full season entry, and will (for now) only race at Silverstone. It will be driven by Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Richie Stanaway.

The #99 Beachdean Vantage V8 made its debut in last seasons closing race at Estoril and is now entered for a full season program in the series. As their fellow Aston competitors, this team also has a strong line-up with Andrew Howard, Jonny Adam and Alex MacDowall. Jonny Adam will be replaced by Darren Turner this weekend due to other racing commitments at the British GT Championship in Brands Hatch this weekend. Turner will also have a busy weekend ahead with ELMS and WEC on his plate.  

ELMS Silverstone : LMP3 Preview

After the introduction of the LMP3 class last year, it proved to be an immediate success. In its first season, 7 cars entered the ELMS, with 6 Ginetta's and 1 Ligier at the last race in Estoril. 

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Given the success of the series, the ACO announced last month that French racing car constructor Norma has been assigned as fifth constructor for an LMP3 prototype. Norma will offer their chassis next to Ginetta, Onroak Automotive, Ave/Riley Technologies, Adess EG and Dome.

Norma was founded in 1986, its first prototypes designed to race at hill climbs and circuit racing. In 2003 Norma launched the M20, a high versatile sports prototype that has been sold worldwide and is regulary updated. The design of the all new Norma LMP3 should be already at an advanced stage, aiming to have at least one car racing at the end of the season. Oreca is still looking after the customer service linked to the engine, an atmospheric Nissan V8 with 420 hp, X-Trac supplies the gearboxes and Magnetti Marelli the electronics. 

A stunning 20 cars have been entered for the opening race at Silverstone. All but one Ligier JSP3's, the Ginetta of MurphyP3-3Dimensional.com the only Ginetta in the mix (in attendance of the delivery of their Ave/Riley chassis). A mix of well known teams and new teams stepping into the endurance racing format should give us a season full of close and exciting racing. 

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United Autosports (#2 & #3) returns to prototype racing with an ambitious plan to race at Le Mans in LMP2 in the near future. First step to get there is the LMP3 class in which they are fielding 2 Ligier JSP3/Nissans. They are in with an outright shot at the title in a very experienced team and some very fast and experienced drivers. The #2 will be in the hands of Alex Brundle (son of Martin) and American Mike Guash who has plenty of experience. The #4 will be driven by Mark Patterson (racing at Murphy in LMP2 in the past years) and another youngster, Matthew Bell. United Autosports dominated the prologue at Paul Ricard last month, setting the fastest and third fastest time over the two days.

OAK Racing (#4 & #24) is the second team with two cars on the grid this season. After Le Mans last year, the team stepped out of the WEC to focus on the evolution on the Ligier JSP2 and the development of the JSP3. Now they step back into the racing arena with 2 Ligier JSP3's. The #4 will be driven by gentlemen drivers Erik Maris and Marc Merlin. Jacques Nicolet, president of OAK Racing will race in the #24 together with his son Pierre Nicolet.

BySpeed Factory (#5) traded in its Ginetta Juno for the Ligier and returns to the ELMS grid for their second season. Spanish drivers Jesus Fuster and Alvaro Fintes will be joined by Tom Jackson, another young driver changing from single seaters to prototype racing. 

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British team 360 Racing (#6) has raced with Radical racecars since 2005. Last year the team secured the Radical Masters title with Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser. Both title winning drivers will be joined by James Swift in the Ligier JSP3.

Villorba Corse (#7) heads into its second season in ELMS, and also traded in their Ginetta for a Ligier. Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Sernagiotto already raced last year and will be joined by Niccolo Schiro this year.

Swiss based Race Performance (#8) is not only making its return to the LMP2 class this season but also enters a Ligier JSP3. Drivers are Swiss Marcello Matteotto, the 2015 Radical Masters champion, Giorgio Maggi and Belgian Bert Longin.  

Graff Racing (#9 & #10) was the first team to race with the Ligier JSP3 in the ELMS last year, immediately with a podium finish in Estoril. The objective for Graff is eventually racing at Le Mans, LMP3 is the next step to achieve that goal. This season, the French team returns with 2 cars; a complete French team in the #9 with Enzo Gübbert, Paul Petit and Eric Trouillet. The #10 car is an all American crew with Sean Rahall, Enzo Potoliccio & John Falb. 

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Eurointernational (#11 & #12) is an Italian/American team with more then 25 years of experience in endurance racing,. They dominated the Italian Sports Prototype Championship last year and will enter two Ligiers this season. The #11 will be driven by leading driver Giorgio Mondini, Andrea Roda & Marco Jacoboni. Andrea Dromedari will be on driving duties, with the second (and third) driver still tba. 

Inter Europol Competition (#13), a Polish based team active in single seaters, acquiered 1 Ligier for this season. At their first endurance race in Barcelona last month, the team came in second at the VdeV race in Barcelona. Drivers in the ELMS are Jakub Smiechowski and Frenchman Thomas Dagoneau.

Murphy Prototypes (#14) is the only team not racing with a Ligier this year. The Irish team will race an Ave/Riley LMP3 with extensive factory support under MurphyP3-3Dimensional.com. The car will be driven by Tony Ave and Doug Peterson. Due to the car not being ready for the first race, the team will enter a Ginetta Juno for the first race at Silverstone. It's expected that the Riley car will be ready for the second race in Imola next month.

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RLR Msport (University of Bolton - #15) raced a Ginetta LMP3 last year, but swill witch to Ligier this season. RLR was the first non factory team to win a race in the LMP3 class at Imola last year. Morton Dons, Ossy Yussuf and Ross Warburton will be at the wheel of #15 this season. 

Panis-Barthez Competition (#16) is also running a double program in both protoype classes. With Eric Debard, Simon Gachet ad Valentin Moineault, they have a mix of experience and young promising talent at the wheel.

Ultimate (#17), another French team, steps up from the VdeV championship into ELMS with one Ligier. The team has raced with CN prototypes for several years and now takes a logical step up to the LMP3 class. Team owners and brothers Mathieu & Jean-Baptiste Lahaye will share the car with Francois Heriau.

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A well known name in the paddocks is Yvan Muller, the four time WTCC champion who enters one car in the 2016 championship as M Racing - YMR (#18). Muller gives 3 young drivers the chance to race and gain experience in endurance racing. Tomas Laurent, 17 years old and karting world champion, Yann Erlacher and Alexandre Cougnaud. 

French Team Duqueine Engineering (#19 & #20) is a young but very ambitiuos team that already raced their 2 LMP3's in the VdeV & GT Tour championships. Both times with great success as they won in Barcelona and Nogaro. They come into ELMS with high expectations and want to have a shot at the 2016 title. The #19 will be driven by David Droux, David Halliday and Dino Lunardi; the #20 by Eric Clement, Roman Ianetta and Maxime Pialat.

ELMS Silverstone : LMP2 Preview

In 3 days, the endurance season kicks off in Silverstone with the first of 6 races in the European Le Mans Series. Time for a look on to the stunning 45-car startgrid of this growing and ever more popular championship.

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15 cars will be on a well filled LMP2 grid this weekend. The 14 full season entries will be joined by SRT41 by OAK Racing, the Le Mans “Garage 56” entry with Frederic Sausset at the wheel. With 4 new teams at the start of the season and the return of Asian Le Mans Series champions Race Performance, the LMP2 grid looks healthier and more competitive than ever. LMP2 gave us some cracking races last year, looking at the teams and drivers who will compete in  2016, we should be in for 6 top notch races again. 

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Defending champions Greaves Motorsport have traded in their Gibson 015S for a brand new Ligier JS P2/Nissan with a stellar driver line-up. Mexican Memo Rojas Jr, multiple GrandAm champion and Daytona 24h & Sebring 12h winner leads the driver squad together with reigning FIA WEC LMP2 champion Julien Canal and Polish driver Kuba Giermaziak, who has experience in Porsche Supercup and made his Le Mans debut with JMW Motorsport last year. 

Last years runner up Thiriet by TDS Racing will be eager to get a shot at the 2016 title, and do so with their Oreca 05/Nissan in which they won the 4 hours of Imola and Estoril last year. Pierre Thiriet will be joined by Rebellion driver Mathias Beche whose return to the team correspondends to a partnership between TDS Racing and Rebellion Timepieces and Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa who joins the team as part of the Toyota Young Drivers Programme. The same trio of drivers will also contest the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. 

The mighty #38 Gibson 015S/Nissan of Jota Sport will race in the orange G-Drive Racing colors this year, following a collaboration between the two teams in ELMS and WEC. At Silverstone Jota owner Simon Dolan will be joined by Harry Tincknell and Dutch former F1 driver Giedo Van Der Garde. Double duties for Tincknell this weekend as he will race with G-Drive in ELMS and make his debut in the Ford GT in the WEC championship. He will race the Ford GT at Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans in the #67 Ford GT with Marino Franchitti and Andy Priaulx. Tincknell also set the fastest time at the Prologue last month.

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Pegasus Racing holds on to its #29 Nissan powered Morgan. Ines Taittinger is the first of two female drivers who will be on the ELMS (and Le Mans) grid this season. Taittinger raced in the French VdeV series in the past years, where she drove a Norma prototype. She will be joined by Rémy Striebig and Léo Roussel who has been with Pegasus since 2014.

Eurasia Motorsport, bringing together European and Asian motorsport talent, returns for its second season to the ELMS. In 2016 the team will be called LeSports by Eurasia Motorsport, following a partnership between Eurasia Motorsport and LeSports TV, which has a comprehensive content platform and media rights for more than 200 sporting events worldwide. The team acquiered a new Oreca05/Nissan, to replace their existing Oreca03. Chinese driver Pu Junjin and Dutchman Nico Pieter De Bruyn return to the team and will be joined by Frenchman Christian Gommendy who joined the team at the end of the 2015 season to race in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Reigning LMP3 champion and Nissan backed Sir Chris Hoy returns to the European Le Mans Series and steps up to the LMP2 category. Hoy will race in the Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JSP2/Nissan with Frenchman Andrea Pizzitola and Michael Munemann who finished second in the Asian Le Mans Series this year. Hoy will also race at the Le Mans 24 Hours. 

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SMP Racing enters 2 of their gorgeous looking BR01/Nissan's. With their GTE programs in ELMS and WEC on hold for 2016, the team fully focuses on the LMP2 class in both endurance championships. The #32 BR01 will be driven by Stefano Coletti, Andreas Wirth and Colombian talent Julian Leal Covelli who raced in GP2 last season. The second car with #44 is in the hands of Saen Galeal, Mitch Evans and Antonio Goivanazzi. Not all well known names, but a few of them might surprise us with their speed. 

Murphy Protoypes also returns with their Oreca 03/Nissan. So far the only driver we know of is Michael Lyons. At Le Mans the car will be driven by Ben Keating, Marc Goossens and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The team just moved into a new workshop near Silverstone, and will expand its activities this season with a factory supported Ave/Riley in the LMP3 class.  

American racing enthousiast Tracy Krohn heads into his second season in the European Le Mans Series. Krohn Racing puts its bright green #40 Ligier JSP2 back on the startgrid for the whole season. In 2016, the team switched from Judd to the Nissan engine. Tracy Krohn returns at the wheel with Nic Jonsson, they will be joined by last years ELMS champion Bjorn Windheim.  

At Silverstone, lots of new faces & teams will make their appearance in the ELMS paddock with 4 new teams entering the championship for the first time in 2016. 

US based Dragonspeed impressed at the 12 hours of Sebring last month and came in fourth at the end of an epic race. In the pre race test days at the former airfield in Florida, the teams Oreca 05/Nissan was second fastest, already showing some great pace and reliability. Swedish Hendrik Hedman will share the car with Briton Ben Hanley and Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre who brings tons of experience in endurance racing with him. With the speed and reliability this team showed in Sebring, they will be one to watch over the season. 

So24! By Lombard Racing, the French team based at Mulsanne, close to the Le Mans track is the second new team in the LMP2 class. They will field a Judd powered Ligier which will be driven by Olivier Lombard,Vincent Capillaire and Jonathan Coleman. Sarthe Objectif 24! was founded in 2011 with the intention to enter a team at Le Mans from the Sarthe region. After succesfull years with Boutsen Ginion Racing, Sebastien Loeb Racing and last season with Signatech-Alpine in WEC, the team now collaborates with Olivier Lombard in ELMS and Le Mans. 

Panis-Barthez Competition is a collaboration between Olivier Panis and former French football star Fabien Barthez. Barthez already raced in the GT class for several years, and will now step up to the LMP2 protoype class in a Ligier JSP2/Nissan. He will be joined by Paul Loup Chatin, who won the ELMS title in 2014 with Alpine and Timothe Buret.

Another French team makes its debut in the LMP2 class : IDEC Sport Racing. They will neter a Judd powered Ligier JSP2 for team owner Patrice Lafargue, Paul Lafargue and Dimitri Enjalbert. IDEC Sport was founded last year and already races in 3 endurance championships : ELMS, VdeV and the 24H series. 

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Returning to the European Le Mans Series is the Swiss team Race Performance. Absent on the ELMS grid last season, the team of Michel Frey clinched the Asian LMS title earlier this year and will field their #34 Judd powered Oreca 03 chassis for Nicolas Leutwiler, James Winslow and Franck Mailleux who returns to the team after a succesfull campaign in 2014.  

The final contender in LMP2 is French team SRT41 by OAK Racing, fielding their Oreca based Morgan/Nissan. SRT41 races at Le Mans as “garage 56” with a car completely adapted to quad amputée Frederic Sausset. In preparation for the 24 hours in June, the team will also race at the ELMS rounds at Silverstone and Imola. Sausset will be accompagnied by fellow French drivers Christophe Tinseau and Jean-Bernard Bouvet. 

Kristof Vermeulen.