ELMS: G-Drive to race with the "Aurus 01" in 2019

G-Drive Racing announced a new cooperation with Russian car manufacturer Aurus for the upcoming season in ELMS, WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The team will field an Aurus 01 prototype as from the 4 Hours of Le Castellet at the first race of the 2019 European Le Mans Series. 

Aurus made its international debut at the last Geneva International Motorshow where it presented its Senat limousine. The Aurus Senat limousine is in fact the benchmark of Russian technology, and announces the arrival of new luxury car manufacturer on the international automotive markets.

As with the ‘Alpine’ chassis the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) has agreed the addition of a ‘new’ LMP2 chassis by adding an additional VIN plate to the G-Drive Oreca 07 chassis (in the same way Alpine has run Oreca/Alpine) so that Aurus will now also enter the European and worldwide endurance races. In the upcoming race season of the 2019 year, the Russian team G-Drive Racing will perform on the prototype Aurus 01. 

G‐Drive Racing was FIA WEC World Champion in 2015 and has collected all the European championship titles since 2016. In 2019, the team will defend its title running the LMP2 Aurus 01 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ELMS season as well as some WEC races. Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Job van Uitert will on driving duties in 2019. 

Roman Rusinov, racer and sports manager of G-Drive Racing: "The start of the cooperation between G-Drive Racing and the new Russian automobile brand Aurus is a landmark event. After its premiere at the recent Geneva motor show,  Aurus now goes racing around the world. We are excited to represent this domestic brand in the international autosport world. The G-Drive Racing Team, having won four consecutive championship titles, has already entered history as the most successful team in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans series. I am sure that we will become even stronger with the Aurus 01 prototype. 

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.”

Historics: Mercedes-Benz 540K and Ferrari 335 S best in show at the Amelia Concours

The 24th Amelia Island Concours d’élegance was held March 7-10th at the Amelia Island Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton in Florida. With a packed program that stretches now on over four days, the Amelia Concours has grown into one the world most anticipated and best organised concours te be found. Auctions, seminars, cars & coffee on Saturday morning up to the concours itself on Sunday, Amelia has become an event not to be missed for the (classic) car enthousiast.

This year’s honoree was Belgian Jacky Ickx, “Monsieur Le Mans” was reunited with 12 extraordinary racecars, spanning the whole of his career from Le Mans over to Can Am, Formula 1 and Paris-Dakar.  More about the cars of Jacky Ickx at the Amelia concours and the 300+ other stunning cars on display on Sunday is to follow in another write up.  But first we take a closer look to both 2019 award winners in the Best of show and Best of show concours de sport class.

At the Amelia Concours, 2 cars receive the best in show award every year: the Best in Show Concours d’Elegance and the Best in Show Concours de Sport award. Two extraordinary cars received the awards on March 10th: the 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahnkurier and the 1957 Ferrari 335 S. 

The 540 K “Autobahnkurier”

Mercedes debuted a new car at the 1934 Berlin Car Show: the Typ 500K “Autobahnkurier”.  Only one model existed and the brochures informed the public that the car was designed for incredibly high speeds on the Autobahn. It was built on the outstanding W29 chassis and immediately stood out with its elegant design, long hood, gentle curves and specially designed tail end. It set a new design benchmark with its appearance, even so that Jean Bugatti went back home after his first encounter with the 540K and apparently designed the infamous Atlantic. 

Only six 540K Autobahnkuriers were built, this particular car is the only one believed to survive. Out of these six cars, only two 540K’s have been built to this specification with the 5.4 Liter supercharged engine, which makes it - if possible - even more exclusive. With a top speed of 115 mph, the 540K was one of the fastest cars available at the time, but also one of the most expensive ones.  

This car is the second (and final) one that went into production has originally been bought by Dr. Ignacio Barraquer, a doctor from Barcelona. He undertook journeys with it from Libya to Egypt prior to World War II, and later through Austria and Switzerland. It remained in the family’s possession until 2004 when it was sold to Arturo Keller who had it restored completely.  Since then it has won several concours titles at Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este and now also Amelia Island. The first car has been gifted by Mercedes to the shah of Iran, and was last seen in the 1960s.  Up until now it’s unclear if that car still exists or not.   

The Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti

For the second year in a row, a Ferrari wins the best in show concours de Sport award. The 1957 Ferrari 335S Spider Scaglietti is only one of four built and carries an impressive racing history with it. With its breathtaking race results, continuous history and prestigious provenance, this Ferrari symbolises the myth and masterpiece from the 1950’s motorsport era. 

The Scuderia Ferrari factory car started its life as a 290 MM, was upgraded to a 315 S and later transformed into a 335 S.  The 335 S was the most technologically advanced Ferrari in 1957. With a 60-degree V12 engine with 24 plugs, two valves per cylinder and twin overhead camshafts it produced 360 hp.  In Le Mans trim, the engine was tuned up to 400 hp, and got to top steeds at Le Mans up to 300 km/h. 

This particular car has an impressive racing history and was driven by some of the greatest pilots in its era. Peter Collins and Maurice Trintignant drove it at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours, Wolfgang von Trips in the Mille Miglia and Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso competed at Le Mans later that year.  Hawthorn set the first 200 km/h lap record at Le Mans with this car (203.015 km/h), but couldn’t finish the race due to mechanical problems. Other drivers racing this car were Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Stirling Moss ….

Kristof Vermeulen.