In the last few days there has been a flood of team announcements about new driver signings and it’s interesting to note that not one of the seven drivers is over 30 years of age.
In fact, the average age of the new WEC recruits is under 26, and this reinforces the increased interest in the endurance World Championship from drivers all over the world.
G-Drive Racing
Audi Sport driver René Rast will enter the WEC on a full-time basis in 2016, teaming up with reigning LMP2 Champion Roman Rusinov and G-Drive Racing.
The 29-year-old German will partner the Russian and GP2 race winner Nathanaël Berthon in the No.26 ORECA 05 Nissan which is to be managed in 2016 by JOTA Sport.
Rast is a three-time Porsche Supercup champion and 2014 ADAC GT champion, and most recently was in the WEC with Audi Sport’s third LMP1 entry at Spa and Le Mans last year, finishing fourth and seventh respectively.
Signatech Alpine and Baxi DC Racing Alpine
Following the recent confirmation of the entry of two A460s for the 2016 FIA WEC, Alpine is pleased to be able to announce the complete driver line-ups for the No.35 and No.36 entries.
Nelson Panciatici, a cornerstone of the team since Alpine’s return to motor racing in 2013, will compete in the N°35 LMP2 prototype. The Frenchman’s experience and speed will benefit the DC Racing-led, Signatech-Alpine-run programme, and the 27-year old will share the car with David Cheng and Ho Pin-Tung.
The crew of the N°36 car will be the experienced Nicolas Lapierre, together with young American Gustavo Menezes and the recently recruited Monegasque Stéphane Richelmi. After showcasing his skill in GP2 and GT racing, 25-year old Richelmi is a newcomer to prototype racing.
Signatech-Alpine will be able to count on the complementary skills and talent of these two crews in its bid to play a front-running role in the FIA WEC’s LMP2 class.
Manor
Manor has extended its driver line up for the 2016 WEC with the addition of young British drivers Matt Rao and Richard Bradley.
Bradley is a well-known WEC name, and his inclusion in Manor’s driver line up will bring much needed endurance experience to the team. The 24-year-old Briton was the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 winner and also climbed to the top step of the podium at the inaugural 6 Hours of Nürburgring last year.
The 21-year-old Rao started his racing career at karting level in 2009 and rose through the single-seater ranks to race in Formula 3, finishing as runner up in the 2014 British F3 Championship. He has his first taste of LMP2 machinery during the 2015 end of season WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain last November, and Rao has also tested an LMP2 car at the Nürburgring WEC test at the end of July 2015.
ByKolles Racing Team
ByKOLLES Racing has completed its driver line-up for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season with the addition of Oliver Webb (GB). The British driver will share the No.4 CLM P1/01 in the LMP1 Privateer category with Simon Trummer (CH) and Pierre Kaffer (D).
“With the signing of Oliver Webb our desired driver line-up for the 2016 WEC season is now complete,” says Boris Bermes, ByKOLLES Director of Racing Operations. “Oliver is a young and fast sports car driver, who was able to gain a lot of experience in the past few years. His achievements in endurance racing speak for themselves.”
Photos (from top): 1) 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, LMP2 podium with Richard Bradley taking centre stage; 2) Rene Rast; 3) Nelson Panciatici in the Signatech Alpine A450B in the 6 Hours of Shanghai 2015; 4) Oliver Webb
