Top International – WEC: Thirty-Five Cars for Season Opener at Silverstone

The provisional entry list for round 1 of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, has been revealed with an additional three cars on top of the thirty-two full season entries bringing the total number of cars for the race at Silverstone on the 14 April up to thirty-five.

In LMP1 Swiss team Rebellion Racing have entered a second Lola-Toyota in the LMP1 Privateers class, bringing the total entry in LMP1 to seven. World Champions Audi have retained their two driver lineups almost unchanged with Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer defending their drivers title in the nr1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro and Loic Duval joining Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish in the nr2 Audi.

The drivers for all seven LMP1 cars have also been announced with British interests at Silverstone centering around Allan McNish (Audi), Anthony Davidson (Toyota), Danny Watts (Strakka), Nick Leventis (Strakka) and Jonny Kane (Strakka).

In LMP2 the twelve car full season entry is boosted by two additional cars from Oak Racing and Chinese team KCMG, with both teams running Morgan-Nissans.  Delta-ADR and Greaves Motorsport are the two teams flying the British flag in this class and while most of the teams in LMP2 have yet to release their full driver lineups for the 6 Hours of Silverstone, British drivers include Alex Brundle (Oak Racing), Jonathan Kennard (HVM Status GP), Martin Plowman (Oak Racing), Ryan Dalziel (Starworks Motorsport) and Matthew Howson (KCMG).

In LMGTE Pro the driver lineups are almost finalized with just AF Corse to announce their second drivers for the nr51 and nr71 Ferrari 458 Italias.  Porsche AG Team Manthey have announced three drivers in each of their Porsche 911 RSRs with Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Pilet and Timo Bernhard in the nr91 car and Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz and Romain Dumas in the nr92 Porsche.  The two Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8s will also have a strong lineup for the team’s home race with Britain’s Darren Turner rejoining Germany’s Stefan Mucke in the nr 97 car and Fred Makowiecki partnering Bruno Senna in the nr99 Aston.

The driver lineups for the eight full season cars in LMGTE Am are also almost complete with Krohn Racing, 8 Star Motorsports and Proton Competition still to declare their full crews for the 6 Hours of Silverstone.  Jack Gerber (AF Corse), Stuart Hall (Aston Martin Racing) and 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy winner Jamie Campbell-Walter (Aston Martin Racing) represent the British interests in the LMGTE class.  Matt Griffin (Af Corse) will also count Silverstone as his home race as the Irishman has lived near the track for many years.

Gerard Neveu, CEO of the FIA WEC, said: “This entry list represents a lot of hard work by everyone involved, the teams, the drivers and the manufacturers. We are extremely pleased to have thirty-five cars for the opening race of the 2013 season at Silverstone on the 14 April, which will feature the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for the first time.”

The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship

The Legend is Back - The FIA WEC (FIA World Endurance Championship) revives the historical thread of the World Championship of Brands of the 50s, 60s and 70s, the Endurance World Championship Group C of the 80s and the World Sports Car Championship of the 90s.

The 9th of June, 2011 will be remembered as one of the most important dates in the recent history of endurance racing. That day, at the 2011 24 Heures du Mans, Jean Todt and Jean-Claude Plassart, respectively Presidents of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), announced the creation of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Fast forward to December 2012 and Marcel Fässler, Benoit Tréluyer and Andre Lotterer, along with Audi and Ferrari; accept their world championship trophies at the glittering FIA Awards Gala in Istanbul alongside the other champions from Formula One, World Rally and World Touring Cars.

The FIA WEC represents the popularity and attraction of endurance racing today on legendary circuits (Spa-Francorchamps, Le Mans, Fuji, Interlagos, Silverstone), and those destinations where the history of motor sport is yet to develop (Bahrain, Shanghai and Circuit of the Americas). These are long races where anything can happen: prototypes and GTs on the same grid, in the hands of both professionals and gentlemen drivers.

The jewel in the crown of the 2013 FIA WEC is the 24 Heures du Mans, which on the 22/23 June celebrates the 90th anniversary of the first instalment of the world's greatest endurance race in 1923.

2013 FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP - 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE - PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST

LMP1 (NAT T CARS HYBRID 7)

1. #1 Audi Sport Team Joest (DEU) M - Audi R18 e-tron quattro Hybrid (André Lotterer (DEU) P/ Benoit Tréluyer (FRA) P/ Marcel Fässler (CHE) P)
2. #2 Audi Sport Team Joest (DEU) M - Audi R18 e-tron quattro Hybrid (Tom Kristensen (DNK) P/ Loïc Duval (FRA) P/ Allan McNish (GBR) P)
3. #7 Toyota Racing (JPN) M - Toyota TS030-Hybrid Hybrid (Alexander Wurz (AUT) P/ Nicolas Lapierre (FRA) P)
4. #8 Toyota Racing (JPN) M - Toyota TS030-Hybrid Hybrid (Anthony Davidson (GBR) P/ Sébastien Buemi (CHE) P/ Stéphane Sarrazin (FRA) P)
5. #12 Rebellion Racing (CHE) M - Lola B12/60 Coupé-Toyota (Nicolas Prost (FRA) P/ Neel Jani (CHE)° P/ Nick Heidfeld (DEU)° P)
6. #13 Rebellion Racing (CHE) M - Lola B12/60 Coupé-Toyota (Andrea Belicchi (ITA)° P/ Mathias Beche (CHE)° G/ Cong Fu Chen (CHN)° G)
7. #21 Strakka Racing (GBR) M - HPD ARX 03c-Honda (Nick Leventis (GBR)° S/ Danny Watts (GBR)° P/ Jonny Kane (GBR)° P)

LMP2 (NAT T CARS DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 DRIVER 3 14)

1. #24 OAK Racing** (FRA) D Morgan-Nissan (Olivier Pla (FRA)°/ P David Heinemeir Hanssson (DNK)° S/ Alex Brundle (GBR)° S)
2. #25 Delta-ADR (GBR) Oreca 03-Nissan (John Martin (AUS) P/ TBA/ TBA)
3. #26 G-DRIVE RACING (RUS) Oreca 03-Nissan (Roman Rusinov (RUS) S/ TBA/ TBA/)
4. #28 Gulf Racing Middle East (ARE) D Lola B12/80 Coupé-Nissan (Fabien Giroix (FRA) S/ TBA/ TBA)
5. #29 Gulf Racing Middle East (ARE) D Lola B12/80 Coupé-Nissan (Frédéric Fatien (CIV) B/ TBA/ TBA)
6. #30 HVM Status GP (CAN) D Lola B12/80 Coupé-Judd (Jonathan Kennard (GBR)° G/ TBA/ TBA)
7. #31 Lotus** (DEU) D Lotus T128 (Kevin Weeda (USA) B/ James Rossiter (GBR) P/ Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)° P)
8. #32 Lotus** (DEU) D Lotus T128 (Thomas Holzer (DEU) S/ TBA/ TBA)
9. #35 OAK Racing** (FRA) D Morgan-Nissan (Bertrand Baguette (BEL) P/ Ricardo Gonzalez (MEX)° S/ Martin Plowmann (GBR)°)
10. #41 Greaves Motorsport (GBR) D Zytek Z11SN-Nissan (Christian Zugel (DEU)° B/ TBA/ TBA)
11. #44 Starworks Motorsport* (USA) HPD ARX 03b-Honda (Alex Popow (VEN)/ Ryan Dalziel (GBR) P/ TBA)
12. #45 OAK Racing (FRA) D Morgan-Nissan (Jacques Nicolet (FRA)° S/ TBA/ TBA)
13. #47 KCMG° (CHN) M Morgan-Nissan (Alexander Impertori (CHE) G/ Matthew Howson (GBR) S/ Jim Ka To (CHN) - )
14. #49 Pecom Racing (ARG) Oreca 03-Nissan (Luis Perez Companc (ARG)° S/ Nicolas Minassian (FRA)° P/ Pierre Kaffer (DEU)° P)

LMGTE Pro (NAT T CARS DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 DRIVER 3 6)

1. #51 AF Corse**/° (ITA) M Ferrari F458 Italia (Gianmaria Bruni (ITA)° P/ TBA -)
2. #71 AF Corse**/° (ITA) M Ferrari F458 Italia (Olivier Beretta (MCO)° P/ TBA -)
3. #91 Porsche AG Team Manthey (DEU) M Porsche 911 RSR (Jörg Bergmeister (DEU) P/ Patrick Pilet (FRA) P/ Timo Bernhard (DEU) P)
4. #92 Porsche AG Team Manthey (DEU) M Porsche 911 RSR (Marc Lieb (DEU) P/ Richard Lietz (AUT) P/ Romain Dumas (FRA) P)
5. #97 Aston Martin Racing** (GBR) M Aston Martin Vantage V8 (Darren Turner (GBR)° P/ Stefan Mücke (DEU)° P/ -)
6. #99 Aston Martin Racing** (GBR) M Aston Martin Vantage V8 (Frédéric Makowiecki (FRA)° G/ Bruno Senna (BRA)°/ -)

LMGTE Am (NAT T CARS DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 DRIVER 3 8)

1. #50 Larbre Competition° (FRA) M Chevrolet Corvette C6-ZR1 (Patrick Bornhauser (FRA)° S/ Julien Canal (FRA)° S/ Fernando Rees (BRA)° S)
2. #57 Krohn Racing (USA) M Ferrari F458 Italia (Tracy Krohn (USA) S/ Niclas Jönsson (SWE) G/ TBA)
3. #61 AF Corse° (ITA) M Ferrari F458 Italia (Jack Gerber (GBR)/ Matt Griffin (IRL)° S/ Marco Cioci (ITA)° G)
4. #76 IMSA Performance Matmut (FRA) M Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Raymond Narac (FRA)° S/ Christophe Bourret (FRA)° S/ Jean-Karl Verney (FRA) P)
5. #81 8 Star Motorsports (USA) M Ferrari F458 Italia (Vicente Potolicchio (VEN) S/ TBA/ TBA)
6. #88 Proton Competition (DEU) M Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Christian Ried (DEU) S/ Gianluca Roda (ITA)° S/ TBA)
7. #95 Aston Martin Racing** (GBR) M Aston Martin Vantage V8 (Christoffer Nygaard (DNK)° S/ Kristian Poulsen (DNK)° S/ Allan Simonsen (DNK)° G)
8. #96 Aston Martin Racing** (GBR) M Aston Martin Vantage V8 (Roald Goethe (DEU)° B/ Stuart Hall (GBR)° S/ Jamie Campbell-Walter (GBR)°)

TYRES –
M: MICHELIN
D: DUNLOP

CATEGORISATION
P: PLATINUM
G: GOLD
S: SILVER
B: BRONZE

* Subject to the FIA confirmation
** Entry under Article 41. C. b)
°Subject to the recepit of the licence
2013


Jeff Carter