Kick off at Silverstone for the Team Endurance Challenge

Launched during the offseason to allow the drivers to discover Endurance racing at the wheel of Le Mans Prototype via a “turnkey” package, the Team Endurance Challenge will make its first appearance in competition at Silverstone. For this opening event of the European Le Mans Series, 3 ORECA-FLM 09 will be part of the LM PC class. For the drivers, the road to the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans starts from this British stage!

Silverstone, first indicator.

At the heart of a great grid of 25 cars, five of the six drivers from the Team Endurance Challenge will complete in their first race at the wheel of a Le Mans Prototype. Coming from different backgrounds, they benefit from the ORECA experience which directly provides track operation of the 3 ORECA-FLM 09. The pilots will be helped by Nicolas Minassian, mentor of the team. For this discovery, the members of the Team Endurance Challenge will performed on one of the most beautiful European tracks: Silverstone, a mythical circuit with its famous corners, like the Copse or Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel curves. A real indicator to start the season!

After positive official Test Days on the Paul Ricard Circuit, the six dirvers will fight for the win in the LM PC Category. It’s already an important round as the championship winners will receive an invitation in LM P2 at 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours. “With the Team Endurance Challenge, we decided to offer an “all inclusive” solution providing the drivers an opportunity to discover the highest level of Endurance” says Hugues de Chaunac. “The profiles confirmed that this concept fits a lot of drivers. The first race of a driver in prototype is always a particular moment and this is especially true when it takes place in a motorsport temple like Silverstone. With Nicolas Minassian as mentor and Soheil Ayari as team leader, the team is counting on these two experimented men. The car also proved its qualities. It’s a solid package which will allow the young drivers to reveal themselves and the gentlemen drivers to sharpen their weapons before a future participation at Le Mans 24 hours. It’s up to them to seize this opportunity.”

The #47 will be entrusted to Alex Loan and Matthieu Lecuyer. Alex, a young Andorran of only 17 years, comes from single seater, whereas Matthieu has stepped experiences in the Peugeot promotion formula or in Bioracing Series and VdeV series. The #48 will be driven by Soheil Ayari and Anthony Pons. Two men more accustomed to Endurance: beyond his many national titles, Soheil has already won the ELMS in GT1, while Anthony is the title-holder in GTE-Am. Finally, the #49 will be placed under the label of youth with Paul Loup Chatin and Gary Hirsch. Paul Loup also comes from single seater, with a status of Alpine Junior & Reserve Driver. Gary, coming from Geneva, has known the single seater, the GT and the Ferrari Corse Clienti events.

Two practice sessions are scheduled on Friday, April 12th at 9am and 2.10pm, before the qualifications on the Saturday, April 13th at 11.35am. The start of the race, run over a period of 3 hours, will be given at 3pm.

Team Endurance Challenge