PR1/Mathiasen enters Tech1 alliance for WEC debut

Last month, it was revealed that PR1 would be joining an expanded LMP2 field for the 2021 WEC season opener at Spa ahead of its debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours in August.

Patrick Kelly, who won last year's IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 title and earned the Jim Trueman Award in the process, will be joined at Spa and Le Mans by Simon Trummer and Gabriel Aubry.

Trummer partnered Kelly for most of the 2020 IMSA campaign, only missing the July Sebring round, while Aubry has made sporadic outings for PR1/Mathiasen over the course of the last two seasons.

In addition, the team will receive technical assistance from Tech1, which also operates the Panis Racing squad in the European Le Mans Series.

Aubry was part of the Panis Racing squad that took second place in last weekend's Barcelona ELMS opener alongside Julien Canal and Will Stevens (pictured top), standing in for James Allen following a positive COVID-19 test for the Australian driver.

PR1 team principal Bobby Oergel said: "I am very excited to begin our road to LeMans efforts with this great group of drivers and new team affiliation with Tech1 Racing. To have the opportunity of assembling our alumni drivers who also have previous history with both teams is amazing.

"Pat, Gabby and Simon are a great combination and I couldn’t be happier to be able and work with them all in one car again.

"Everyone at Tech1 Racing has been very helpful and thorough in making this collaboration possible and I can’t thank them enough for this opportunity in our first European racing experience for our PR1/Mathiasen team."

Updated entry list for Spa race

Last week, an updated 35-car entry list was released for the Spa WEC race, reflecting the withdrawal of the Glickenhaus Racing squad - which leaves only three cars, two Toyotas and an Alpine, in the top 'Hypercar' class.

The LMP2 class remains at 14 cars, with PR1/Mathiasen and two cars from G-Drive Racing joining the 11 full-season entries in the class. Only the #25 G-Drive car now doesn't have a fully announced driver line-up, with a 'TBA' listed next to John Falb and Rui Andrade.

A sole car from Corvette Racing joins the four regular GTE Pro entries, while the field is completed by 13 cars in the GTE Am class.