Larbre Competition celebrate their 25th anniversary in top-line motor sport this year and will be looking to defend its LMGTE Am trophy in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
In 2012 the team took a hat-trick of race victories including a third successive win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and will once again be running a Corvette C6.R carrying the famous #50.
Patrick Bornhauser continues his career with Labre and will be looking to take a sixth career title with the French squad. Joining him is Le Mans native Julien Canal who looks to take his fourth successive victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I’m delighted to be back to challenge for a sixth championship title and third Le Mans 24 Hours victory with Larbre.” said Bornhauser. “Having Julien, Fernando and Pedro as team-mates makes this all the more exciting and we cannot wait to be back in action. I would like to thank Jack Leconte for another chance to race on the world stage in 2013.”
Canal confirmed his delight at continuing with the team: “This will be my third full season with Larbre Competition and I am still extremely motivated to be part of the team. I am delighted to be racing alongside Patrick and Fernando who are both fast, experienced drivers and great guys. I have every confidence that Jack Leconte will know how to extract the maximum from each of us and put everything in place to clinch another world title. That is undoubtedly my objective.”
Brazilian Fernando Rees joins the team to contest the six-hour WEC races while Pedro Lamy joins the Labre team once again for the 24 hours of Le Mans.
“It is a pleasure to rejoin Larbre for the upcoming WEC season, especially after our success in 2012” said Rees. “We all know each other and work together really well, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t expect to repeat our triumphs this year. I am looking forward to it.”
Ex-F1 and works-Peugeot racer Pedro Lamy is also looking forward to the 24 hour challenge once again. “It’s great to be returning to Larbre Competition for the Le Mans 24 Hours, especially after winning last year’s race alongside Julien and Patrick. It’s a magnificent event and I couldn’t hope for a better team to contest it with. Larbre is always a very serious contender for victory and we will try to record another great result in 2013.”
Team owner Jack Leconte explained that the team did look at running two cars in 2013 but the ultimate decision came down to budget: “In 2013 we will return to running a single-car entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship. We had several requests to field a second, but we must be realistic and admit that the sporting ambition of the project was not matched by solid financial grounding. Larbre has always balanced its racing budgets and respected its partners and suppliers, a philosophy we will never abandon.”
“The WEC is the pinnacle of endurance racing, bringing together the best of the best. From a sporting and logistical standpoint we would have preferred to enter two cars, but will now concentrate all our energy on the #50 as we take on formidable opposition.
“However, at Le Mans we will return to a line-up of two Corvette C6.Rs and are also preparing a surprise with the support of GM Racing. I look forward to seeing you during testing at Val de Vienne circuit on 13/14 March.”
