Hong Kong-based outfit KCMG will not return to the World Endurance Championship LMP2 class next year.
The team’s metallic-blue Oreca 05-Nissan has been sold ahead of the LMP2 regulations change which will come into force in 2017, according to Motorsport.com.
Paul Ip’s squad won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 with Richard Bradley, Matt Howson and Nicolas Lapierre behind the wheel.
Regular drivers Bradley and Howson were joined for much of the year by outright Le Mans winner Nick Tandy, who helped the team to victory at the Nurburgring as well as two other podiums.
In total, KCMG recorded 155 points in the 2016 WEC – with two wins – to finish second in the LMP2 standings behind champions G-Drive Racing.
Towards the end of the season KCMG was hurled into a case of controversy after a collision with the #28 G-Drive Racing Ligier at Fuji. The incident resulted in an immediate retirement and subsequent penalty for Ip’s team and contributed to the sister G-Drive car winning the championship.
In 2016 KCMG expects to compete at Le Mans, for which it has an automatic entry. A full-season WEC entry is also on the cards, with Porsche 911 squad Proton Competition mooted as a possible partner in the GTE-Am category.
