Endurance racer Ricardo Gonzalez has announced a new partnership with team manager Benoit Morand for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Gonzalez, a Le Mans class winner, will turn team owner for the upcoming season, leading RGR Sport by Morand in a full-season LMP2 campaign.
The Mexican will also have a driving role within the team, sharing duties with Filipe Albuquerque and Bruno Senna. Albuquerque, a current Audi works driver and Senna, a former F1 driver for Williams, bring plenty of experience to the lineup with five Le Mans starts between them.
RGR Sport by Morand will run a Ligier JS P2 chassis in 2016, powered by a Nissan engine.
It will be the first team to represent Mexico in the FIA WEC, coinciding with the debut of the 6 Hours of Mexico City in September.
“I’m very excited to finally be able to announce this project, which has been in the works for quite a while,” said Gonzalez. “After the WEC announced that we would have the 6 Hours of Mexico in 2016, starting our own Mexican team was the obvious next choice. I want to thank Benoit Morand and Onroak Automotive for making this opportunity possible, I really do believe that we’ve put together a dream team.”
“With the experience that Bruno and Filipe have, and proven speed of the Ligier JS P2, I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll be able to fight for the championship and victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
“It’s a honor for Team Morand to be able to manage the RGR Sport by Morand team,” added Morand. “Not just as a business, but also because of the motorsports passion that everyone involved has shown. I have not known Ricardo for a long time, but from the beginning our relationship has always been simple and fair and I’m really looking forward to working with him this year.
RGR Sport by Morand will make its FIA WEC race debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on April 17. The team is also expected to be present at the official Prologue test at Paul Ricard in March.
