Manor WEC racer Will Stevens will step over to G-Drive Racing for the Le Mans 24 Hours where he’ll join Roman Rusinov and Rene Rast behind the wheel of the distinctive orange Oreca 05.
Competing for Manor in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMP2 class, Stevens has been loaned to G-Drive temporarily for the French classic before rejoining Graeme Lowdon and John Booth’s team for the remainder of the season.
The move has come about after Nathaniel Berthon’s partnership with the 2015 LMP2 title winning team came to an end prematurely.
Stevens’ confirmation at G-Drive will see the ex-Formula One driver take part in his first Le Mans 24 Hours, taking to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time at this weekend’s Le Mans Test Day.
However, he has experienced quite a lot already this year in the sportscar field and with racing alongside Rene Rast – the pair share a Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS in the Blancpain GT Series.
Stevens said: “The offer to join G-Drive specifically for Le Mans and share the car with Rene and Roman was compelling. My partnership with Rene at WRT Audi is working well and with his and Roman’s experience in this race, it offered me a race winning opportunity which I’m pleased to accept. I’m grateful to the Manor WEC Team for releasing me for this occasion and we will continue to work together for the remainder of their first season in endurance racing. I’m very much looking forward to my first 24-hour race within this line-up and am very grateful to G-Drive for the opportunity. I’m enjoying the whole endurance racing scene and no doubt my first Le Mans will be a special event in my career.”
Replacing Stevens at Manor will be Roberto Merhi. Merhi, an ex-F1 driver himself, competes in the second Manor WEC car which doesn’t have an entry at Le Mans because of the car’s late entry to the WEC this year meaning the team didn’t have to look far for a ready made replacement to race alongside Tor Graves and Matt Rao.