For the first time since 2017, G-Drive Racing will take part in an FIA World Endurance Championship round outside of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Coming straight from nearly retaining the European Le Mans Series crown, the trio of Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vernge and Job Van Uitert will pilot the #26 at next month’s 8 Hours of Bahrain.
The driving squad last appeared on the WEC grid for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. They had been looking strong to take LMP2 victory at the blue-riband event after a fight with the #36 Signatech Alpine team, but disaster struck with a few hours left on the clock. They were force into the garage for repairs that dropped them out of winning contention, and crossed the line for P6 in class.
This announcement comes close after the team confirmed their entry into the 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series. In conjunction with Algarve Pro Racing, Rusinov, Leonard Hoogenboom and James French began their Asian challenge at the 4 Hours of Shanghai that occurred last weekend. the team took the top step of the LMP2 class in their first outing, continuing their strong performance in ELMS with their Aurus 01.
Whether G-Drive Racing will contend in any other WEC races this season remains to be confirmed. It is likely that the team will take part in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps if they are set to compete in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Seeing that they did not win ELMS this year, the Russian team currently does not have automatic entry into the prestigious 24-hour event. However, if they win the Asian Le Mans Series, which ends in February, they will get their automatic entry to Le Mans back.
