Auto Hebdo are reporting today here that 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button is in talks with SMP Racing about a potential debut appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in their BR1 AER LMP1 in 2018. If the deal came together it would see Button teamed with Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov in the #11 car that finished the 30 hour WEC Prologue test earlier this month with the fastest non-hybrid time, and indeed topped the times of all LMP1s when taking into account Toyota’s ‘unrestricted’ running on the first day of the test.
It would also mean that he would likely be seen for the first time in public aboard the car at the Le Mans Test Day on 3 June, an appearance at the opening round of the FIA WEC at Spa is unlikely as there is a direct clash with the 500km Super GT race at Fuji.
Button’s early season race and testing form in his factory-backed GT500 Honda suggests that he will be a title contender this season in Japan.
If the SMP Racing deal comes to fruition it will see a remarkable clash between two ex-F1 World Champions in the LMP1 class at Le Mans this year with Fernando Alonso confirmed at Toyota Gazoo Racing. And it would be the first of two appearances for Button on the full Le Mans circuit this season with his appearance in a JD Classics entered Group C jaguar already confirmed for July’s Le Mans Classic!
It would, incidentally, be the second time that Jenson has appeared on a major 24 hour race entry, he was one of the drivers in a Rafanelli entered FINA BMW touring car (alongside David Saelens and Tomas Enge) that ‘dnf’-ed in the 1999 Spa 24 Hours, the car sidelined by a fuel leak.
Spa 24 Hours pic copyright: Fabrice Bergenhuizen, courtesy of Racingsportscars.com
