Oak Racing have confirmed that the remainder of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship will see a third Morgan Nissan LMP2 entered by the squad that currently holds first and second positions in the Championship standings.
The #45 art car liveried machine that contested the Le Mans 24 Hours will now continue until the end of the season with Team Principal Jacques Nicolet and gentleman driver Jean-Marc Merlin joined by ex Gulf Racing Middle East driver Keiko Ihara at Interlagos next weekend.
Ihara and Merlin will also drive at the Circuit of the Americas next month with Nicolet and Ihara sharing driving duties for the final three rounds in Japan, China and Bahrain.
The driver line-ups for the #35 and #24 cars remain unchanged and will both race in the now familiar black and pink colours of Oak Racing.
Sébastien Philippe, OAK Racing Team Principal:
“The whole OAK Racing team is both proud and delighted to welcome Keiko Ihara from Japan, who has had an atypical career and is the only woman driver in the WEC, for the remaining races of the season, which are all taking place outside Europe.
“Keiko is backed by Nissan and this can only help to strengthen our ties with this manufacturer whose engines we appreciate very much because of their performance. I’m sure that Keiko will do her very best to be a credit to her partners, her country and her predecessors. She will be the third Japanese driver to join us after Shinji Nakano and Takuma Sato, which serves to underline the strong links our team enjoys with Asia in general and Japan in particular; and also our determination to expand our activities on the international scene. Maybe next year we’ll have a Brazilian driver. Who knows?
“The team is looking forward to returning to the very special Interlagos circuit, which is very tough on the drivers as it turns in an anticlockwise direction! Despite this we’ve scored a top-three finish in LM P2 there. This year, we’re arriving with more ambitious aims. We’re out to defend our place as leaders. The Onroak chassis, Dunlop tyres and Nissan engine package no longer needs to prove itself, and our driver line-ups combine speed and consistency as we saw at Le Mans so we’re aiming for victory.”
Keiko Ihara, #45 Morgan-Nissan LM P2:
“It is a great honour and pleasure to join the OAK Racing team to participate in the rest of the WEC season. I am really looking forward to driving with the team. Mr Sebastien Philippe, the team principal, used to drive the Nissan GT-R in Japan as one of the top drivers. I am sure that his abundant experience and knowledge will be of great help to me. I will try to get on the podium in the Brazilian round this weekend and in my home country, Japan, together with my team-mate, Mr Jacques Nicolet, and all members of the OAK Racing squad. I would like to thank all the people who have given me very strong support to secure my drive with the team: NISSAN, NISMO, my sponsors and supporters. I will do my best to score great results!”
