After having already announced its participation in the 2014 French GT Championship and in the Porsche Carrera Cup France, Sébastien Loeb Racing (SLR) has now firmed up its endurance programme for 2014 too.
The team, co-founded by Sébastien Loeb and Dominique Heintz, will contest both the full 2014 European Le Mans Series, and has been accepted on the entry list for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its Oreca Nissan 03 LMP2 (seen below in pre-season testing).
The P2 car will be joined in the ELMS by one of Audi R8 LMS Ultras that SLR will campaign in the French Championship, the GT3 spec Audi set to contest a dramatically increased GTC class for the coming season.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans has been on the team’s radar from the start of operations in 2011 but, despite some convincing performances with the Oreca, including a podium at the 6 Hours of Le Castellet in 2012 in the team’s very first race (the car seen below with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel), the programme has not, until now, been strong enough to support such an effort.
“We have worked hard in order to set up this endurance programme and we are very proud of our invitation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans” confides Dominique Heintz, team manager.
“We have dreamed of Le Mans from the moment Sébastien Loeb Racing was born and that will become a dream come true in just a few weeks. This first participation will be an important step for us all. We are aware that Le Mans is a unique legendary race which needs to be approached with much humility and wisdom. We want to remain ambitious nevertheless.
“We have a well-tried package and we will line-up an efficient trio of drivers. René Rast is our first driver. Just like us, he will be discovering the race, but he is young, fast and motivated. He embodies the team’s values perfectly.”
A dream indeed and the Oreca’s bodywork will be displaying the hashtag #LM24dreamer and will race as #24
René Rast:
Despite his reputation as one of the fastest GT drivers around, 27 years old René Rast will make his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. The German driver’s bedrock has been one make Porsche racing, winning the Carrera Cup German series in 2008 and 2012 and taking the Porsche Supercup crown from 2010 to 2012.
That same year, he also triumphed at the 24 Hours of Spa (seen above) and won the 24 Hours at Daytona in the GT category. In 2013 he won twice in the FIA GT Series and achieved two other wins at the ADAC GT Masters.
“Le Mans has always been among my dreams. It is the greatest and the most important endurance race in the world. It is a pleasure and an honour to be a driver for such a team as Sébastien Loeb Racing. I drove against them last year and I could see how professionally they were working. I think we will have both a strong squad and a very good driver lineup.
“Crossing the finish line is my main aim, it would be a dream to end up on the podium. Driving a prototype will be a first for me, but I did some years of formula racing and I know how a downforce car works. I hope I will quickly adapt to it. I have to learn but I am committed and determined to deliver a good performance.”
ELMS
“The European Le Mans Series is a coherent choice in the building of our global programme,” mentions Dominique Heintz.
“It will be our return to prototypes and we are already familiar with the ELMS as we took part in it in 2012. Besides the 24 Hours of Le Mans’s preparation, we will also have the opportunity to fight for the first place overall and our partners are essentially from Europe. Last year, the championship proved to be very attractive, with great on-track battles.
“This decision is all the more logical as it allows us to line-up the Audi R8 LMS ultra in a second programme alongside the French GT Championship. With that car we will be participating in both a sprint series and a more endurance style series. It is very interesting not only for our technical crew which will complete its field of action, but also for our partners. And we are aware that the Audi R8 LMS ultra is reliable in both competition styles ! The team’s third season promises to be simply fascinating.”
