Jack Aitken joins Racing Team Turkey for the TF Sport-operated team’s return to the LMP2 Pro-Am class of the European Le Mans Series for 2022 with Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood on board for a second consecutive season in the teams #34 Oreca 07 Gibson.
The 26-year old British-Korean driver made his Formula One debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix at Bahrain in 2020, substituting for George Russell after he was promoted to drive for Mercedes following a positive Covid-19 test for Lewis Hamilton.
Aitken, whose racing cv includes race-winning form in both GP3 and F2 in recent seasons, spent a part season in 2021 with Emil Frey Racing aboard their Lamborghini Huracan GT3 effort until his season was curtailed during the Spa 24 Hours by a multi-car accident at Raidillon that left him with injuries including a broken collar bone and fractured vertebra and this season, Aitken will step into a Prototype for the very first time.
2021 was a successful first year in the LMP2 class for both Yoluc and Eastwood, as they notched up an overall pole position, class win and multiple podium finishes. They proved pace in both themselves and the Racing Team Turkey Oreca, and now with the addition of Aitken, the TF Sport-run entry will be pushing to claim the Pro-Am title with a full season of LMP2 experience under their belts.
The first round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series takes place at Paul Ricard, France, where Racing Team Turkey will contest in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
All races throughout the season will be streamed live, and for free via the ELMS YouTube channel.
Tom Ferrier, Team Owner – “Now we have a year of running the LMP2 under us, we are confident that we can greatly improve on last season’s results. Jack is a great asset to add to the line-up and alongside Salih and Charlie, I’m sure he can have a successful prototype debut. We were in contention for the LMP2 Pro-Am title for the majority of last season and we will be pushing even harder this year to take that fight to the final round.”
Salih Yoluc, Bronze Driver: “I can’t wait to get back into the seat of the Racing Team Turkey LMP2! We had a strong debut season with a race win and podiums, but I know we can improve on that this year! It’s great to bring Jack to the team and with his pace and racing experience, we will be looking for podiums from the off.”
Charlie Eastwood, Gold Driver: “Really happy to be back with Racing Team Turkey. Last year was a big learning curve for us all, with the team and driver line-up in LMP2, versus the GT cars. So it’s great to have a year under our belts and hopefully we can hit the ground running a lot faster than last year, with the experience we’ve now got. It’s a strong line-up and we have a good chance to go for the championship.”
Jack Aitken, Gold Driver: “Delighted to make my debut in both ELMS and LMP2 with Racing Team Turkey this year. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while and a championship that I’ve been watching. It’s really exciting to be joining Salih and Charlie and to get in a car that clearly has pace, we can definitely compete for podiums and wins. I’m looking forward to getting started and seeing what we can do.”
