Iron Lynx Enter JS2R
Iron Lynx make a first time entry in the Ligier European Series in 2024 with a single JS2R entered in conjunction with LR Dynamic Events, with two young rookies coming from karting.
Second generation racer Matteo Pianezzola joins Gregorio Bertocco in the familiarly bright yellow Ligier.
M Racing Returns With Cindy Gudet
Yvan Muller’s M Racing is back in the Ligier European Series with a Ligier JS2 R, the #53, for multiple French Hill Climb Champion Cindy Gudet. The first female driver entered for a complete season in the championship and ambassador of the FFSA’s feminisation plan is ready to embark on circuit racing.
Having competed in the Ligier European Series for the first three seasons, Yvan Muller and Justine Monnier’s team is back in the championship in 2024 after a season away. Champion of the JS2 R category in 2021 then runner-up in the JS P4 category in 2022 with Natan Bihel, M Racing team will enter a single Ligier JS2 R in 2024.
The 28-year-old driver from the Ain region of France already holds six French Hill Climb Champion titles and has been an Ambassador for the FFSA’s feminisation plan since 2023.
At the end of 2023, she entered the Elite category of the Andros Trophy with Yvan Muller’s team, which has ten titles to its credit. It was a promising first collaboration, which included a podium finish at the Lans en Vercors event.
“We are delighted to continue our adventure with Cindy,” explains Justine Monnier. “We discovered her in the Andros Trophy this winter. She impressed us with her maturity, motivation and, above all, race craft. M Racing’s DNA has always been one of transmission, so it was natural for us to give Cindy a chance on the racetrack. Our team principal, Yvan Muller, wanted to accompany and coach her on this new adventure. With the help of InVivo, Ligier, the FFSA and Michelin, we can offer her a season in the Ligier European Series. We know this championship well, having competed in it for several years, and we felt that it is a wonderful platform for her to showcase her talents and develop over the coming years.”
“I am delighted to continue my development alongside Yvan, Justine and the entire M Racing team,” comments Cindy Gudet. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me to draw on their experience and expertise to transition from hill climbing to circuit racing. I’m also lucky enough to be supported by InVivo, which, after the Andros Trophy, allows me to embark on this new adventure with the support of M Racing, Michelin, the FFSA, Ligier and my current partners. The Ligier European Series is an excellent introduction to endurance racing and a chance to learn how to drive on a circuit. It’s also a gateway to the higher categories of the endurance pyramid. My aim for this first season is to work hard and gain as much experience as possible.”
Four In 2024 For Pegasus Racing
Pegasus Racing has strengthened its line-up for the 2024 season with four cars entered for year five of the championship: three Ligier JS2 Rs and one Ligier JS P4.
The team has been a fixture in the European series since 2022 and has gone from strength to strength each year. From one Ligier JS2 R and one Ligier JS P4 in its maiden campaign, the Julien Schell-led French team expanded to three cars last season (two Ligier JS P4s and one Ligier JS2 R). The team’s highlight of the season was its fine third-place finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans centenary race.
In 2024, the team continues to build on its success. It will enter four cars: three Ligier JS2 Rs and a Ligier JS P4.
On the GT side, series newcomer Louis Stern will be in the #18 car. It will be his first complete season in competition.
Behind the wheel of the #29 Ligier JS2 R, a very special driver: Julien Schell. It won’t be a first for the Team Owner and Team Manager of Pegasus Racing. After discovering the series in 2020 in a Ligier JS P4, he has since had the opportunity to race several times in a Ligier JS2 R and Ligier JS P4. In 2024, he will now run the full 2024 schedule.
A third Ligier JS2 R will join Pegasus’s ranks from round two of the championship, which will be held at the Le Castellet circuit in early May.
On the sports-prototype front, Japan’s Yuki Tanaka returns for his second entire campaign. The gentleman driver will be in the #16 Ligier JS P4.
Julien Schell, Team Owner & Team Manager of Pegasus Racing, driver of the #29 Ligier JS2 R: “We’re delighted to be back for our third year in the Ligier European Series, a series that suits us well in terms of its calendar and schedule, in addition to the friendly atmosphere that reigns between all the participants. We will enter three cars for the season, with a fourth joining us at Le Castellet. Yuki Tanaka has put his faith in us again and will be back in the #16 Ligier JS P4. Louis Stern, a newcomer to the JS2 R category in the #18 car, is very much looking forward to his first full campaign. The fourth car will be disclosed soon, enabling the team to grow further. We’ve got a great season ahead of us, and our team is in the starting blocks! I’m also thrilled, on a personal note, as a driver because I’ll also be among those participating this season with the #29 JS2 R.”
Team Virage Confirm First Two 2024 Entry
Team Virage has dominated the JS P4 category for the past two seasons with Champions Gillian Henrion in 2022 and Mihnea Stefan last season and returns to the Ligier European Series for a third consecutive season with at least two Ligier JS P4s with the first confirmed with a young British duo Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris.
“After our successes in 2022 and 2023, we have worked hard to build a team capable of repeating this performance in 2024. Theo and Haydn certainly have the potential to do it,” explains Julien Gerbi, Team Principal of Team Virage. “Despite their young age, they are both very mature and already have racing experience. Their raw speed is solid, so it will be up to us to develop it on the track and turn it into a winning combination.”
Haydn Chance and Theo Micouris both hail from the Radical championships. Last year, the former won the Radical World Finals at Portimão in 2023, while the latter won the British Radical Cup.
“I can’t wait for the season to start, and I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a successful team,” says Haydn Chance. “Theo and I make a good pair because we already have a good relationship that should work to our advantage. I look forward to our success together. We have big goals for this year, and we will achieve them. Let’s go! “
Theo Micouris added: “I’m delighted to join Team Virage for the 2024 Ligier European Series season. After a successful test with the team in January, I think we have a fantastic base to build on. We had a great season last year, and the objective remains the same, with the title in our sights. I’m looking forward to racing on the Barcelona track and being up to the task from the outset!”
The team’s second JS P4 features an all-Colombian crew of Pedro Juan Moreno and Jeronimo Berrio. The team will field a third Ligier JS P4, the #32, whose crew will be announced shortly.
Pedro Juan Moreno is a 16-year-old from Medellin, began his career in karting and TC Junior Colombia before making a successful debut in the FIA Formula 4 Nacam Championship in 2023. The Colombian prodigy finished first in the championship with an impressive track record. In the 18 races contested, he scored 11 wins, 15 podiums, 4 pole positions and 13 fastest race laps.
“For me, it’s a great source of pride to be racing with a 100% Colombian team and representing my country in Europe,” confides Pedro Juan Moreno. “I’ve known Jeronimo since I started karting. He’s a very good driver and we’ve been rivals in several categories. We’ve had some very tough races. But now we find ourselves again, and this time, on the same side. And we’ve seen that we can complement each other very well in an endurance sport-prototype dynamic. It’s a new challenge because of the format. But it’s also a great opportunity to race with Team Virage. It’s a team with a long track record of success, both in racing and in driver training.”
Jeronimo Berrio a 17-year-old driver from Bogota, also took his first laps in karting before moving to Formula 4 in 2022 in France, where he scored four podiums and one victory. In 2023, he competed in the Spanish F4 championship but had to interrupt his season prematurely.
“I’m very excited to be racing again,” exclaims Jeronimo Berrio. “I wasn’t able to finish my season last year, but my dream is still alive and I’m going to keep working to achieve it. It’s a new path. I am looking forward to starting this new stage of my career in a new world such as endurance racing. It’s a world that will allow me to gain experience as a driver, as it’s a totally different format to what I’m used to with single-seaters. It’s also a category with a great future and which is developing rapidly. For me, it’s a fantastic opportunity to be part of a team of Team Virage’s renown and to be able to share a car with a driver like Pedro Juan. I’ve known him for several years and he has a lot of potential. We are a winning duo and 100% Colombian. We share a passion and a desire to achieve great success in international motorsport!”
RLR MSport Return
RLR MSport will also return to the Ligier European Series in 2024 with JS P4 prototype for Mexico’s Ian Aguilera.
Aguilera continues for a second season with the team after sharing a JSP4 with 2022 JS2R Champion Haytham Qarajouli.
ANS Motorsport Bring A Car In Each Class
After a successful season last year, the ANS Motorsport team returns for the 2024 season, its second in the Ligier European Series. The 2023 Ligier JS2 R category champions will race to defend their title. But it will also attempt to claim the crown in the sport-prototype category with a Ligier JS P4 for the first time.
In 2023, ANS Motorsport won the JS 2R team and driver championships with Julien Lemoine, who will compete in the LMP3 category this year with a Ligier JS P320.
“After a double podium finish in the opening round of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2022, and a first full season topped by the title of JS2 R Champion in 2023, we are really happy to be back this season with two cars”, explains Nicolas Schatz, Team Owner.
Iko Segret will drive the Ligier JS P4. The 16-year-old French teenager began his karting career in the United Arab Emirates in the IAME championship (tied for 3rd in the standings) and then in Rotax Emirates (5th in the standings). Iko returned to France to compete in the Ultimate Cup Series, scoring several victories and podiums in his category.
“I chose the Ligier JS P4 to gain more experience in a sports prototype,” explains Iko Segret. “My goal is to finish among the top finishers in the Ligier JS P4 standings and then head to the Michelin Le Mans Cup and continue my career in endurance racing.”
Another French driver, 33-year-old Clément Moreno, will be at the commands of the ANS Motorsport Ligier JS2 R. He began racing in karts at 20 years of age and spent two years on the track before taking a break for professional reasons. He returned to the action in 2022, in the Lamera Cup France (one pole, one win and a second place).
“I tested the Ligier JS2 R with ANS Motorsport at Aragon and immediately liked the car’s balance, performance and grip. I think it’s the best choice to start a real career as a gentleman driver, eager to learn and develop my skills,” says Clément Moreno. “I hope to follow the same trajectory as Julien Lemoine, learn quickly, and why not win the championship. Then I’ll stay with the ACO and move on to the LMP series.”
“Like Julien Lemoine, the 2023 Ligier European Series Champion in the JS2 R class and now an LMP3 driver, the DNA of the ANS Motorsport team is to support drivers in the realisation of their projects,” concludes Nicolas Schatz. “We do everything we can, humanly, materially and instructively, to accelerate their progress and climb the endurance ladder. Sharing the same passion and values as the ACO, we are determined to intensify our commitment.”
ASM Motorsport Enter JS P4
Founded in 2006, ASM Motorsport initially focused on building and maintaining rally and circuit cars, as well as managing motorsport events around the world. Led by Alex Sabater, the team turned a corner in 2017 by embarking on the design of its own competition products, followed by the construction of a lightweight prototype vehicle for cross-country rallies, the ORYX T3.
Today, while the manufacturing of its vehicles continues, ASM Motorsport is opening a new chapter: endurance racing. It will join the Ligier European Series in the sport-prototype category for the 2024 season.
“We are excited to start this new program within the company as this is the first ladder of endurance racing, which we aim to climb higher,” comments Alex Sabater, Team Owner of ASM Motorsport. “We are fully focusing our motorsport activities on the construction of our own vehicles for cross country events, and endurance circuit racing, both very opposite to each other but easy and great to complement and combine within our organisation. We are also very grateful to André Vieira for having put all his trust in us, we are going to work and grow together with great races and great results.”
Aged just 16, André Vieira drove his first kart at the age of nine. At fifteen, the Portuguese driver took the wheel of his first Formula Renault before giving Formula 4 a try in the Spanish championship. In 2023, he concentrated on Formula 4 racing in his native country and competed in the iconic Caramulo Motor Festival hill climb, taking second place in the single-seater category.
“We chose the Ligier European Series because we believe it offers a highly competitive and challenging environment for my development as a driver”, explains André Vieira. “The series also provides an excellent opportunity to race at internationally renowned circuits. For this first season, we want to achieve the best possible ranking. I also want to continue to improve my driving skills. In the long run, we want this season to serve as a gateway to other categories
