United’s Siegel called up for IndyCar Series duty
It’s been a hectic weekend for United Autosports LMP2 driver Nolan Siegel, who is currently taking part in the IndyCar meeting at Road America before jetting across the pond to compete at Le Mans.
Originally Siegel was down to compete in the Indy NXT support series, where he is fighting to for the title with HMD Motorsports. However, he has since withdrawn from that race due to a call-up to the headline IndyCar Series to compete with Juncos Hollinger Racing in its #78 Chevy in place of Agustin Canapino.
This change came on short notice after Canapino was stood down by the team after death threats were directed at Arrow McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire after his fans. The abuse came after Pourchaire hit Canapino’s car during last weekend’s race in Detroit.
Siegel is not the only driver in the IndyCar paddock who will be making the long-haul flight from Road America to Le Mans after the weekend. Kyffin Simpson is also going to fly over for his LMP2 drive, as are Cadillac Racing’s Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.
Simpson, Dixon and Palou, who drive for Chip Ganassi Racing, were due to take part in a mandatory test at Milwaukee early next week, but due to the clash with the build-up to Le Mans, CGR has been given permission to complete the next month to allow its driver to travel.
The Ganassi drivers are expected to be on the ground in France on Tuesday.
New podium on show
The brand new, more expansive podium structure for the Le Mans 24 Hours winners was seen for the first time by DSC this afternoon.
It’s much larger than the previous podium, is angled more towards the crowd and features a large screen as its backdrop.
Hawksworth already present
Jack Hawksworth almost literally couldn’t have got to the airport quicker after hearing that he was going to be substituting Jose Maria Lopez at Le Mans. He is already here in France and ready to turn laps tomorrow.
Lopez’s switch from AKKODIS to Toyota Gazoo Racing was in response to Mike Conway’s withdrawal from the event after a cycling injury. And as it turned out the subsequent gap in the Lexus line-up wasn’t the only one that needed filling. Hawksworth’s call-up means there is a further race to be filled as the Briton was due to drive this weekend in Pilot Challenge at Mid Ohio aboard the #50 Hattori Motorsport Toyota Supra.
That niche has now been filled by fellow Vasser Sullivan Lexus driver Parker Thompson, who has been given the nod to drive the Supra.
Proton’s young guns
The #9 Proton Competition car features quite possibly one of the youngest driver combinations fielded at Le Mans. 24-year-old Bent Viscaal is joined by 19-year-old Jonas Ried and 18-year-old Maceo Capietto for an aggregate age in the car of only 61 years old – younger than John Hartshorne!
DSC caught up with Jonas Ried as the car went through Pesage this morning.
“I couldn’t imagine any better place!” Jonas said, excitedly.
“I’m a very, very lucky person. This is my second time here, so we hope to make it better than last year!”
Jonas raced last year in GTE-Am in the Proton Competition Porsche RSR with Harry Tinknell and Don Yount, and that car, unfortunately, didn’t make the finish.
Jonas was excited by the prospect of taking an LMP2 car around La Sarthe.
“I come from single seaters, so it feels more natural to be dealing with the downforce and power. The car is a bit lower, so you really feel the bumps up and down the track.
“Last year, it was good to start in the GT car. But I will be a bit more experienced this time, but still new around this place.
“So it’ll be new, but at the same time it will be nothing new!”
Jonas is of course the son of Proton Competition director and long-time WEC competitor Christian Ried. With Jonas on the grid, it continues a 14-edition streak of the Ried name competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But Jonas was clear that he was not here to follow in his father’s legacy.
“I’m doing it for myself, not for anyone else,” Jonas said. “And I’m not going to get any pressure from the family. There’s a name, but I’m my own person.
“I want the world for myself, and not for anyone else.”
Teens on the grid
The youngest driver in this year’s entry list, at a whopping 18 years and 36 days come the start of the 24 Hours next Saturday, is Spirit Of Race’s Conrad Laursen.
“It’s a crazy thing!” Conrad said on being the youngest driver in the field. “It’s a weird feeling. As a racing driver, I feel very comfortable. I know my age is very young, but I feel confident in my ability and I feel ready for the race.”
“Le Mans is a huge race – it’s always the goal of yours when you’re starting karting.
“So to finally be here, and to be here with my dad as well, it makes it more special.”
The Spirit Of Race #155 Ferrari is being fielded by Formula Racing after the late withdrawal of Duncan Cameron. It’s been a scramble, but Formula Racing look ready to make their second Le Mans start.
For Conrad, in his first race, it’s special. And, it’s special to share it with his father.
“It feels amazing. Last season was our first season together. I was in Formula cars before, and my Dad’s dream was always to drive with me.
“So I asked him if he was interested in doing it before he got too old – to do some years in GT with him. And I’ve been very thankful to have these years with him.
“And doing the race here together is always a big goal. So we’re going to enjoy it, and hopefully have a good result.”
New liveries from Proton and DKR on show
Two new liveries were on show today for the first time. The first was the #99 Proton Porsche, which is sporting a revised FATurbo Express livery, with green accents.
The second was the DKR ORECA, which will race as an ‘Art Car’ this year. It looks stunning both in the flesh and through the lens.
#155 In Formula Racing Colours
The #155 Spirit of Race Ferrari is crewed by father and Son Johnny and Conrad Laursen, together with Jordan Taylor after the withdrawal of Duncan Cameron’s crew.
Unsurprisingly then the #155 has switched from Cameron’s British Racing Green Livery to the regular ELMS, burgundy-based colour scheme of Laursen’s Formula racing effort, the base colour matching a classic Ferrari owned by Johnny!
Vanthoors on tour
With Laurens Vanthoor aboard the championship-leading Porsche Penske #6 963 and brother Dries Vanthoor driving for BMW in its M Hybrid V8 effort, it’s a highly unusual and possibly unique family connection in the top class, with two siblings racing for two factory teams at Le Mans.
Catching up with Laurens at Le Pesage this morning, DSC learned that Dries had driven the pair to Le Mans and amongst the tasks to perform during a busy race week were some interesting potential additions to their Over The Limit Podcast, with Nick Tandy first on the wishlist. Laurens expressed doubt that their other major target would be delivered.
“I am hoping that Dries can produce one of his guys, but he hasn’t done so far! We’ve been waiting for Rossi since the beginning of the season, but no luck yet.”
Tincknell, Proton bullish ahead of first Le Mans Hypercar start
Proton Competition’s new-look 963 and the team in the garage are ready for action. The family-run German team is looking to build on its impressive performance at Spa, during which it led a considerable chunk of the race and was in the mix for a podium finish before the red flag.
Harry Tincknell, who is back with the team after being forced to watch the Spa race from afar due to an IMSA clash, said it was fun but hard watching on TV.
“I really wanted to be there!” he admitted to DSC. “The team and drivers executed so well and it was amazing to see how far we’ve come. In general, we are preparing for events better now. For instance, we did a session on the Multimatic sim in Detroit before Spa and that was really useful to get us started with a setup. And we’ve done that again for this race.
“We just want to be the underdogs, quietly going about our business. That’s how we will get a good result.”
For Proton, the Test Day tomorrow is set to be especially important, as it has not been able to go testing in private this year. It will push to complete as many laps as possible as it has yet to turn a lap with the 963 on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
“We haven’t tested since Qatar, but for us it’s created an underdog spirit,” Tincknell said. “You see online other teams going testing here, there and everywhere and then we rock up and are quick straight away. But on this occasion, we will test with everyone else. We’ve seen what happens when things are stacked against us, so it will be interesting to see what we do on a level playing field.”
Pier Guidi not expecting Ferrari to be as quick
Both Ferrari AF Corse crews carry extra motivation with them in Le Mans after a rollercoaster ride of a start to the season.
Alessandro Pier Guidi, who proudly returns to the event as an overall winner as part of the #51 crew, feels it could be a different story this year, with the new “Two Stage” BoP system in play and no tyre warmers this time around.
“Statistically, it’s so difficult to win twice in a row,” he said. “It’s nice to come back as a winner but we need to forget what we did and try to repeat last year’s result if we can. I don’t think expect to be as quick as last year, I think Toyota and Porsche will be quick here. After the Test Day we hope it will be easier to understand where we are. We believe it will be a fight between three or more manufacturers.”
Specifically on tyre warmers, Pier Guidi and the other Ferrari drivers continue to express safety concerns, a year on from the re-introduction of tyre warmers for Le Mans after multiple high-profile incidents at Spa in cool temperatures trackside.
“The only difference (compared to last year) for us is safety,” he told DSC. “I hope the weather is warm because then it won’t be a big issue. But it will be if it is cool or damp. The problem is you have long straights, few corners, not a lot of energy, so it will take a long time to heat the tyres, longer than every other circuit.”
Road Run a huge success
With scrutineering wrapped up by mid-afternoon, the next significant item on the schedule was the road run.
It featured 17 of the cars on the entry and the 1924 winning Bentley 3 Litre Sport, which completed a lap of the city centre.
The turnout was huge and made for some superb images.
