Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s driver line-up for the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans features a surprise inclusion, as Tristan Vautier (pictured above, making a one-off appearance in the 2024 IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix) will make his first start in an Acura ARX-06.
The Frenchman will drive the #93 MSR Acura alongside regular drivers Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly, while the #60 MSR Acura will have its regular endurance line-up of Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Scott Dixon – who won last year’s Petit Le Mans for Cadillac, joined by van der Zande and Sébastien Bourdais.
Vautier ran earlier this year at Daytona and Sebring in the #5 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Since then, the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring overall winner and 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge Champion has been racing full-time in the European Le Mans Series, driving for CLX-Pure Rxcing.
The 36-year-old Frenchman steps into the #93 Acura as its third driver for Petit, a role that was occupied by Álex Palou and Kakunoshin Ohta earlier this year.
Palou’s upcoming civil court case against McLaren for an alleged breach of contract has left the four-time IndyCar Series Champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner unavailable for Petit Le Mans on Saturday, 11 October. As for Ohta, Petit Le Mans clashes with the next double-header round of the Super Formula Championship at Fuji Speedway.
Acura is currently seven points behind Porsche in the IMSA GTP Manufacturers’ Championship and could take the title if one of its two cars finishes ahead of any of the Porsche 963s.
Feature image © Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
