24H Series British GT Championship European Le Mans Series IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

The EGT Friday Sportscar Round-Up (17.03.17)

Photo Above: United Autosports

With the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the 24H SERIES 12H Mugello this weekend, The Prologue to the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship just over a week away and the European Le Mans Series test at Monza the following week, the 2017 endurance and GT-racing season is bursting into life.

As a result, this week saw announcements concerning, amongst others, the Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup, the European Le Mans Series and the British GT Championship.

United Autosports started the week with the announcement that race team owner, driver, businessman and former professional baseball player CJ Wilson and compatriot Andrew Evans will be joining the team for an assault on the 2017 Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup. Wilson retired from professional baseball at the age of 36 and now owns a substantial automotive dealership business, amongst other businesses.

“My goal is to develop as a driver and climb the ranks,” said Wilson. “United Autosports has proven they can win at develop drivers. Andrew and I decided that this is a huge opportunity to get across the Atlantic and challenge ourselves with an incredible platform in LMP3.”

Read the full story on EnduranceandGT.co.uk here.

Century Motorsport confirmed its entries in the GT4 class of the 2017 British GT Championship. Anna Walewska will be returning the team to partner highly-experienced Ginetta driver Mike Simpson. The sister car will feature two names new to the British GT Championship but both are experienced endurance racers. Stephen Fresle and Dane Jacob Mathiassen, who competed in the Britcar Endurance series in 2016, will pilot Century Motorsport’s second entry in the GT4 class.

“It’s great to be back in British GT with Century Motorsport after our success last year,” said Anna Walewska. “I am excited to race with Mike Simpson who has so much experience to bring to the team. Together we will be a fierce driver pairing and I can’t wait to see how the season unfolds.”

Read the full story on EnduranceandGT.co.uk here.

In the European Le Mans Series, which opens at Silverstone on April 15, Panis-Barthez Compétition has announced its driver line-ups for its LMP2 and LMP3 entries. Nathanaël Berthon, Fabien Barthez and Timothé Buret will pilot the Ligier JS P217 in the LMP2 class while Eric Debard, Simon Gacher and young American driver Theo Bean will form the driving line-up for the team’s Ligier JS P3.

Team Principal Olivier Panis said: “I am very happy to start our program. The arrival of the new Ligier JS P217 in LMP2 is going to make us reach a turning point in terms of technical and physical performance. It will also require a higher level of driving. That is why we wished to have a driver with solid experience in Endurance by Fabien and Timothé’s sides and Nathanaël Berthon meets this requirement.”

Read the full story here.

At G-Drive by DragonSpeed, Léo Roussel has been confirmed as the third full-season driver for its ORECA 07, joining Memo Rojas and Ryo Hirakawa. The young Frenchman completes the two–car European Le Mans Series effort for the team who will also be racing under the 10Star DragonSpeed banner for its second car, to be driven by Henrik Hedman, Nicolas Lapierre and Ben Hanley.

You can read the full story here.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship enters its second round this weekend with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fuelled By Fresh From Florida. The flag drops for the start of the US classic at 10:40 local time (06:40 GMT for UK fans). Click here for the provisional entry list.

Also racing this weekend is the 24H SERIES 12H Mugello. The first six-hour session starts at 14:00 local time. The excellent live-timing screen can be accessed here.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re racing and watching, have a great sportscar weekend!