2013 FIA World Endurance LMP2 Champion, OAK Racing, is returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with a view to repeating its class victory of 12 months ago. However, instead of its Morgan chassis, the team’s new Ligier JS P2-Nissan will be making its debut on 1st June at the Le Mans Test Day.
The No.35 LMP2 entry will be in the hands of OAK Racing regular Alex Brundle and former Nissan GT Academy winners Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy, while the No.33 will be crewed by a 100% Chinese line up representing the team’s involvement in the Asian Le Mans Series. The Nissan GT Academy programme has in recent years successfully fast-tracked several drivers from the gaming station to the race track.
British driver Jann Mardenborough made his debut in the FIA WEC’s third round at Le Mans last year in a Greaves Zytek-Nissan, and made an immediate impression. He and his team mates finished 4th on track but were promoted to third in the final classifications.
Mark Shulzhitskiy of Russia, who raced in the FIA WEC’s 6 Hours of Shanghai last year, also in a Greaves Zytek-Nissan, will be a newcomer to Le Mans this year but has been part of the Onroak Automotive development programme for the new Ligier JS P2.
The two youngsters aged 23 and 25 respectively can count on the talent and experience of their team-mate, Alex Brundle. Although he is still young, the 24-year-old British driver has already built up considerable experience in LMP2 prototypes in endurance with two outings at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Together with Olivier Pla, he has been an official development driver for the new car which, for Le Mans, will carry the colours of Russian partner, G-Drive.
Alex Brundle: “I'm delighted OAK Racing will be welcoming Jann and Mark to the team for our Le Mans challenge this year. Both are exceptional talents with prototype experience so a big thanks to Nissan for making them available to us for the 24H. It is a pleasure to again represent Nissan in top class competition on what will be a big day for Onroak Automotive, Ligier, Nissan, and all of the drivers.”
Jann Mardenborough: “Le Mans will always be special to me. I was taken there as a GT Academy finalist in 2011 when Lucas made his debut and then I returned as a racing driver in 2013. Most of my racing is in single-seaters these days [in the GP3 championship] and that is teaching me so much about the craft of being a racing driver. I can’t wait to get back to Le Mans and get stuck in again.”
Mark Shulzhitskiy: “I am very much enjoying my role in the tests programme for the Ligier JS P2. Working with the engineers at Onroak Automotive and alongside Olivier Pla has been an incredible experience for me. Now it is going to get even better as it is finally my turn to race at Le Mans. This is what the winners of GT Academy dream about, so I hope I can live up to the performance of the winners who have gone before me.”
Quotes from OAK Racing press release
Photos: Top - OAK Racing's new Ligier JS P2; bottom - Mark Shulzhitskiy who will drive the No.35 LMP2 entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Alex Brundle and Jann Mardenborough.
