Photo: Sean Gelael
The start of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Asian leg in Fuji will see a significant shake-up in the LMP2 field, but none more noticeable than at Extreme Speed Motorsports.
The American team will have an all-new line-up and livery aboard its No. 30 Ligier JS P2-Nissan, with Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown stepping aside for Sean Gelael, Antonio Giovinazzi and Giedo van der Garde.
Both Gelael and Giovinazzi are rookies in the WEC. Nineteen-year-old Gelael will become the first Indonesian to compete in the championship, but is not entirely new to prototypes with prior experience of racing in the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series, also alongside Giovanazzi.
The pair won both races they contested together in Asia with Eurasia Motorsport’s ORECA 03R, although the Ligier JS P2 coupé will be a very different proposition to the open-top ORECA. Having stepped up from the FIA F3 European Championship, Geleal is also contesting his first season of GP2 with Campos in 2016, with a best finish so far of second at the Red Bull Ring in July.
Photo: Antonio Giovinazzi
Twenty-two-year-old Giovinazzi is one of the sport’s rising stars and currently the leader of the GP2 championship with one round to go, having scored five wins in his first season for Prema Powerteam.
A team-mate of Gelael in Formula 3, where he added victory at the prestigious Zandvoort Masters to his CV, the Italian became the first man since 2012 to win two races on the same weekend at Baku in June. He also delighted his home crowd with another victory at Monza last month.
Giovinazzi’s performances caught the attention of Audi, who called him up to replace Timo Scheider at Moscow in DTM last year.
Giedo van der Garde is the most experienced of the trio and the only man to have competed in the WEC before.
The 31-year-old Dutchman, a champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 series in 2008, is contesting the full European Le Mans Series with G-Drive Racing and already has three podiums to his name, including a victory on his debut at Silverstone.
Photo: Giedo van der Garde
Van der Garde made his WEC bow at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in preparation for Le Mans, finishing sixth in the LMP2 class. Although his first taste of La Sarthe was frustratingly cut short, retiring from the race while on course for a podium, the ex-Caterham Formula 1 driver enjoyed the experience immensely and will surely return for another crack at endurance racing’s jewel in the crown as he pursues the next chapter of his career in prototypes.
Images with thanks to Jakob Ebrey Photography
