Brendon Hartley to return to WEC with SMP Racing
While it was probably not a huge surprise to see Russian Sergey Sirotkin recently confirmed at SMP Racing, the news of Brendon Hartley’s place in the line-up will delight many, and maybe even surprise a few.
The 2015 and 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion will be making a welcome return to the WEC to replace Jenson Button in the 1000 Miles of Sebring and TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The New Zealander will be competing in the No.11 BR Engineering BR1-AER alongside Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov.
Hartley, 29, spent 2018 competing in F1 but brings to SMP Racing a huge amount of relevant endurance racing experience from his time with the Porsche LMP1 team and prior to that in the ELMS.
Brendon Hartley added: “I’m very pleased to join SMP Racing for the next two WEC races at Sebring and Spa. The team have all the tools and a great driver roster so I think we have a big opportunity to fight for podiums. It marks my return to the WEC and I’m really looking forward to being back in the paddock amongst many familiar faces.”
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Sirotkin has had a long working relationship with SMP. He told Autosport UK: “I am very glad that I have the honour of defending the colours of the Russian flag on the Russian prototype as part of the Russian SMP Racing team in the World Endurance Championship.”
