LMP2 class leaders OAK Racing will be travelling to Sao Paulo for this weekend’s fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship with its usual strong driver line up plus the addition of Nissan Global Ambassador Keiko Ihara in the No.45 entry.
The French team has announced that the No.45 Morgan Nissan will run in its Art Car livery and that the car will boost the team’s forces until the end of the season. Keiko Ihara from Japan will back up the crew of Jacques Nicolet and Jean-Marc Merlin in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, and remain with the team until the end of the 2013 seaon.
The team’s other Morgan Nissans will appear in their traditional black and pink and will be driven by their usual trios: Frenchman Olivier Pla, Alex Brundle from England and Dane David Heinemeier Hansson (No. 24); Bertrand Baguette from Belgium, Englishman Martin Plowman and Ricardo Gonzalez from Mexico (No. 35).
Sébastien Philippe, Team Manager OAK Racing: “The whole OAK Racing team is both proud and delighted to welcome Keiko Ihara from Japan, who has had an atypical career and is the only woman driver in the WEC, for the remaining races of the season, which are all taking place outside Europe. Keiko is backed by Nissan and this can only help to strengthen our ties with this manufacturer whose engines we appreciate very much because of their performance. I’m sure that Keiko will do her very best to be a credit to her partners, her country and her predecessors.
"She will be the third Japanese driver to join us after Sinji Nakano and Takuma Sato, which serves to underline the strong links our team enjoys with Asia in general and Japan in particular; and also our determination to expand our activities on the international scene. Maybe next year we’ll have a Brazilian driver. Who knows?”
Keiko Ihara, No. 45 Morgan Nissan LMP2: "It is a great honour and pleasure to join the OAK Racing team to participate in the rest of the WEC season. I am really looking forward to driving with the team. Mr Sebastien Philippe, the team principal, used to drive the Nissan GT-R in Japan as one of the top drivers. I am sure that his abundant experience and knowledge will be of great help to me. I will try to get on the podium in the Brazilian round this weekend and in my home country, Japan, together with my team-mate, Mr Jacques Nicolet, and all members of the OAK Racing squad. I would like to thank all the people who have given me very strong support to secure my drive with the team: NISSAN, NISMO, my sponsors and supporters. I will do my best to score great results!"
Quotes from OAK Racing press release
Fiona Miller
Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, FRANCE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, PRACTICE, THURSDAY 20TH JUNE 2013. The No.45 Art Car-liveried OAK Racing Morgan Nissan LMP2 entry.
