Following G-Drive Racing’s announcement this morning about the exit of Nathanaël Berthon from its driver line up, the Russian team – which is managed by JOTA Sport – has announced Will Stevens as the replacement in the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 05 Nissan.
The young British driver moves on loan from Manor from the No.44 ORECA to join Roman Rusinov and Rene Rast to make his debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Stevens will return to the Manor team for the rest of the 2016 WEC season.
Stevens will be replaced in the No.44 Manor entry by another of the British team’s WEC regulars, Roberto Merhi, who is another newcomer to the famous La Sarthe classic. The Spaniard will be driving alongside Tor Graves and Matthew Rao.
Will Stevens said: “The offer to join G-Drive specifically for Le Mans and share the car with Rene and Roman was compelling. My partnership with Rene at WRT Audi [in the Blancpain GT Series] is working well and, with his and Roman’s experience in this race, it offered me a race-winning opportunity which I’m pleased to accept. I’m grateful to the Manor WEC Team for releasing me for this occasion and we will continue to work together for the remainder of their first season in endurance racing.”
