Youth of today, stars of tomorrow
The FIA World Endurance Championship will return to action this weekend for the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium (Saturday, 15th August) with a field of 30 cars and 87 drivers.
While the manufacturer led LMP1 and LMGTE Pro classes tend to opt for experience over youth, there are 16 drivers through the field aged 25 or younger, notably in the LMP2 and GTE Am categories.
Youngest in the field is 19-year-old Lucas Legeret, competing this weekend for Dempsey Proton Racing in the No.88 Porsche 911 RSR and making his debut in the WEC. The young Swiss driver is in good company alongside Dutchman Job van Uitert, Briton Phil Hanson and Italian Riccardo Pera who are all 21 and who are forging a great name for themselves in the world championship and beyond.
France’s Thomas Laurent and Gabriel Aubry plus Laurents Hörr from Germany (all 22 years of age) have placed themselves on a solid career path in international endurance racing and attracted interest from manufacturers – a goal for all young drivers. Ross Gunn (23), Charlie Eastwood (25) and Andrew Watson (25) are all part of the Aston Martin Racing factory programme, while Matt Campbell (25) is a Porsche GT Works driver and Kenta Yamashita (25) is a member of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC Challenge Program.
The opportunities in the WEC are endless for the youth of today to become the stars of tomorrow!
