Van der Garde to contest Le Mans with JOTA
Giedo van der Garde will make his debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours with JOTA Sport this year, also joining the team for a full-time European Le Mans Series campaign.
Photo by: XPB Images
The ex-Caterham Formula 1 driver will make his La Sarthe bow behind the wheel of JOTA's Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2, alongside Simon Dolan and Arden GP3 driver Jake Dennis as part of its new alliance with the single-seater squad.
The trio will also contest the preceding World Endurance Championship round at Spa together, while van der Garde and Dolan will embark on a full ELMS assault along with an as-yet unnamed third driver.
April's ELMS round at Silverstone, which takes place on the same weekend as the WEC curtain-raiser, will therefore mark van der Garde's endurance racing debut.
“In F1 I was competing in the highest level of motorsport, but with Caterham there wasn’t a real possibility to win races," said the Dutchman.
"Now with JOTA there is, and again at a high level of racing.
"To win the 24 hours of Le Mans isn’t even a dream; it’s my goal. I am very pleased to sign with such an established and proven team as JOTA Sport.
"This is a new chapter for me going in to endurance racing and I am sure it will be an enjoyable one."
Dolan, who finished third in ELMS last season alongside Harry Tincknell and Filipe Albuquerque, added: "I am very much looking forward to sharing a car with Giedo this season.
"He has a very strong pedigree in racing and I am sure he will be a great asset to the team.
"From what I have heard he has already made a good impression at the workshop and it is evident he is hungry to forge a good career in endurance racing."
JOTA will also contest the LMP2 class in WEC full-time in 2016, but has yet to confirm the driver line-up for its newly-acquired Oreca 05.
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