The circuit

The home of British Motor Racing, the circuit of Silverstone (Northamptonshire) was once an airfield and RAF base. Today’s race track is 5.901-kilometres or 3.66 miles long and comprises fast corners and long straights. This weekend it will once more play host to the two major endurance series, the ELMS and the WEC.

The field

With the ELMS season at the halfway stage, G-Drive racing is well ahead of the others, with two wins at Monza and Red Bill Ring. Racing Engineering won at Le Castellet. The last round in Austria boasted a 42-car line-up and the Silverstone grid will be just as strong this coming Saturday. The field comprises 16 LMP2s instead of 18 – with IDEC Sport Racing (#27 Ligier JS P217-Gibson) absent and TDS Racing (#33 Oreca 07-Gibson) competing in the WEC race on Sunday.

Nine points ahead, G-Drive Racing (#26 Oreca 07-Gibson crewed by Andrea Pizzitola, Roman Rusinov and Jean-Eric Vergne) has a comfortable lead over Racing Engineering and the #28 IDEC Sport, both on 24 points. Racing Engineering has a crew change to cover Olivier Pla’s absence due to a commitment with Ford in the WEC. Paul Petit, Norman Nato and Matthieu Vaxivière will be sharing the wheel of the #24 Oreca.

With Egor Orudzhev also competing in the WEC race this Sunday, SMP Racing #35 Dallara P217-Gibson driving duties fall to Viktor Shaytar and Matevos Issakyan. Briton Gary Findlay returns to ELMS in the G-Drive Racing #40 Oreca 07-Gibson. Last year’s winner United Autosports is another strong contender, with two Ligier JS P217-Gibsons in the field. 

With a new entry from Team Virage (Ligier JS P3, with Henning Enqvist and Jake Rattenbury), the LMP3 category has 19 cars. Winners in Austria and on home ground at Silverstone, RLR MSport lead the class by 4.5 points with the #15 Ligier JS P3-Nissan and crew Rob Garofall, John Farano and Job van Uitert. EuroInternational lies second. Crew-wise, the Swiss Christian Vaglio-Giors joins Lucas Borga and Iradj Alexander at the wheel of the Ligier JS P3 for Cool Racing. Frenchman Yann Clairay who took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006 and 2009 will be driving the #9 Ligier JS P3/AT and Romano Ricci returns to ELMS in the #19 Norma M30 fielded by Yvan Muller Racing alongside his WEC commitment with Larbre Compétition.

No change in LMGTE apart from the Gulf Racing entry (#86 Porsche 911 RSR) with WEC crew Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Alexander Davidson. A gearbox issue at Red Bull Ring put JMW Motorsport out of the running in the last round. The reigning champions lie fifth in the championship behind leaders Proton Competition #88 Porsche 911 RSR (Matteo Cairoli, Gianluca Roda, Giorgio Roda) Ebimotors #80 Porsche 911 RSR and Spirit Of Race #55 Ferrari 488 GTE, winners in Austria.

Several teams and drivers will be competing in both ELMS and WEC at Silverstone this weekend. Never an easy task. See the entry list for details.

Schedule

Free Practice 1: Friday 17 August 10:35 (90 minutes)

Free Practice 2: Friday 17 August 14:45 (90 minutes)

Qualifications – LMGTE: Saturday 18 August 11:10 (10 minutes)

Qualifications – LMP3: Saturday 18 August 11:25 (10 minutes)

Qualifications – LMP2: Saturday 18 August 11:40 (10 minutes)

Race:  Saturday 18 August 14:30 (4 hours)

Full weekend schedule 

 

Photo: Can G-Drive Racing pull off three wins on the trot this weekend at Silverstone? 

Video: YouTube - ELMS