Caterham to debut at Le Mans

Caterham team to tackle the 24-hour, sadly not with an R600 Seven

By Matt Bird / Monday, 3 June 2013 / Loading comments

Caterham will make its

debut at this year's 24 Hours, taking place on 22/23 June. The Caterham Motorsport team is to race a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan in the LMP2 category with driver line-up of Alexander Rossi, Tom Kimber-Smith and Eric Lux.

Caterham's ambition with the Le Mans programme is twofold; plastering the Nissan with a Caterham livery should draw attention to the brand for a start, but Caterham is also considering the viability of a future customer sports prototype package.

SP isn't going to race LMP2 but owners might

With the Le Mans team comprising Greaves Motorsport as well as Caterham technicians, engineers and analysts, the guys from Caterham are keen to accrue sports prototype experience. With the Zytek Nissan homologated for the whole 2013 season, they will work at events throughout the year.

Caterham's involvement at Le Mans stems from the success of its SP/300.R, launched in 2011 and driven by PH at Cholmondeley last week. Its mini-LMP2 styling and overt track focus implied Caterham always intended to advance its motorsport programme beyond F1 and the Caterham Academy. Moreover, a Caterham karting championship will be created for the 2014 season.

For now, a 100 per cent Caterham Le Mans entry isn't even at the planning stage, but it reflects the confidence and stature of Caterham in global motorsport that it's being considered. That's not to forget its burgeoning road car programme either; not only is a sub-£17K Seven due, the Alpine-Caterham sports car project is still set for a 2016 launch.