Hulkenberg joins Porsche for Le Mans 24 Hours

Hulkenberg joins Porsche for Le Mans 24 Hours

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Mini1275

Original Poster:

11,098 posts

181 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116960

Autosport said:
Nico Hulkenberg will contest the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche in 2015 alongside his Force India Formula 1 programme.

Porsche has signed the German for the third 919 Hybrid entry that it announced earlier this week, and will also field him in the Spa round of the World Endurance Championship in preparation.

"Porsche and Le Mans - this combination probably attracts every race driver," said Hulkenberg.

"I've been a Porsche fan for a long time and have been watching their return to the LMP1 class closely.

"The desire grew to drive that car at Le Mans.

"I am very pleased the 2015 Formula 1 calendar allows for it and I'm grateful to my Force India Formula 1 team's generosity to let me go for it.

"Now it's up to me to work hard to satisfy both commitments."

Hulkenberg will become the first active grand prix driver to combine F1 and Le Mans programmes since Sebastien Bourdais contested the 2009 24 Hours with Peugeot between his Toro Rosso F1 commitments.

Porsche team principal Andreas Seidl said a lot of thought had already gone into how to acclimatise Hulkenberg to Le Mans around his F1 programme.

"Having caught the interest of another world class driver like Nico is validation for the job the entire Porsche LMP1 crew had done in our first WEC season," he said.


"Now we will prepare Nico for his new challenges such as dealing with the traffic of the slower GT cars and racing into the Le Mans night.

"We have got a road map in place which should enable him to exploit his driving abilities at his Le Mans debut.

"We're looking forward to working with Nico and we want to thank the Sahara Force India F1 team and team principal Vijay Mallya for loaning him to us."

The team has yet to announce the other two drivers for its third car, but has recently been evaluating standout performers from its factory GT line-up.

It has already re-signed Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb for its full-time 2015 WEC seats.



Great to see current F1 drivers racing at Le Mans again, I'm looking forward to seeing how he does.

zac510

5,546 posts

205 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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That's a pretty good sportscar lineup!

Lost soul

8,712 posts

181 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Good for him smile

McClure

2,173 posts

145 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Great news, it's about time F1 drivers started mixing it up a bit.

More please. Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg to contest Le Mans, Hamilton to race the Indy 500, Danny Ric to race Dakar...

Henry Fiddleton

1,581 posts

176 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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That's awesome.


Come on JB, lead the 3rd Porsche or Audi!

IforB

9,840 posts

228 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Great stuff. Good on him for wanting to do it and for FI for allowing it.

DanielSan

18,747 posts

166 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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IforB said:
Great stuff. Good on him for wanting to do it and for FI for allowing it.
I can see him looking into a more full time WEC drive as well to be honest. He's got stacks of talent but seems to be stuck in the midfield, in WEC he'd have a good chance to be in a winning car.

Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Great to see him there, but I'd not be expecting him to make blokes like Lieb, Jani and the rest of the lineup look slow - in fact Quick Nick will do very, very well to match them..

Ahonen

5,015 posts

278 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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I've worked with Hulk. He is an absolute superstar. Incredible feedback, brilliantly fast and metronomic consistency. I am a huge, huge fan. I think he'll be stunning and the existing drivers may find themselves a trifle shocked.

Mini1275

Original Poster:

11,098 posts

181 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Max Chilton also has an option for a drive in LMP1, apparently.

l354uge

2,892 posts

120 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Mini1275 said:
Max Chilton also has the budget for a drive in LMP1, apparently.
FTFY

Allyc85

7,225 posts

185 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Well this was a pleasant surprise! Would love to see Nick Tandy as one of his team mates!