(Sahara Force India Formula One Team)
Sahara Force India Formula One team's Nico Hulkenberg has confirmed that he will contest the 2015 LeMans 24 Hours in a third Porsche LMP1 car along with competing in the 6 hours of SPA, alongside his Formula One commitments with the Sahara Force India Formula One Team. The German had a fantastic season in 2014, on his return to the Silverstone based outfit having spent the 2013 season with the Sauber F1 Team.
Speaking about the announcement, Hulkenberg stated;
'Porsche and Le Mans – this combination probably attracts every race driver. 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 One calendar allows for it and I’m grateful to my Sahara Force India Formula One Team’s generosity to let me go for it. Now it’s up to me to work hard to satisfy both commitments'.
Porsche Motorsports Vice President of the LMP1 Programme Fritz Enzinger commented by saying:
'We are very much looking forward to taking Nico on board. We’ve got complete faith in his driving skills and for sure he will fit well in our works team. The ability to integrate is of extreme importance in endurance racing. For a Formula One driver it is an unusual situation to accept that his own results are the sum of three drivers’ performance.'
Porsche World Endurance Championship team principal Andreas Seidl commented:
'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. 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.'
Nico Hulkenberg finished the 2014 Formula One season in 9th place on 96 points and helped the Silverstone based outfit to finish in sixth place in the 2014 Constructors championship. The 2015 LeMan 24 Hours takes place on June 13/14, the weekend between the Canadian and Austrian Grand Prix.
The 6 Hours Of Spa race takes place on May 2 2015 in between the Chinese and Spanish Grand Prix. Hulkenberg will be the first serving Formula One driver since Sebastian Bourdais in 2009 to compete in the LeMans 24 Hours.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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