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24H Le Mans

Estre, Vanthoor, Cumming Confirmed at OAK for 24H Le Mans

Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Chris Cumming confirmed for LM24…

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OAK Racing announced Monday the driver lineup for its No. 34 Ligier JS P2 Honda that will compete in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The entry, originally awarded to the French squad for its championship in the Asian Le Mans Series, will be driven by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Chris Cumming.

It will mark all three drivers’ Le Mans debuts, as well as their maiden outings in LMP2 machinery.

Bronze-rated Cumming, who tested the Onroak Automotive-designed prototype at NOLA Motorsports Park late last year, will make the transition from the Canadian’s current full-season Prototype Challenge program with RSR Racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Reigning Blancpain GT Series champion Vanthoor, meanwhile, was set to make his Le Mans debut last year prior to Sebastien Loeb Racing’s withdrawal. The 24-year-old Belgian will get the chance this year.

Estre, who is coming off a debut victory in Pirelli World Challenge competition last weekend at Circuit of The Americas, will also be stepping up to prototype machinery for the first time after an equally impressive career in GT racing.

“Knowing from experience that Chris is one of the best gentleman drivers and Laurens is in the top-10 GT drivers in the world, I think that we have a strong lineup,” Estre said.

“I usually fight against Laurens on track as we are both factory drivers from competing makes in GT so it will be fun to have a break and be together for a race.”

The entry will join OAK’s full-season FIA World Endurance Championship Ligier-Nissan as well as the two OAK-run G-Drive Racing cars for the race.

It was originally listed to be a Nissan-powered car with nominated driver Ho-Pin Tung.

“It’s a daring challenge to enter three drivers who are making their debut in both the race and the category, but they’re all very talented and we’ve brought together two of the best of the current crop of GT drivers,” said team principal Philippe Dumas.

“I’m delighted to be continuing the OAK Racing tradition of initiating ambitious, promising projects. We’ll start testing in mid-May and I’m confident that they’ll adapt quickly to the Ligier JS P2.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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