Le Mans Test Friday Notebook

Photo: Laurent Chauveau/Endurance-Info

***Kazuki Nakajima is expected to cleared by the FIA doctor to drive on Sunday. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver sustained a fractured vertebra in an accident during the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps weekend less than one month ago. The team will make a final decision on whether the Japanese driver will race following the test.

***A number of drivers will be arriving Sunday afternoon from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Detroit, either by charter or commercial flights. It includes Jordan Taylor (Corvette Racing), Chris Cumming (OAK Racing), Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen (Riley Motorsports) plus Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell (Scuderia Corsa).

***Olivier Beretta (AF Corse), Kevin Estre (OAK Racing) and Joao Barbosa (Krohn Racing) will not be making the trip from Detroit to Le Mans, as all three have been previously qualified to race. While Estre is a Le Mans rookie, the Frenchman’s received dispensation due to his Platinum driver rating.

***Race Performance is supporting KCMG’s Oreca 03R Judd entry this weekend. Team owner Michel Frey has traded his steering wheel to take on the role of team manager for the No. 49 entry, which still sits as the first reserve entry. KCMG has remained hopeful of securing a place on the grid, although it’s beginning to look increasingly unlikely.

***The No. 4 ByKolles Racing is sporting a gray livery for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Tiago Monteiro, Simon Trummer and Pierre Kaffer will pilot the CLM P1/01 AER, which features further updates since its last outing in the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps earlier this month.

***Both of the Rebellion R-One AERs are also in new colors, with the No. 12 car sporting an all-white livery and the No. 13 entry in a metallic red. It’s understood the cars will remain in these simplistic liveries for the race as well.

***The two AAI Motorsports Porsches have unique origins. The team’s No. 67 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997) is a new chassis, while the No. 68 Porsche 911 RSR (991) was used by ProSpeed Competition in the FIA WEC last year. The Belgian squad is providing technical support to the Taiwanese team at Le Mans.

***Gilles Vannelet will also be pulling double-duty this weekend. After completing his mandatory ten laps in the No. 68 AAI Porsche, he’ll head to Silverstone to take part in the British GT Championship race at the wheel of a McLaren 650S GT3 car.

***Nissan has installed a slide in its hospitality unit. Both Tsugio Matsuda and Jann Mardenborough have already tested McDonalds-esq tunnel, which has been nicknamed “Bowlby’s Wind Tunnel.”

Laurent Mercier contributed to this report

John Dagys

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