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Van Uitert to Replace De Vries in Nederland 6H Spa Lineup

ELMS runner-up Job van Uitert to sub in for Nyck de Vries at Spa next month…

Photo: Racing Team Nederland

Racing Team Nederland has confirmed that Job van Uitert will replace Nyck de Vries in its Oreca 07 Gibson for the next FIA World Endurance Championship round at Spa.

Van Uitert will share the No. 29 Nederland LMP2 car with Giedo van der Garde and team owner-driver Frits van Eerd.

The 21-year-old, who is driving for United Autosports in the European Le Mans Series this year, helped the Dutch outfit to a podium in the Silverstone WEC season-opener.

Van Uitert was then set to receive another call-up later in the 2019-20 campaign, although this was deferred on two occasions.

He was originally due to return to the JUMBO-liveried Oreca at Shanghai last November, replacing van Eerd, but this arrangement fell through.

Van Uitert was then named as part of the team’s lineup for the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March, as a substitute for de Vries who was then prioritizing the now-canceled Formula E round in Sanya.

However, travel restrictions put in place by the U.S. government in response to the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the Sebring WEC race being called off.

Van Uitert will now get the chance to make his third WEC appearance of the season – and his second with Racing Team Nederland – in the Total 6 Hours of Spa on August 15.

The team did not state a reason for de Vries’ absence from its Spa squad, but the positioning of the sixth Formula E race at Berlin’s Tempelhof Field on August 13 would have forced the 25-year-old to miss part of the WEC weekend.

′”Job would have also driven the 1000 Miles of Sebring for us last March, but that race was canceled,” said van Eerd.

“Due to the changed WEC calendar we had the chance to use him at Spa now too.”

De Vries is set to return to Racing Team Nederland at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in September, while van Uitert is listed in one of United Autosports’ two Oreca lineups.

Reigning FIA Formula 2 champion de Vries has also recently signed for Toyota as its LMP1 and LMH test driver, in addition to an ELMS program with G-Drive Racing. 

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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