Vector Sport Plotting ELMS LMP2 Effort

Vector Sport has signaled an intention to join the European Le Mans Series LMP2 grid next year alongside running the Isotta Fraschini LMH program.

The British squad has spent the past two seasons racing a single Oreca 07 Gibson in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with Ryan Cullen, Gabriel Aubry and Matthias Kaiser finishing seventh in class at the most recent race in Fuji.

WEC is set to phase out its secondary prototype class following the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, leaving the championship’s LMP2 contenders seeking for ways to race elsewhere.

Vector Sport plans to take its LMP2 effort to compete in the six-round ELMS campaign, while also stating that it intends to file an entry for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, where LMP2 cars remain eligible.

“We have learned so much about the LMP2 car and class and it makes a lot of sense to us to capitalise on that experience, and the performances we have shown on the world stage, into ELMS and hopefully a return to Le Mans in LMP2,” said team principal Gary Holland.

“We’ve closely watched the ELMS grow and flourish to the incredibly strong position it is now in, and it’s the perfect home for LMP2.

“We have the car, personnel, expertise and capacity to do ELMS alongside the WEC hypercar entry – providing we are fortunate enough to receive entries for both – and we believe these two programmes would complement each other extremely well as we move forward.

“We are continually looking forward and this is a very logical step, staying within the ACO framework that is so well known to us. It’s too early to talk about drivers for either programme but lineups will be confirmed as soon as possible.”

Most current WEC squads, including JOTA, Team WRT, Alpine and Prema are set to have some kind of involvement in the Hypercar class next year, while Inter Europol Competition and United Autosports have announced plans to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

In addition to its ELMS effort, Vector will also step up to the Hypercar class in order to run Isotta Fraschini’s factory LMH program in WEC.

The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione continues to undergo testing leading up to the homologation process, recently completing a two-day test session at Imola with Marco Bonanomi and Jean-Karl Vernay driving.

Were Vector Sport to receive an ELMS entry birth, it will kick off the European campaign with 4 Hours of Barcelona on April 14.