Manor to Continue With Single Car at 6H COTA

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Manor will continue with a single Oreca 05 Nissan in next weekend’s Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas, resulting in a 31-car entry for the the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The British squad, which was anticipating returning to a two-car operation for the remainder of the season, will field only its No. 44 Oreca 05 Nissan for Richard Bradley, Matt Rao and the returning Roberto Merhi at COTA.

It’s understood recent mechanical issues, linked to the brake supplier of the Oreca LMP2 cars, have been among the reasons for the team’s reduced effort.

No other changes have been made to the latest revision of the entry list, which was released on Thursday.

As previously revealed by Sportscar365, Kevin Estre has been confirmed as the substitute driver for Patrick Long in the No. 88 Abu Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR, which is coming off its first GTE-Am class win of the season in Mexico.

Fernando Rees, meanwhile, will return to the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which also claimed GTE-Pro honors in Mexico, filling in for the Australian Supercars-bound Richie Stanaway.

ByKolles Racing has yet to confirm the third driver for its CLM P1/01 AER entry alongside Simon Trummer and Oliver Webb, with Pierre Kaffer on Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup duty next weekend at the Nürburgring.

Both Benoit Treluyer and Anthony Davidson, who sat out the Mexico round due to injuries, are expected to return to action, for Audi and Toyota, respectively, in LMP1.

The Six Hours of COTA, part of the Lone Star Le Mans weekend with IMSA, is set for Sept. 15-17.

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