Paul Ricard Tuesday Notebook

***Thirty seven cars are present at Paul Ricard for two days of official ELMS testing. Schedule: Tuesday — 9 am-1 pm; 2-6 pm; 7-9 pm; Wednesday — 9 am-1 pm; 2-5 pm.

***Jamie Campbell-Walter was initially expected to run in Gulf Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GTE but his Platinum driver rating wouldn’t allow for it, as Stuart Hall has been elevated to Gold status. As a result, the British team set out a search for a Silver-rated driver, leading to the signing of Dan Brown.

***While Murphy Prototypes has signed Tor Graves and Rodolfo Gonzalez for the season, Graves is not here this week. Instead, Nathanael Berthon, Dillon Battistini and Karun Chandhok will join Gonzalez at the wheel of the Oreca 03 Nissan for the test, all three drivers vying for the third and final seat for Le Mans.

***Michael Lyons has joined Piergiuseppe Perazzini and Marco Cioci in the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia in GTE, while Pierre Kaffer completes the lineup of the AF Corse-run AT Racing Ferrari.

***Brits Tony Wells and James Littlejohn are making their respective debuts in Greaves Motorsport’s No. 28 Zytek Z11SN Nissan. Both come from the Radical Championship, while Littlejohn is also an instructor at Silverstone.

***Sofrev-Asp Team has a new challenge this year with the ELMS and 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the Jerome Policand-led team will also enter two Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 cars in the 24 Hours of Spa. Eric Debard and Fabien Barthez are expected to be in one of the cars for around-the-clock Belgian classic.

***Having already been present with the team in the Blancpain Endurance Series last year, Yann Goudy will test ART Grand Prix’s No. 98 McLaren MP4-12C this week. 

***LMEM boss Gerard Neveu confirmed this morning the ELMS round at Paul Ricard in September will likely not be held at night due to complications of it being on a Sunday. More details on the support series should be revealed soon.

***More should also be known about the LMP3 regulations by the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s understood the ACO is working hard to develop the class, which is scheduled to launch in 2015 and be the first step to LMP2.