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Alonso, Barrichello Among Latest Stars to Join Virtual Le Mans

Alonso, Barrichello and Button among the latest additions to the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans grid…

Photos: Toyota/MPS Agency

More star drivers have been added to the entry for next month’s virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans including Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

Two-time Le Mans winner and Formula 1 champion Alonso will partner 11-time Grand Prix winner Barrichello in an Oreca 07 Gibson entered by a FA/RB Allinsports.

They will be joined by sim racing experts Olli Pahkala and Jarl Teien for the race, which is being held on June 13-14 as a virtual alternative to the postponed Le Mans event.

Alonso and Barrichello both made their Le Mans debuts in the last three years, with Barrichello taking part in the 2017 edition with LMP2 squad Racing Team Nederland.

Alonso then went on to win the 2018 and 2019 editions for Toyota Gazoo Racing, both times with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

2009 F1 champion Button is taking part through his own Team Rocket outfit, which is receiving support from the Zansho Simsport operation.

Button will share driving duties with 2015 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion Alex Buncombe, plus Zansho’s Jan von der Heyde and Matt Richards.

Zansho Simsport is supporting two other entries, including the Multimatic Oreca that will be driven by Andry Priaulx, his son Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Epps and Olivier Fortin.

The lineup for the MPI-Zansho LMP2 car has yet to be revealed.

Aston Martin Sets Factory GT Lineups

Aston Martin Racing has become the second of the four GTE works outfits to confirm its virtual Le Mans driving crew, after Porsche.

A total of three AMR-entered Aston Martin Vantage GTEs will take part, all featuring three real-world professional drivers from the British marque’s WEC roster.

The sporting regulations state that teams must use a minimum of two motorsport professionals and can include up to two esports professionals.

The No. 95 Aston features current GTE points leader Nicki Thiim alongside Lasse Sorensen – the brother of Thiim’s real-world co-driver Marco – as well as former Ford GT ace Richard Westbrook and sim competitor Manuel Biancolilla.

The No. 97 car will be driven by Alex Lynn, Charlie Eastwood, Harry Tincknell and Tiziano Brioni.

Westbrook and Tincknell will be joining the factory AMR GTE-Pro squad for the real-life version of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in September.

The third and final Aston lineup involves Ross Gunn, Jonny Adam, Darren Turner and Giuseppe de Fuoco who will be using the full-scale simulator rig housed in Turner’s own Base Performance facility.

Additionally, MAHLE Racing has confirmed the drivers for its privately-run Aston Martin, with Ferdinand Habsburg, Jamie Chadwick, Kevin Rotting and sim racing streamer Jimmy Broadbent forming the lineup.

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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