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Racing Roundup

Weekly Racing Roundup (2.18.19)

Legge in all-female Asian LMS LMP3 lineup, plus other news from the past week…

Photo: MPS Agency

Legge in All-Female Lineup in Asian LMS

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship runner-up Katherine Legge will contest this weekend’s Asian Le Mans Series finale at Sepang International Circuit.

Legge will join the R24 LMP3 squad, which is entering the four-hour race with a different all-female driver lineup for its No. 50 car that also features Margot Laffite and Michelle Gatting.

Japanese racer Marie Iwaoka drove R24’s Ligier JS P3 Nissan in all three previous rounds of the 2018-19 season, while Sarah Bovy, Stephane Kox and Anna Inotsume also competed with the Keiko Ihara-led team.

Legge won the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race in Mexico City on Saturday, becoming the first woman to take victory in a professional all-electric race.

She also formed part of an all-female lineup at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, driving alongside Simona de Silvestro, Christina Nielsen and Ana Beatriz.

Photo: Rocket Motorsport

News & Notes

***Jenson Button and Rocket Motorsport have announced their first venture into off-road racing, with plans to run a Trophy Truck in the Baja 1000 in November, following a warm-up event with the Mint 400 in Las Vegas next month. Button, Chris Buncombe and Mazen Fawaz will all make their off-road racing debuts in the truck.

***It comes after the announcement of Jenson Team Rocket RJN, a team set up between Button and RJN boss Bob Neville to enter a Honda NSX GT3 in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup this season.

***Super GT team Racing Project Bandoh and VLN privateer NOVEL Co., Ltd. will run a Lexus RC F GT3 in June’s Nürburgring 24. The entry is supported by local team Ring Racing and will have technical support from TMG.

***Henrique Chaves and Andrea Saravia will drive for Teo Martin Motorsport in International GT Open this season, driving one of the Spanish outfit’s new McLaren 720S GT3s. Chaves makes his series debut after a season competing in the ELMS LMP2 class, while Saravia finished runner-up in last year’s GT Open standings.

***Optimum Motorsport will again enter GT Open this season, entering an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Ollie Wilkinson and Bradley Ellis. It scored two Pro-Am class wins last season with a previous-gen Audi R8 LMS GT3.

***Aron Taylor-Smith has completed RACE Performance’s lineup for its Ford Mustang GT4 in the British GT Championship. The Irishman, who competed with Team Parker Racing in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup last year, joins Sam Smelt. Both drivers have previous experience in the British Touring Car Championship.

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report.

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.

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