Vandoorne Exploring Endurance Opportunities

Photo: MPS Agency

Stoffel Vandoorne has not ruled out having a continued presence in endurance racing, admitting that he has opportunities if he “wanted to” take them.

The ex-Formula 1 driver, who will be part of Mercedes’ lineup in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship this season, is understood to have been exploring drives with teams in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship paddocks.

It comes following a two-race outing with SMP Racing earlier this year, which culminated with a podium finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Russian squad, which has since withdrawn from LMP1 competition.

Vandoorne is understood to have been in preliminary discussions with Wayne Taylor Racing, with team owner Wayne Taylor confirming to Sportscar365 on Thursday that the two have spoken.

Taylor is looking to potentially fill up to two seats in his No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R next year, including a driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup races.

Speaking to sister site e-racing365, the Belgian confirmed his desire to pursue additional sports car racing outings but has “nothing planned” at the moment, with Formula E taking priority.

“There will be an opportunity to something if I wanted to,” Vandoorne said.

“At the moment, there is nothing planned, I am not doing a full season of WEC that is for sure but maybe like last year where I did two races, Spa and Le Mans, which was nice to do but at the moment that is too far away.

“For me, [Formula E] is the priority and I want to fight for the best results I can but we will see at the start of the new year if Le Mans becomes an opportunity. But at the moment it is too early for that.”

Vandoorne impressed at the wheel of SMP’s BR Engineering BR1 AER in his two-race program with the team, in what had marked his first sports car racing outing since a one-off in the FIA GT Series in 2013.

Sam Smith contributed to this report

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