Vautier to Sub for Palou in No. 93 MSR Acura at Petit Le Mans

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Tristan Vautier will make his first start at the wheel of an Acura ARX-06 in next weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans, having been confirmed in Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 93 car in place of Alex Palou.

The Frenchman, who boasts previous LMDh experience with the Cadillac V-Series.R as a Cadillac reserve driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the Porsche 963, competing in the first two rounds of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with Proton Competition, will join full-season MSR drivers Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly in the GTP entry.

Vautier takes the seat that was originally expected to be occupied by four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who is understood to have other commitments.

The Spaniard raced the No. 93 Acura in both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and while not having officially announced for Petit, was expected to be back in the car.

Honda Racing Corporation factory driver Kaku Ohta, who was the third pilot in the No. 93 car at the recent Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is unavailable next weekend due to his Super Formula commitments in Japan.

Fellow Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar ace Scott Dixon, meanwhile, will complete the No. 60 Acura lineup as expected alongside Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist.

While van der Zande and Yelloly are still mathematically in with an outside chance of the GTP drivers’ title, MSR’s attention in the ten-hour season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will be on the manufacturers’ championship, which sees Acura trail points leaders Porsche by just seven points.

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