Hanley Joins Nielsen Racing LMP2 Effort

Former DragonSpeed driver Ben Hanley has been named as part of Nielsen Racing’s completed driver lineup for its LMP2 program in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Hanley will team up with European Le Mans Series LMP3 runner-up Matt Bell and American racer Rodrigo Sales for the four-race campaign in the UAE next month.

The British driver has raced for the DragonSpeed LMP2 squad in several arenas over the last few years including the ELMS, FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA.

Hanley’s Bronze-rated co-driver Henrik Hedman recently announced that he will not be working with the 36-year-old this year, with DragonSpeed now focused on an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship effort for Hedman and Juan Pablo Montoya. 

Hanley will instead represent Nielsen Racing for the British squad’s first Asian LMS term in the top LMP2 category.

Nielsen recently took delivery of a new Oreca 07 Gibson that the team hopes to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, after contesting the famous race in 2020.

Bell and Sales shared a Nielsen-prepared Ligier JS P320 Nissan in Asia last year but are now stepping up to the fastest class of the ACO-run series.

Nielsen will continue to enter LMP3, where 2018-19 Asian LMS class champions Colin Noble and Tony Wells will maintain their established driving partnership into 2022.