Algarve Pro Ligier Withdraws from Silverstone

Photo: Algarve Pro Racing Team

Algarve Pro Racing has withdrawn from this weekend’s European Le Mans Series season-opening Four Hours of Silverstone.

The Portuguese-based team, which had submitted a full-season entry with its ex-Thiriet by TDS Racing Ligier JS P2 Nissan, will not take part in the British round after coming up short on the total required budget.

“Although we have a sizable budget already in place that has enabled us to offer a very affordable package to potential drivers, we only managed to secure Andrea Roda for the whole campaign,” said team manager Samantha Cox.

“Although down, we are not out as it came down to the wire and we cannot thank Andrea enough as he has worked with us to try and make it happen but in the end we ran out of time.”

Roda was joined by Rodolfo González and James Winslow in the car at last month’s pre-season test at Paul Ricard, which saw the LMP2 car set competitive times over the two days.

The team will return to testing duties next month at Estoril, with at least 12 more test days planned this year, although there’s no word whether any races are currently scheduled.

Additionally, the car is no longer listed on the reserve list for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Algarve Pro Racing’s withdrawal leaves the LMP2 class with an 11-car grid for Saturday’s race, which kicks off the five-round championship.

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