Aubry to Replace Dalziel at IDEC Sport for Paul Ricard

Gabriel Aubry will join IDEC Sport for the European Le Mans Series round at Paul Ricard in place of Ryan Dalziel who is absent due to a date clash with his SRO commitments.

Aubry will share the No. 17 Oreca 07 Gibson with full-season drivers Kyle Tilley and Dwight Merriman for the four-hour race in the south of France on June 6.

Dalziel is skipping Ricard to focus on the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS round at Virginia International Raceway, where he is driving for DXDT Racing.

The schedule overlap came about after the 24 Hours of Le Mans was postponed, resulting in an ELMS calendar adjustment that saw the 4 Hours of Le Castellet brought forward from late August to early June.

Dalziel’s replacement for round three of the current ELMS season, Aubry, represented IDEC Sport in the final two rounds of the 2018 campaign.

Aubry, who is the Hypercar reserve driver for Alpine Endurance Team, finished second to Era Motorsport/IDEC Sport drivers Dalziel, Tilley, Merriman and Paul-Loup Chatin at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as a member of the Tower Motorsport by Starworks crew.

Aubry has already contested one ELMS round this season, having joined Panis Racing for the 4 Hours of Barcelona in place of James Allen who was ruled out of that event due to a positive COVID-19 test result

He also drove for the Panis-run PR1 Motorsports team at the FIA World Endurance Championship Total 6 Hours of Spa earlier this month. 

“I find it nice to have competed with Era Motorsport at the 24 Hours of Daytona and to come and ride with them in this race,” commented Aubry.

“We know each other a little because we talked in the paddock. I get along very well with Kyle.

“I think we are clearly here for the victory in Pro/Am [and] that Ryan [needn’t] worry, I will return the car to him in the same condition as it is now.”

Dalziel partnered Tilley and Merriman for the opening two ELMS rounds at Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring.

The trio finished fourth and fifth in the Pro-Am sub-category on those occasions, putting them sixth in the standings heading to Paul Ricard.

Dalziel faces one more date clash between ELMS and GTWC America in September involving the 4 Hours of Spa and the SRO America weekend at Watkins Glen.