Driver Lineup Changes Ahead of Four Hours Red Bull Ring

There have been further changes to the entry list for this weekend’s European Le Mans Series round in Austria, with a number of teams confirming changed lineups for the Four Hours of Red Bull Ring.

After the withdrawal of the Sébastien Loeb Racing and Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissans a total of eight LMP2 cars are set to race in Austria.

In the GTE class Rob Bell will return to JMW Motorsport, replacing Daniel Zampieri in the team’s Ferrari 458 Italia. Bell won the Le Mans Series GT2 title with Jim McWhirther’s team in 2007 and 2008, and was the series’ vice-champion in 2009 and 2011.

Michael Meadows will replace Ben Barker in the No. 86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, as Barker is on Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup duty at Hockenheim. After the Red Bull Ring race, Meadows will travel to Spa-Francorchamps to take part in the 24 Hours of Spa with Leonard Motorsport AMR.

In GTC Pro GT by Almeras has changed its lineup for the third round. Lucas Lasserre and Eric Dermont, who raced for the team at Silverstone and Imola, will be replaced by Matthieu Vaxivière and Henry Hassid.

Hassid drove the Sébastien Loeb Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra at Imola, but withdrew the car unhappy with the Balance of Performance measures for the R8.

Vaxivière raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship for ProSpeed Competition, but was forced to miss the 24 Hours of Le Mans after fracturing his a vertebra during a first lap clash in the Formula Renault 3.5 race in Monte-Carlo. He returned to competition during the World Series by Renault round at the Nürburgring last weekend.