Eurasia Acquires Oreca 05 Nissan for 2016

Photo: Eurasia Motorsport

Eurasia Motorsport will return to the European Le Mans Series next year but with new machinery, having announced Tuesday that it has acquired an Oreca 05 Nissan for its LMP2 program that could also include its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Mark Goddard-led team made its European debut this year with an Oreca 03R Nissan with drivers Pu Jun Jin and Nick de Bruijn, with the pairing set to lead the lead the charge again in 2016.

“We are an Asian-based team with mainly Asian personnel and a genuine mainland Chinese driver,” Goddard said. “All the ELMS events are fly-a-way races for us so we are already set up to compete in FIA World Endurance Championship and we seriously considered entering the 2016 World Championship.

“However, we decided to stay in ELMS with a view to being as competitive as possible. Pu Jun Jin is developing into a good LMP2 driver and is attracting a lot of attention in China, which is good for the team and for LMP racing in general.

“Nick de Bruijn will stay with the team and a third driver will join the line-up. The driver we have targeted is extremely fast and experienced and I believe the combination will give us a real shot at the title.”

The team has also laid out aspirations of competing at Le Mans and plans to submit an entry request.

“ORECA have been very supportive and we are happy to continue our relationship with them,” Goddard added. “We have a strong engineering team with the most competitive car and engine combination together with a great driver line up, which makes me very optimistic for the 2016 season.”

Eurasia will expand to a two-car effort in the Asian Le Mans Series for the final two races of the year, with its Oreca-Nissan it used this season in ELMS set to debut in next month’s round in Buriram, Thailand.

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