Van der Zande to Make ELMS Debut at Monza

Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Renger van der Zande will replace Ben Hanley in DragonSpeed’s European Le Mans Series points-leading LMP2 lineup for the round at Monza on May 12.

The Dutchman will step into the American team’s No. 21 Oreca 07 Gibson alongside Henrik Hedman and James Allen for his first ELMS race as well as his debut in the LMP2 category.

Van der Zande is already a part of DragonSpeed’s LMP1 crew for the FIA World Endurance Championship and also competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Wayne Taylor Racing.

Hedman and Allen partnered with Hanley to win the opening round of the 2019 ELMS season at Paul Ricard this month to take an early lead in the championship standings.

The Monza round coincides with Hanley’s preparations for the Indianapolis 500 in mid-May, which he is contesting for the first time with the DragonSpeed team.

The 42-car entry list for the 4 Hours of Monza also includes the return of Cetilar Villorba Corse with its No. 47 Dallara P217 Gibson.

The Italian squad, which is stepping up to the WEC later this year after three seasons in the ELMS LMP2 ranks, will join the field for its home event as part of its preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Andrea Belicchi will share driving duties.

Yann Ehrlacher will be absent from M. Racing’s Norma M30 Nissan LMP3 lineup because of a clash with the FIA World Touring Car Cup round in Slovakia.

Norman Nato will once again fill in for Jean-Eric Vergne at G-Drive Racing, as already announced, because of the former F1 driver’s commitments in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.

There are also two ‘TBA’ driver slots to fill in the GTE-class No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR, with only Thomas Preining confirmed so far.