Vaxiviere, Barnicoat Join Perrodo in AF Corse Lineup

Matthieu Vaxiviere and Ben Barnicoat have been tapped to join Francois Perrodo in AF Corse’s LMP2 lineup in the European Le Mans Series.

The Anglo-French trio will drive an Oreca 07 Gibson in the LMP2 Pro-Am category.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, Bronze-rated Perrodo will fully concentrate on ELMS this season after the category specifically intended for Bronze drivers was removed from the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2023 campaign.

The Frenchman finished second in the Pro-Am ranks in the European series last year, taking a class victory in the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

Vaxiviere and Barnicoat replace Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera, with the former set to compete in Ferrari’s Hypercar program in WEC.

Perrodo and Vaxiviere have previous history as teammates, racing together in WEC between 2017 and 2019 in a TDS Racing-run Oreca.

The pair also teamed with Nielsen and Julien Canal at last month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Vaxiviere will dovetail his ELMS program with a full-season drive with Alpine in the globetrotting championship.

Barnicoat returns to ELMS for the first time since 2019, where he drove a Dallara P217 Gibson for Thunderhead Carlin Racing.

Perrodo stated in a post on social media that the team has submitted an entry request for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as his absence from WEC means he will no longer receive an automatic invitation for the French endurance classic.