Derani Confirmed in Glickenhaus Lineup for 6H Spa

Pipo Derani will drive for Glickenhaus Racing at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa, as confirmed on the official entry list for round two of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The three-time Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring winner is set to team up with Olivier Pla and Romain Dumas for the race on May 7.

Derani most recently raced the Glickenhaus 007 Pipo LMH at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he finished fourth in the No. 708 car alongside Pla and Franck Mailleux.

Company owner Jim Glickenhaus indicated earlier this month that the factory team’s plan was to retain its 1000 Miles of Sebring crew of Pla, Dumas and Ryan Briscoe for Spa, although he stressed that it was “subject to change”.

The reason for the driver change is to give Derani some time in the car ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Pla, Dumas and Briscoe claimed the American constructor’s first outright podium at Sebring last weekend, finishing third behind the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the winning Alpine A480 Gibson.

As was the case in Florida, a four-car field will compete for outright honors in the Hypercar class.

Toyota is again bringing its two entries to Spa, with the No. 7 likely to take part as a replacement monocoque after the original was damaged in a crash at Sebring.

One of three updates on the LMP2 grid is the arrival of Alex Lynn, fresh from winning the 12 Hours of Sebring with Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing, into the No. 23 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson.

Lynn’s prioritized Ganassi commitments prompted United to bring in Paul di Resta for the WEC season-opener, which the 2019-20 champion team went on to win.

Similarly, Sebastien Bourdais is set for his first race with Vector Sport after his Ganassi role prevented him from racing in the 1000 Miles of Sebring. Mike Rockenfeller stood in for the Frenchman at the British team last weekend.

Alex Brundle is set to return to the wheel of the Inter Europol Competition Oreca after a positive COVID-19 test forced him to miss the opening round.

There are no updates to the GTE-Pro field where the pairs of factory Ferrari 488 GTE Evos and Porsche 911 RSR-19s will go up against the sole Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

In GTE-Am, GR Racing is back on the entry list after missing Sebring due to team owner Mike Wainwright’s business commitments, increasing the overall field to 37 cars.

Wainwright is due to share the No. 86 Porsche with Ben Barker and Riccardo Pera.

Additionally, Jan Heylen is named in the No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche, at the top of a program that was recently reported by Sportscar365.