G-Drive’s LM24 Exclusion Upheld

Photo: John Dagys

G-Drive Racing by Delta-ADR’s exclusion from the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been upheld, following a decision by the FIA International Court of Appeal.

The No. 26 Oreca 03 Nissan of John Martin, Mike Conway and Roman Rusinov, which had finished third in the LMP2 class, was excluded from the June endurance classic due to exceeding the maximum fuel capacity of 75 liters. The British squad appealed the ruling, with a hearing having recently been made.

As a result, the No. 42 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan, driven by Michael Krumm, Lucas Ordonez and Jann Mardenborough has officially been classified as third place finishers, behind the two OAK Racing Morgan-Nissans, which finished 1-2 in class.

“We were sorry to hear that G-Drive Racing lost their Le Mans podium,” said Darren Cox, Nissan’s Director of Global Motorsports.  “They showed us all again what a great team they are in Brazil though so congratulations to them and here’s hoping they keep the momentum going into the next round this weekend at Austin.

“It is a bittersweet ruling though and I can’t help but feel very proud of Lucas, Jann and Michael for taking a podium finish at Le Mans.  It proves again that Lucas’s Nissan GT Academy podium at Le Mans in 2011 wasn’t a fluke.”

The ruling has effecitvely put Russian-backed effort out of the championship hunt in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as the No. 26 car now trails LMP2 leaders OAK Racing (No. 35 car) by 49 points heading into this weekend’s Six Hours of the Circuit of The Americas.

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