Nielsen Reveals Special Le Mans Centenary Livery

Nielsen Racing has unveiled a special livery for its Oreca 07 Gibson that will race at the centennial 24 Hours of Le Mans edition next month.

The British LMP2 team has collaborated with vintage car artist Mark Morgan to honor several notable competitors and items of Le Mans history on a gold background.

It includes references to cars and drivers that have won the race, including the Mercedes-Benz W194 that took victory in 1952, the ‘Salzburg’ Porsche 917K from 1970, the Porsche 911 GT1 from 1998 and last year’s winning Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Famous faces in the design include Henri Pescarolo, Derek Bell, Dan Gurney, Jacky Ickx and the fictional driver Michael Delaney, portrayed by Steve McQueen in the 1971 motion picture Le Mans. Nine-time winner Tom Kristensen is depicted on the car’s spare wing.

The outright speed record achieved by the WM P88 Peugeot of Roger Dorchy in 1988 is also mentioned, as is the standing start procedure that was used until 1969.

The names of four Circuit de la Sarthe sections — Indianapolis, Tertre Rouge, Maison Blanche and Hunaudieres — have been printed beside the wheels.

Winner’s trophies, including this year’s special centenary award, and logos used by event organizer the ACO also form part of the design.

Ben Hanley, Mathias Beche and Rodrigo Sales will share Nielsen Racing’s No. 14 Oreca in the LMP2 Pro-Am class.

Another Le Mans competitor to recently unveil a new livery for the race is TF Sport, which has adopted a blue and green design for its No. 72 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

The scheme is inspired by the colors of the Matra and Pescarolo teams and was unveiled at a soccer match between Le Mans and Dunkerque last Friday.

The all-French lineup of Valentin Hasse-Clot, Maxime Robin and Arnold Robin will share TF Sport’s third Aston, which is running in addition to the team’s full-season FIA World Endurance Championship entries for Oman Racing Team and D’station Racing.