Paul Ricard Saturday Notebook

***High winds did not detour the fans from coming out to Paul Ricard today. At the lunch break, the pit lane was jam packed for the autograph session. More than 8,000 tickets were pre-reserved for the final day of FIA WEC testing.

***Porsche and Toyota removed their privacy screens this morning, which allowed the fans in the grandstands opposite of the pit lane to see inside the garages of the two works manufacturers.

***Claude Gallopin, the former technical director at Pescarolo Sport, has found a new home with ProSpeed Competition for the Belgian squad’s effort in the FIA WEC this year.

***KCMG’s Oreca 03 Nissan is the ex-Thiriet by TDS Racing entry that competed in the European Le Mans Series last year. The Paul Ip-led crew features a diverse crew of 12 different nationalities, including American Brian Colangelo, who served as team manager for Starworks Motorsport’s LMP2 title-winning season in 2012.

***After testing the team’s Oreca 03 Nissan, Nicolas Minassian will return to Paul Ricard in a few days to take part in the official ELMS test in one of SMP Racing’s Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 car.

***The livery of Sebastien Loeb Racing’s Oreca 03 Nissan will be revealed on Monday. The team is among the 30-plus entries expected for the official ELMS tests here on Tuesday and Wednesday.