Project 1 Set to Shuffle GTE-Am Title-Winning Lineup

Team Project 1 is set to split up its 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am title-winning driver lineup for the new season starting in September.

Egidio Perfetti will defend his drivers’ crown, but with a new set of co-drivers in David Heinemeier Hansson and Matteo Cairoli.

The team’s new No. 56 trio is expected to contest the full season, including next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Project 1’s second lineup is yet to be finalized.

Perfetti shared the 2018-19 title with Patrick Lindsey and Porsche factory driver Joerg Bergmeister, who has been placed in the sister No. 57 Porsche 911 RSR for the 4 Hours of Silverstone season opener.

Lindsey, meanwhile, is set to test the No. 57 car at the Prologue in Barcelona next week, although the American has not been confirmed for Silverstone with two TBA slots still available.

When Project 1 confirmed its two-car entry to Sportscar365 last month, team manager Axel Funke suggested that the initial plan was to keep Perfetti, Lindsey and Bergmeister in the same car.

However, that intention appears to have changed with the arrival of Heinemeier Hansson and Cairoli into the returning No. 56 entry.

Heinemeier Hansson will get his first taste of the Project 1 Porsche during this weekend’s European Le Mans Series round at Catalunya, before staying on for the Prologue.

The Danish driver made his WEC return earlier this year, winning the LMP2 class of the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March, and is now set to return to a full-time drive.

His last whole campaign came in 2017 when he drove a Rebellion Racing-operated Oreca 07 Gibson.

Cairoli, meanwhile, has been assigned to a new Porsche customer squad as part of his role as a works Young Professional for the German manufacturer.

The 23-year-old Italian was originally slated to return to Dempsey-Proton Racing, as per the provisional version of the Prologue entry list, but has since switched over to Project 1.