Shahin Enjoyed “Close-Up View” of LMP2 in United Test

Yasser Shahin said it was an “excellent experience” to sample the Oreca 07 Gibson at last weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test as the Australian GT3 driver sought to get a “close-up view” of the LMP2 category.

Shahin is the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS points leader but missed Sunday’s Bathurst round of the series — which only counted for Endurance Championship points — to attend the WEC post-season test in Bahrain.

The Bronze-rated driver, who owns The Bend Motorsport Park near Adelaide, shared the wheel of a United Autosports Oreca with fellow Australian Garnet Patterson.

In addition to the official test, the pair stayed on for an additional day of running at Bahrain International Circuit on Monday.

Shahin explained that his visit to the WEC season finale was about establishing some initial impressions of LMP2, having mainly driven GT3 cars in recent years.

“It’s been an excellent experience driving the Oreca 07 Gibson with United,” he told Sportscar365.

“It’s my first time in this generation of LMP2 and the first time in a racecar at Bahrain International Circuit.

“Certainly a good experience and if [United] topped the rookie charts, it makes it all the better.

“In terms of the purpose of the test, I’m in the business of motorsport always representing The Bend Motorsport Park. I came to see the final WEC round and get a close-up view of prototype racing at its highest form.

“Certainly testing with United and getting the impression if this is something that we could participate in in the future, in a variety of capacities.”

United has some spaces left in its LMP2 driver lineups for next year, including two Orecas for the Asian Le Mans in February.

But Shahin stressed that he hasn’t made any commitments regarding his racing programs on both the LMP2 and GT3 fronts.

The 46-year-old has competed in GT3 since 2018 and won the Audi R8 LMS Cup the following year before going on to seal the 2021 GTWC Australia title with Audi squad Melbourne Performance Centre.

Aside from his own racing career, Shahin has also been keen to bring international endurance racing to The Bend, which hosted an Asian LMS round in January 2020.

Travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic then prompted the series to relocate to the United Arab Emirates where it has attracted large fields of mostly European teams.

In the early stages of the pandemic, Asian LMS announced that it would return to The Bend for two races in 2021-22 and 2022-23 but the contingency format of double-headers at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina has remained in place.

While the series is continuing in the UAE next year, Shahin hopes that it will return to a wider reach in the future as restrictions are eased in South East Asia and Oceania.

“Regarding Asian Le Mans returning to The Bend, our discussions with [them] have continued,” he said.

“COVID was a horrible interrupter to our plans with Asian Le Mans. But I’d certainly expect to see them back at The Bend in Australia at some stage.”

Shahin added that the WEC, which is looking to add an eighth race in 2024, would be “welcome” at his facility which is currently classified under FIA Grade 2.

“There were discussions pre-COVID about a WEC race at The Bend. WEC is definitely welcome in Australia and we’d love to see them at The Bend Motorsport Park.

“This is a purpose-built facility with the second-longest permanent circuit in the world. It’s a very high downforce racetrack especially suited to these sorts of cars.”

The GT3-headlined Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has been Australia’s premier international sports car race in recent years, forming part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

Prototype racing has been sparse, however, with the 2000 Race of a Thousand Years on the streets of Adelaide — as part of the Asian Le Mans Series — and the 4 Hours of The Bend two years ago being the most notable events with that type of car this century.