Silverstone Friday Notebook

Photo: David Stephens

***Bruno Senna will join Darren Turner and Stefan Muecke in the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Senna was originally nominated in a fifth AMR entry for the race but team principal John Gaw told Sportscar365 that the plan was for the Brazilian to be in the lead entry all along.

***Gaw said he is in no hurry to confirm the driver lineup for the Le Mans-only No. 89 Aston Martin entry, with a number of drivers potentially in the running. “There’s a lot of good guys to choose from,” Gaw said. “We’ve got Richie Stanaway. Dane Cameron is a real smart young guy and could be interesting as well. There’s lots of other people we tested over the winter. We’ve still got Jonny Adam and have signed Richard Abra and there’s Jamie Campbell-Walter as well.”

***Additionally, Aston Martin Racing will not return to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship until “things are sorted out” according to Gaw. “I think we made the right decision not to come to Sebring,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll sort it out but it’s not ready for that investment for us right now.”

***While today’s opening day of practice was run in dry conditions, and more of the same is expected for tomorrow, Sunday’s forecast looks rather dismal, with a 90 percent chance of showers. It could result in all of the running being thrown out the window if it indeed turns into a wet race.

***Anthony Davidson celebrates his 35th birthday today. The Toyota factory driver set the third quickest time in Friday morning’s free practice session, which saw all of the factory LMP1 manufacturers represented in the top three on the time sheets.

***Ram Racing’s No. 53 Ferrari F458 Italia GT is running in 2012-spec this weekend and at next month’s Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, despite the rules allowing the British squad to upgrade to 2013 spec, which the majority of GTE-Am teams have done.

***After two faithful years in the championship, Sunday’s Six Hours of Silverstone will mark the first FIA WEC race without Krohn Racing. The Texas-based team, known for its iconic “Krohn Green” Ferrari F458 Italia, is competing in a limited-season TUDOR Championship schedule instead this year.

***As a result, 8Star Motorsports is the only U.S.-backed effort in the FIA WEC this year, while South African-born Mark Patterson is the lone American driver in the field. However, Canadian Paul Dalla Lana is also representing the North American continent.

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