Silverstone Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***All 33 cars are set for the Six Hours of Silverstone, which kicks off the fifth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship. A mix of sunshine and intermittent showers greeted competitors on Thursday, but conditions are expected to worsen for the weekend. Rain is in the forecast for Friday, with a mix of rain and snow showers for Saturday!

***The No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE will be without Jonny Adam this weekend, as the Aston Martin Racing factory driver focuses on his British GT commitments at Brands Hatch. Adam was originally listed to drive in the WEC, ELMS and British GT races this weekend but logistics have dashed plans of possibly undertaking all three races.

***As a result, Richie Stanaway and Fernando Rees will be the only two drivers in the No. 95 Aston Martin, with Darren Turner stepping into the Beechdean-backed No. 99 Aston in the ELMS alongside Andrew Howard and Alex MacDowall.

***A total of eight drivers will be pulling double-duty between the WEC and ELMS races this weekend. The list includes Harry Tincknell, Nicolas Lapierre, Richard Lietz, Wolf Henzler, Christian Reid, Darren Turner, Richie Stanaway and Rui Aguas.

***Andrew Howard, meanwhile, will be pulling double-duty between the ELMS race and British GT round at Brands Hatch, which has races on Sunday and Monday.

***Progress on Dallara’s 2017 LMP2 car continues to be made, with the Italian constructor expecting to begin on-track testing at the end of August. “There is a lot of interest around our project and we already have orders for several cars,” said Dallara President and CEO Andrea Pontremoli.

***A number of ELMS teams took part in a single-day test at Silverstone on Tuesday. It included Tequila Patron ESM’s Scott Sharp, Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Chris Cumming, who turned laps in an OAK Racing-run Ligier JS P3 in preparation for the WEC race.

***It’s both Cumming and van Overbeek’s first time at Silverstone. JvO missed the race last year due to a rib injury, which saw him replaced by David Brabham. Cumming, meanwhile, makes his team debut, moving over to the WEC after multiple seasons in IMSA Prototype Challenge competition.

Photo: Aston Martin Racing

***An Aston Martin Vantage GTE car was lifted by crane onto the top of a 31-story tower in East London on Wednesday, as part of a new partnership with specialist property developer, Mount Anvil. The UK-based company becomes the Official Luxury London Homes Partner to the Aston Martin Racing team.

***Ford Performance had one of its Ford GTs on display in London this week as well, with a show car having been transported in a see-through container around the downtown streets.

***Veteran Audi engineer Brad Kettler is serving as an advisor to Audi Sport Team Joest’s LMP1 program this weekend. Ketter told Sportscar365 that he’ll be with the team through the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite Audi’s reduced two-car effort in the French endurance classic.

***Kettler’s return to the WEC paddock coincides with Thursday’s news of Leena Gade’s departure following Le Mans in June. She will be replaced by Erik Schuivens as race engineer of the No. 7 Audi R18.

***The WEC has rolled out with an updated version of its second-screen App, which provides live video and audio coverage of each race as well as full data timing, on-board cameras, and for the first time, full race replays available on demand up to 3 weeks after each race. The Premium Season pack, for all races except the 24 Hours of Le Mans is available for $24.99.

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