Strakka-Dome Completes Successful Shakedown

Strakka Racing completed a successful shakedown of its new Strakka-Dome S103 chassis at Turweston Aerodrome in England. Driven by Jonny Kane and Danny Watts, the first of a new breed of LMP2 chassis from the Strakka Dome Racing partnership broke cover on Monday.

Powered by Nissan’s VK45 4.5-litre V8, the car completed a number of runs at the Northamptonshire airfield after final assembly at the team’s Silverstone workshop over the weekend.

“Straight out of the box we managed to get through all the systems checks, putting us in good shape for the official WEC test at Paul Ricard later this month,” said Nick Leventis, who will also drive the LMP2 car this year.

“Everyone in the team has worked tirelessly to get the car out ahead of the test and debug it. The results they have created are stunning. Now we can go to The Prologue at Ricard and use that track time to find some speed.”

The S103 chassis is the first created by the partnership of Strakka Racing and Japanese race car manufacturer Dome just last year. Together, both parties will develop, build, race and market LMP2 cars eligible for WEC, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and the newly formed TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Strakka Racing’s driver line up continues unchanged this season with  Leventis, Watts and Kane contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours. This year will mark the seventh time Strakka Racing has competed at the iconic La Sarthe circuit.

“Today was a final systems check as we head straight to the official test tomorrow,” says Karl Patman, Strakka Racing’s team manager Sports Car. “It gave us a really good chance to get know our way around the car, learning all the small things that take time.”