Van der Zande Confirmed at Vector Sport for Fuji

Renger van der Zande has been drafted into Vector Sport’s LMP2 driver lineup as Nico Mueller’s stand-in for the 6 Hours of Fuji, linking up with his IMSA co-driver Sebastien Bourdais for the FIA World Endurance Championship race.

The two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner will sub for Vector Sport regular Mueller, who is missing the fifth round of the WEC season due to a date clash with the DTM round at Spa where the Swiss driver will be piloting a Team Rosberg Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Van der Zande will share Vector Sport’s No. 10 Oreca 07 Gibson with Bourdais and Ryan Cullen at the event in Japan on Sep. 9-11.

Bourdais and van der Zande have won three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi races together this year, driving for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing.

Fuji will mark van der Zande’s first WEC LMP2 outing since the final round of last season when he drove for Inter Europol Competition on a full-time basis.

The Dutchman also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with GTE-Am Ferrari squad JMW Motorsport.

“I’m really looking forward to racing at Fuji Speedway, a circuit I’ve tested at with Super Formula but never had the chance to race at because of the pandemic over the last few years,” said van der Zande.

“I’ve got very good memories of it and am looking forward to being in Japan with Vector Sport.

“Working with Seb this year, we’ve developed a very good partnership. He’s very detailed with setup and I’m a bit more plug and play, let’s say, so hope it will be easy to jump into the Vector LMP2.

“The Oreca is a proven car, the best LMP2 car out there, and I find it very nice and easy to handle. Seb and I are aligned in terms of how we like the setup, and I hear that Ryan thinks similarly so I can’t wait.”

Vector Sport’s lineup adjustment for Fuji marks the British team’s second driver change during its maiden WEC campaign.

Mike Rockenfeller came on board for the season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring to replace Bourdais, who prioritized his DPi drive with Ganassi in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring that took place on the same weekend.

Vector Sport claimed its first podium last time out at Monza where Bourdais, Mueller and Cullen finished third.

Explaining the Fuji lineup adjustment, team principal Gary Holland said: “We knew from the start of the season that Fuji clashed with a DTM round, and our deal with Nico was always on the understanding that DTM would be his priority in case of any clashes.

“We are very grateful to both Cadillac Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing for releasing Renger to be with us for this one round – a perfect stand-in.

“We are fully confident that he’ll fit it extremely well with Vector Sport, not least because of his current close working relationship with Seb plus his knowledge of the track and the Oreca 07.”

Replacements for all three drivers affected by the WEC-DTM clash have now been confirmed.

Audi Sport factory driver Dries Vanthoor will sub for Rene Rast in the No. 31 Team WRT Oreca, while Davide Rigon is stepping in for Nick Cassidy at AF Corse in GTE-Am.