News & Notes Roundup: 2.3

Photo: Rafa Sanchez

***Those hoping to see a retro livery on one or more of the Ford GTs at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will be disappointed, as Ford Performance boss Dave Pericak revealed that all of its Le Mans entries will be carrying the same red-white-and-blue livery currently seen on the cars.

***SPV Racing has announced that will enter the ELMS with a Ligier JS P3, with former Toyota Formula 1 test and reserve driver Borja Garcia having been confirmed as the first driver (pictured above).

***Bas Leinders has joined McLaren GT as Sporting Manager. Leinders previously served as Team Principal of Marc VDS Racing, having led the team to victory in last year’s Total 24 Hours of Spa.

***Pirelli World Challenge teams are scheduled to test at Circuit of The Americas on Feb. 15-16. The series, meanwhile, has launched a new redesign of its Web site, which can be found Here.

***World Challenge GTS team Racers Edge Motorsports completed its first test with its new SIN R1 GT4 at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, Georgia. James Vance tested the car on a near perfect weather day.

***News of a sixth LMP3 constructor could be expected later this week. The ACO had initially capped the junior prototype class to five, naming Ginetta, Onroak Automotive, Ave-Riley, ADESS and Dome.

***TF Sport has confirmed that it will not only return to International GT Open but also contest the new Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup with its Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. The British team, led by Tom Ferrier, will see Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey pilot the Aston in the six-round championship which kicks off at Imola in May.

***Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Europe and World Final winners Bonaldi Motorsport have confirmed plans to compete in the ADAC GT Masters this season. The team, which will also defend its Super Trofeo titles, will enter a Huracán GT3 in the German national championship.

***2015 Hankook 12H Italy-Mugello winners Herberth Motorsport will return to ADAC GT Masters this season, after a year-long absence. The team will enter a new Porsche 911 GT3 R for Robert Renauer and former Porsche Junior Martin Ragginger. The team is also set to defend its 24H Series race victory in Mugello in March.

***The GT Open Winter Test session at Paul Ricard has been moved from March 4-5 to March 6-7. Series’ partner Michelin already booked the circuit for March 6-7 and in order to reduce costs GT Sport and Michelin decided to merge the tests. The other Winter Series dates will remain unchanged.

***Hungary has been added to the 2016 GT4 European Series calendar. The series initially planned a race at the Nürburgring, but will join DTM at the Hungaroring in September instead. The season will kick off at Monza, supporting the Blancpain GT Series, before going to Pau, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Zandvoort will host the season finale in October.

***Team HCB-Rutronik Racing has taken delivery of a brand new Audi R8 LMS, which will be entered in the German DMV GTC championship. The team already raced an Audi R8 LMS ultra in 2015, which will also be entered in the series this year.

Marcel ten Caat contributed to this report

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