Cottingham to Stand in for Ramos at Paul Ricard

Garage 59 has brought in FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 racer James Cottingham to replace Miguel Ramos aboard the No. 188 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season opener at Paul Ricard.

The British squad confirmed on Thursday that team regular Ramos is unable to compete at Paul Ricard as he is recovering from a recent surgery.

Instead, Cottingham will step up to share driving duties with Adam Smalley and Louis Prette for this weekend’s three-hour curtain raiser at the French circuit.

Last year’s British GT Championship runner-up has been racing the McLaren GT3 car in WEC this season, forming part of United Autosports’ two-car LMGT3 program.

Cottingham’s last previous outing in Endurance Cup competition came during last year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, where he shared a Haupt Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Naveen Rao, Matt Bell and Frank Bird.

“I’m really looking forward to driving for Garage 59. They have impressed me with their past performance and I can’t wait to join the team at Paul Ricard. I wish Miguel a speedy recovery and I promise to be the best super sub I can be!”

Garage 59 will field three McLaren in this weekend’s race at Paul Ricard, with its effort spearheaded by a Pro entry for Tom Gamble, Benjamin Goethe and Dean MacDonald.