Tequila Patron ESM Confirmed Entrants in 2015 FIA WEC Season and 24 Hours of Le Mans

Tequila Patron ESM Honda

In late 2014, Tequila Patron ESM submitted two full-season entrant applications for the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). Today the team received confirmation that it will compete in the eight-race FIA WEC season which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The team will field two Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-04b coupe prototypes with continued sponsorship from Tequila Patron. The 2015 FIA WEC schedule spans the globe and includes Tequila Patron ESM’s debut in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans and the six-hour races at circuits in England, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China, Bahrain and the United States round in Austin, Texas.

Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson will share driving duties of the No. 30 Tequila Patron Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-04b coupe. Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty team-up in the sister No. 31 car.

Tequila Patron ESM is the only US-based prototype team competing in the FIA WEC this season. Although Tequila Patron ESM is making its 24 Hours of Le Mans team debut, two of its drivers have won the endurance classic, while two others are making their Le Mans debut.

Sharp first raced at Le Mans in 1996. Dalziel has three previous starts including a 2012 victory in the previous generation Honda prototype, the ARX-03b. Following his Le Mans victory in 2012, Dalziel went on to capture the 2012 FIA WEC LMP2 Championship title. Tequila Patron ESM newcomer Heinemeier Hansson has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times. In 2012 during his first Le Mans race, Heinemeier Hansson finished seventh in the LMP2 class, and then was runner-up in 2013. In his third attempt at Le Mans last year, Heinemeier Hansson won the GTE AM class race and then the FIA WEC driver’s championship.

Brown and Fogarty are making their Le Mans debut, while 2015 marks the fifth start for van Overbeek. In 2005, while competing in the GT2 class, van Overbeek earned his best finish of third place at Le Mans with the Flying Lizard Porsche team.

Tequila Patron ESM entered its first FIA WEC race in September 2014 during the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas where Sharp, Brown and Dalziel earned a third-place finish. Then the team entered both black and Patron green Honda Performance Development ARX-03b prototypes in the 6 Hours of Shanghai. Sharp, Dalziel and Ricardo Gonzalez earned runner-up honors in China while Brown, van Overbeek and David Brabham finished fifth.

Tequila Patron ESM kicks off the 2015 FIA WEC season next month at the Prologue pre-season test on March 27-28, at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France.