Winslow joins Le Mans 24 Hour event with top LMP2 team

Australian-based British driver James Winslow has finalized a deal to compete in the prestigious 24-Hours of Le Mans. The multiple international open-wheel champion will join the successful Caterham entry as part of the Greaves Motorsport operation for an assault on the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic in the hotly contested LMP2 class aboard the #42 Caterham Zytek-Nissan.

Initially expected to join the ranks of the GTE class, Winslow admitted that his dream of competing at the Le Mans 24 Hour would only reach maturity behind the wheel of a prototype.

“For as long as I could remember I’ve wanted to drive at Le Mans, but the dream was always to be behind the wheel of an open cockpit prototype," the race winning Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 driver explained.

“I have been focused on competing in prototypes for a while. I’d come very close to a deal with another team, but when Greaves Motorsport came to me with a great opportunity I really couldn’t say no – the time was right and I'm very pleased to be joining such an experienced operation.

“I started my sportscar career last year after many years in open-wheelers. I instantly took to the cars and have been keen to continue in the LMP class and take my career down that path towards Le Mans 24 Hour prototypes. I'm overjoyed to be on grid this year in the Caterham Racing Zytek Z11SN-Nissan. Greaves Motorsport are an experienced endurance racing operation and they took their #41 car to the Le Mans podium last year.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me, both for this year and for the future to give me the chance to gain some Le Mans experience to further my prototype career. Realistically I think along with my co-drivers this year – Rudolf Nunemann and Allessandro Latif – we will be a strong combination. We are LM24 rookies, but I think we will be very strong and hopefully when the flag finally falls we will be standing on that coveted podium.

“I’m excited to be a part of a team like Greaves Motorsport. When it comes to Le Mans, Greaves are the brains-trust but this is ‘old news’ for them. That being the case, and based on their results last year, we can certainly be a top ten car, and from there – if we keep our noises clean – who knows..

“I can’t thank Greaves Motorsport enough for giving me the opportunity and putting faith in me to being one of their leading drivers. I also have to thanks two of my greatest supporters – my Australian GT team-mate Dean Koutsoumidis through Equity-One, and V-3 Recruitment plus all of the people who have supported me over the years – we have worked towards this for a while now and we can now look forward to competing at one of motorsport’s most historic and prestigious races.
“Le Mans this year will be incredible. Porsche have made their return to the World Endurance Championship, Mark Webber will be back in the field, the LMP2 category includes some of the best young drivers on the planet, it’s just an amazing year to be making my debut there.. I seriously cannot wait!"

The 2014 24 Heures Le Mans gets underway on June 1 with the first official test day, followed by free practice on June 11 and qualifying on June 12. The race itself begins at 3:00pm (Le Mans time) on Saturday June 14.