Gulf Middle East Lola Withdraws From LeMans

With only one of its entries appearing on the entry list for next weekend's Six Hours of Spa as well as the official test day, Gulf Racing Middle East has withdrawn its No. 29 Lola B12/80 Nissan from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The news was confirmed Friday by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which has awarded DKR Engineering an entry to the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic on June 22-23.

DKR's Lola B11/40-Judd, which debuted at European Le Mans Series season-opener at Silverstone earlier this month, has the nominated driver of Olivier Porta.

Gulf Racing Middle East, which lodged two full-season entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship, missed the opening round at Silverstone and will instead focus efforts on its No. 28 entry for the next two races. Team principal Fabien Giroix has been the only announced driver thus far.

The latest withdrawal leaves only one LMP car, the No. 37 Signatech Alpine-Nissan, on the reserve list.

The No. 23 Delta-ADR Oreca 03 Nissan and No. 20 HVM Status GP Lola B12/80 Judd, which were originally the fifth and sixth reserve entrants, have since pulled out, although the Canadian-entered effort has retained a race entry for its No. 30 Lola-Judd, which was withdrawn as a full-season WEC entrant last month.

While the shakeup has no effect on the entries in GTE-Pro or Am, the updated entry list confirms only a single GTE reserve as well.

TRG-Aston Martin Racing North America's Aston Martin Vantage V8, nominated for 2002 Le Mans class winner Kevin Buckler, has dropped off the list, leaving the No. 75 Proton Competition Porsche as sole remaining reserve in the production-based classes.

Up to 61 cars are expected for the Le Mans Test Day, scheduled for June 9.