ELMS - Five strong crews to race at Silverstone for Ferrari

Silverstone, 14 April 2016 - On Saturday Silverstone, the home of British motorsport, will reverberate to the sound of 45 racing engines as the European Le Mans Series gets underway. The 128 drivers and 34 teams will represent 26 different nations from Europe, Asia, North and South America and will be competing across the three classes (LMP2, LMP3 and GT) to get the best start to the season as they fight for the title of 2016 European Le Mans Series Champion. The 4 Hours of Silverstone will take place on the full 5.901km Grand Prix circuit on the same schedule as the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Quality grid. The LMGTE category features nine entries and it is certainly a quality grid for the 2016 season, with five Ferrari 458 Italia, two Porsche and two Aston Martin. Denmark’s reigning ELMS LMGTE champions Formula Racing return with an all Danish driver lineup: 2015 champions Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac will be joined by Christina Nielsen in the Ferrari 458 Italia. Nielsen is no stranger to endurance racing having competed in the United States and made appearances in the ELMS and started the 2016 season with a class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier in March in the Scuderia Corsa’s new 488 GT3 (that won on its debut race). AF and AT. AF Corse will run two 458 Italias with the Italian team featuring two driver line ups largely unchanged from the 2015 season. Rui Aguas, Marco Cioci and Pierguiseppe Perazzini will run in the no. 51 car, while British drivers Aaron Scott and Duncan Cameron with join Irishman Matt Griffin in the no. 55 Ferrari at Silverstone. Austrian team AT Racing also return with an unchanged lineup after tasting victory in 2015. Father and son duo Alexander Talkanitsa junior and senior will be with Alessandro Pier Guidi once again in the no. 56 Ferrari. The world champion. The final Ferrari on the LMGTE grid will be fielded by the British JMW Motorsport team, with Britain’s Rory Butcher and Rob Smith being joined by reigning GTE-Am World Champion Andrea Bertolini, winner last year also at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Opponents. After competing in the final race in Estoril last year, 2015 British GT Champions Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam will race for the entire season in ELMS alongside Alex MacDowall in the Aston Martin. Roald Goethe, Stuart Hall and Richie Stanaway will make a welcome return to the ELMS in the no. 96 Aston Martin. Porsche will be represented by a two car entry by Proton Competition with reigning GTE-Pro World Champion Richard Lietz joining team principal Christian Ried and Gianluca Roda in the no. 88 car. Schedule. The 4 Hours of Silverstone is the open round of the six race 2016 European Le Mans Series. On Friday there will be two 90-minute free practice sessions, followed by qualifying the following morning and the 4 Hours of Silverstone at 14h30 (15.30 CET) on Saturday.