Sir Chris Hoy is on track for Le Mans 2015
Sir Chris Hoy will step up a gear on his journey to the Le Mans 24 Hours with Nissan next year. After a strong debut season in the British GT Championship, Britain's most successful Olympian will race a Ginetta-Nissan LM P3 car in the European Le Mans Series as he continues his quest to gain a seat at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours.
In 2014 Hoy competed in the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in the British GT Championship, making steady progress as he learned the craft of competing in professional circuit racing.
Hoy will be racing a faster car in 2015 and will get his first real taste of endurance racing as each of the European Le Mans Series races are four hours long. He will also take part in the official Le Mans Test Day on May 31 when he will drive a racing car on the full Le Mans circuit for the first time, sharing the track with the competitors for the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Nissan announced in September that it would be the sole engine supplier for LM P3, a new-for-2015 endurance racing category. LM P3 is the perfect training ground for the Le Mans drivers of the future as they can hone their prototype endurance racing skills in the European or Asian Le Mans Series before stepping up to the LM P2 category for the Le Mans 24 Hours itself.
The LM P3 programme means that Nissan has created a sports car ladder of success, from GT4 to GT3 then onto LM P3, LM P2 and the premier class of LM P1.
Hoy will race a works Ginetta-Nissan alongside 17-year-old fellow Scot, Charlie Robertson, the current Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Champion.
Hoy commented: "I'm delighted to be stepping up to race in the European Le Mans series for Nissan next year. This takes me another step closer to my motorsport dream of competing at Le Mans.
"This year was a great experience racing in the British GT championship, but I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn to bridge the gap to be competitive at Le Mans. I'm also excited to be joining fellow Scot Charlie Robertson, who's already achieved so much in his young motor racing career."
by: Becca Chaplin