At the ACO press conference held in Paris, today, the French team SO 24! by Lombard Racing received his ticket to enter the most prestigious event in the endurance world : the 24 Hours of Le Mans. SO 24! by Lombard Racing will enter the 84th edition of the 2016 edition of Le Mans 24 Hours.
Based in Mulsanne, SO 24! by Lombard Racing is particularly proud to associate his knowledge, his known-how and the expertise of a whole region completely dedicated to Motorsport.
SO 24! by Lombard Racing will enter a brand new Ligier-Judd JS P2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) with Dunlop tyres and will be driven by two French, in LM P2 category : Vincent Capillaire and Olivier Lombard. A third pilot will be announced very shortly.
Born in Le Mans, Vincent Capillaire has a huge experience with driving LM P2 cars. In 2015, he raced in the WEC championship for the Alpine-Signatech team. In 2014, he competed for Sébastien Loeb Racing and received the chequered flag at the 4 Hours of Estoril driving an ORECA 03 in the ELMS championship.
Also native of France, Olivier Lombard is a very young and highly experienced successful pilot. In 2011, he finished first at Le Mans in LM P2 and also won at Imola and Silverstone always for Greaves Motorsport. Until now, Olivier is the youngest winner of the LM P2 category in Le Mans 24 Hours.
«We are especially proud to have been selected for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2016. We would like to thank the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) for the trust given to our brand new team. It’s a great honour for the whole team.» said Jean Lombard, team principal of «SO 24! by Lombard Racing». « First of all, let me thank the selection board of ACO. This entry will give the team the opportunity to start a wonderful story with the team SO24!by Lombard Racing at Le Mans as well as in the ELMS championship. Moreover, we put in place a very young and motivated squad that enables us to enter this brand new challenge. My sincere appreciation to the people who work for the implementation of SO 24 ! project for months. Especially to Dominique Payen who stands beside me and also for making our work possible.”
Patrick Grandidier, team-manager: «To receive an entry to race at the most prestigious race in the world is a real satisfaction for the whole team. Personally, I take it as an honour and reward for the many years’ efforts made by “SO 24!” to reach this new challenge and also especially to Mister Dominique Payen, the founder of this huge project. Today, we have built up a strong team of technical and young personnel and we look forward to start. We are ready to take on that challenge again in 2016, not only by doing more, but also by doing it better. No need to say the coming days will be intensive and hard work, but thanks to our strong experience in motor racing, we are ready to do everything we can to succeed.”
Same feeling is also shared by Franck Larue, new race engineer for the SO 24! by Lombard Racing. The native of Le Mans has a wealth of experience with endurance racing. In 2013-2014, he worked for Jota Sport (LM P2) and also in 2015 for Joest-Audi Sport (LM P1): « We are delighted to have been chosen to enter Le Mans 24 Hours, especially for the first season of the team. We have a proven technical package which gives us hope and confidence for 2016. Our aim is to achieve a high quality season and to honour this entry.»
The Ligier-Judd JS P2 should be delivered February 20.
Next rendezvous for “SO 24 ! by Lombard Racing” at Le Castellet with the ELMS official testing days, March 22 and 23, in France (circuit Paul Ricard).