After successive pole positions and victories at Fuji and Shanghai with its new Ligier JS P2-Nissan, G-Drive Racing is determined to continue its winning streak in the Bahrain 6 Hours to reinforce its position in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LM P2 teams. These performances confirm that the no. 26 Onroak Automotive sports prototype shod with Dunlop tyres is one of the team’s keys to winning the title.

Thanks to the potential of the Ligier JS P2-Nissan, the experience and the professionalism of the team and its drivers, the G-Drive Racing squad has had two perfect meetings and scored the maximum number of points, a total of 52. This performance means that it has closed the gap to the leader in LM P2, SMP Racing, to eight points before the second-last round of the 2014 championship.

Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal will arrive at the Bahrain International Circuit with their motivation at an all-time high, but the glorious uncertainty of motor sport should never be forgotten. The G-Drive Racing trio in their no. 26 Ligier JS P2-Nissan will be up against tough opposition.

In the three free practice sessions the team will work on finding the right setup for the Ligier JS P2-Nissan, which will be having its first outing on this quick and technical layout. The drivers may have to cope with an additional factor, the high temperatures in Bahrain in a closed car as was the case in Austin.

As in 2012 and 2013 the Bahrain 6-Hours will start in daylight and finish at night. This particularity, which is in the pure tradition of endurance racing, will have to be taken into account when planning the race strategy.

Olivier Pla: “We’re going to do our very best to continue in the same vein as at Fuji and Shanghai and the title is still our main aim. I like the Bahrain circuit on which we raced in 2012 and 2013 very much. It’s got one very technical section and another that’s very quick, which means that you have to find the right balance in the car’s setup: it’s a very interesting challenge. Unlike the last two years when I was driving a Morgan LM P2, we’ll have a closed sports prototype this year so the heat will be an important parameter. We had to cope with it in Austin, and from a physical point of view it’s very difficult to double stint if the temperature is too high.”

Julien Canal: “After our last two victories we’re more motivated than ever and we’re confident that we can win the FIA Endurance Trophy for LM P2 teams. We’ve got two races left and we must do an impeccable job and make no mistakes to clinch the title. The Bahrain layout is pretty quick and we know that the Orecas have a good top speed, so that’s something else we’ll have to work on.”

Roman Rusinov: “Every weekend it’s a new challenge for us as we start from scratch each time we come to a new circuit with our new car. The last two races were perfect for us. The whole G-Drive Racing team did a great job and we were competitive every time we were on the circuit.

It’s been really difficult to recover from our DNF at Le Mans when we lost 50 points. We are motivated and we are in full attack and no fear mode as never before. We hope to have a good fight with KCMG in Bahrain: we were all really disappointed by the accident in China. They are real racers and it’s great to have them in the world endurance championship.”

Schedule – 6 Hours of Bahrain:
LM P1 & LM P2 Qualifying: Friday 14 November, 5:35-6:00 pm (local time -2h in France)
Race: Saturday 15 November, 3:00 am -9:00 pm (local time)

FIA LM P2 Teams Endurance Trophy, after round 6:
1- #27 – SMP Racing – 128 pts
2- #26 – G-Drive Racing – 120 pts
3- #47 – KCMG – 80 pts
4- #37 – SMP Racing – 42 pts

2014 FIA WEC Calendar – Remaining races  :
14-15 November   6 Hours of Bahraïn
29-30 November   6 Hours of Sao Paulo