Sarel van der Merwe will again team up with Le Mans 24-hour winner Jan Lammers and Dr Greg Mills to contest the Creventic 24-hour race at Paul Ricard. They will use the Ginetta G55 GT4 that the trio finished first on Index of Performance and class and second overall in the South African nine-hour at Killarney in the Cape in December 2015. For Paul Ricard they will be joined by multiple SA endurance champion Nick Adcock and the successful, seasoned GT campaigner Terry Wilford.
Team Africa Le Mans patron and former Tyrrell and Lotus Grand Prix driver Eddie Keizan says ‘This is a fantastic effort – the first South African team to contest such an important and challenging race.’
Former F1 driver Bruce Johnstone, the only South African to have raced for the BRM factory and a nine-hour winner for Ferrari, says of the upcoming race: ‘With the development the team have been able to do to the car it should be quicker than in Cape Town where it was outstanding, and driver comfort should be improved. One cannot overlook the amazing organisational capability of this team and the speed we saw in the Cape.’
Ginetta chairman and Le Mans winner Lawrence Tomlinson has added: ‘Ginetta is seen as the manufacturer to beat on the sports-car scene. The G55 GT4 car has taken a number of victories and strong results across several 24-hour races in the past few years. I am sure with their strong driver line-up and dedicated crew, Team Africa Le Mans is a real challenger for honours at Paul Ricard.’
Lammers, who won Le Mans for Jaguar when Sarel was in the works Porsche, twice won the Daytona 24-hour, drove sports-cars for Toyota, Dome and Nissan, and Formula One for ATS, Ensign, Shadow and March, is raring to get back into the car: ‘Driving with Greg and Sarel during the Killarney nine-hour was a true pleasure. Teaming up finally with Sarel turned out to be a much easier task than driving against him, and we had the result to prove it! I don’t know where Greg has been hiding all these years because he surprised me with his speed, stamina and consistency, despite being someone with a real (busy) job. I can’t wait to get going again with this super no-nonsense competent team. They are all highly motivated and committed which really brings out the best in all of us.’
Support for the effort has come in from notable sporting figures. Emanuele Pirro, Benetton F1 driver and five-time winner of the Le Mans 24-hour, writes: ‘What a great team led by the wily Sarel, the super-competitive Jan and the understated Greg. I would love, next time, to be a part of this!’
With support from TerraWealth, FastOil, G&A Promotions, Tierhoek, Hollard, Richard Harper Logistics, Auvergne Design, AidCall247, Ocean Optics, Bcc Signs, and Canvas and Tent among others, Team Manager Anton Roux is confident that ‘with the likes of Nic Jooste, Derek Hulse and Piet Westdraadt engineering the car, we should have the reliability to match our proven pace. We are aiming for a podium finish.’
The Paul Ricard race is part of the international endurance series run over seven rounds. The CEO of Motorsport SA (MSA), Adrian Scholtz, adds: ‘I am sure that Team Africa Le Mans will do South Africa proud at Paul Ricard.’ The Team Africa Le Mans Ginetta will carry logos in the race in support of MSA’s role in the international campaign against wildlife poaching and illegal trades.