On Sunday 24 July the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will be in full swing, with practice and qualifying for the 6 Hours of Nürburgring taking place on Friday and Saturday 22/23 July.  

The race around the 5.148 km circuit to see who will come out ahead between Porsche, Audi and Toyota, with the two German manufacturers having both won in the previous three races while Cologne based Toyota Gazoo Racing looking for their first win of the season closer to home after the immense disappointment of being so close to the win at Le Mans.

With a strong grid of 33 cars there have been a few changes among the driver line ups since Round 3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with faces both new and familiar joining or rejoining the WEC.

Tréluyer sidelined after training injury and Beche returns to Rebellion Racing in LMP1

There have been a couple of changes on the 9 car LMP1 grid in Germany.

2013 FIA World Endurance Champion Benoît Tréluyer will have to sit out the next round of the WEC in Germany.  the 39-year-old Frenchman was fell while training on his mountain bike and injured his spinal column. The injury will heal without surgical intervention and have no further consequences but as the recovery period will be several weeks, Tréluyer has to skip round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). His teammates, Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer, will be contesting the race at the Nürburgring on July 24 as a team of two in the number “7” Audi R18. “On behalf of Audi Sport, I wish Benoît a speedy and full recovery so that he’ll be ready to race again in the subsequent event in Mexico,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Mathias Beche returns to the WEC for the first time this season, joining Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld in the No.12 Rebellion Racing R-One AER.  The Swiss driver replaces Nelson Piquet Jr who was contracted just for the first three rounds of the 2016 season.

More young talent to LMP2

Once again LMP2 will have the largest grid, with 11 cars due to take the start at the Nürburgring.

As already announced by G-Drive Racing, 25-year-old Alex Brundle will join Roman Rusinov and René Rast in the No.26 ORECA 05 Nissan for the remainder of the season.  The team is looking for its first victory of the season to close the gap to Signatech Alpine in the LMP2 Championship points’ battle and Brundle, as 2013 WEC LMP2 Championship runner up, has both speed and experience to offer his team mates. 

A new name to the WEC is that of Lewis Williamson who makes his debut in the championship with Strakka Racing, and indeed his debut in international sportscar racing.  The 26-year-old Scottish driver will be racing at the Nürburgring, alongside Nick Leventis and Jonny Kane – replacing Danny Watts for this race.

Antonio Pizzonia returns to the WEC in the No.44 Manor ORECA 05, replacing Will Stevens alongside James Jakes and Tor Graves.

Comings and Goings in LMGTE

Seven cars will be competing for top honours in LMGTE Pro with Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche looking to be first to the chequered flag in Germany. 

Aston Martin Racing has revised its line ups in the No.95 and No.97 entries, and will run with two drivers per car in line with the majority of its competitors in the category.  Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen maintain the Dane Train partnership in the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage, while veteran Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner returns to the familiarity of the No.97 he has always raced in until this year.  The Briton will be teamed with New Zealand hot shot Richie Stanaway.

Although Billy Johnson has returned to racing duties in North America following Le Mans, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK has retained former Le Mans winner Harry Tincknell to help boost the team’s bid for the FIA Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers. The super-fast and experienced 24-year-old raced with Marino Franchitti and Andy Priaulx in the first three rounds of the season, finishing second in LMGTE Pro at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

 Six cars are due to take the start in LMGTE Am, with the no83 AF Corse Ferrari currently holding a huge advantage after taking maximum points at Silverstone and Le Mans and second place at Spa.

Finally, the WEC joins with the whole paddock in saying a very warm “welcome back” to Paolo Ruberti who returns to the No.50 Larbre Competition after injury.   The Italian suffered a compound fracture to a lumbar vertebra at the beginning of June and has made a rapid recovery to take up his place once again alongside Yutaka Yamagishi and Pierre Ragues in the Chevrolet Corvette C7.