Le Mans 24 Hours SRT Viper seat for Jeroen Bleekemolen
Versatile Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen will race for Chrysler's factory SRT Motorsports squad in the Le Mans 24 Hours in June
Bleekemolen was confirmed in the GTE Pro class car on the announcement of the Le Mans entry list on Thursday.
He is contesting the race as part of his deal with the Riley Technologies-run team to drive an SRT Viper GT3-R in the GT Daytona class of the United SportsCar Championship.
The 32-year-old takes the place of Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has returned to SRT to contest the USC enduros, and is scheduled to partner Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens in one of the two Viper GTS-Rs at Le Mans.
Former IndyCar champion Hunter-Reay is unavailable for the 24 Hours because he cannot take part in the Le Mans test day, which would be mandatory for him as a race rookie, because of the clashing Detroit IndyCar Series race.
Bleekemolen, who raced in LMP2 at Le Mans last year, said: "They could offer me the chance to do Le Mans as well as GTD in the USC, so it was a good deal for me.
"P2 is the biggest class at Le Mans this year and looks very competitive, but if you look at the names and the manufacturers in GTE Pro, it is more competitive still."
Briton Rob Bell, who started his programme as Hunter-Reay's opposite number in the USC enduros at last month's Daytona 24 Hours, has now been confirmed for Le Mans and is scheduled to drive alongside Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer.
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