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Extreme Speed to reduce USC programme amid Le Mans 24 Hours bid

The Extreme Speed Motorsports squad is refusing to commit to continuing in the United SportsCar Championship as it turns its attention to a 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours attack

ESM co-owners Scott Sharp and Ed Brown have only confirmed they will race in the four-round North American Endurance Cup component of next year's USC. The Cup will continue to be sponsored by Brown's Patron Tequila brand.

The team, which is competing in this weekend's World Endurance Championship round at Austin with one car, has revealed its intention to enter two of Honda Performance Development's new-for-2015 ARX-04b coupes for Le Mans, and that it will take in at least one WEC round ahead of the 24 Hours.

Sharp said: "We are committed to the USC in some capacity and we will contest the NAEC, but there are also a lot of other good races around the world that we would like to do."

ESM has not ruled out competing in the full WEC, but pointed out that no decision could be made before the world championship calendar was released.

The team's preparations for its 2015 Le Mans bid will include taking in the Shanghai round of the WEC this year with both of its open-top ARX-03bs, which means it will miss the final USC and NAEC round at Road Atlanta at the start of next month.

"We need to compare ourselves against the teams that we will be competing against in the future," said Sharp.

"One of the reasons why we are going to Shanghai is to figure out about the tyres; a lot of US teams have gone to Le Mans in the past and struggled on the different tyres."

David Brabham, who raced alongside Brown and his USC partner Johannes van Overbeek in the Daytona and Sebring enduros this year, will return to the line up for Shanghai.

Sharp and his regular team-mate Ryan Dalziel will be partnered by Mexican Ricardo Gonzalez, who won the P2 title in last year's WEC with OAK Racing.

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