Minassian to fill in for Toyota protege Hirakawa in ELMS rounds
Former Peugeot LMP1 racer Nicolas Minassian will replace Toyota development driver Ryo Hirakawa at the DragonSpeed prototype squad in the next two rounds of the European Le Mans Series
The 44-year-old will move over from his management role with the US team for next weekend's Red Bull Ring round and the Paul Ricard event in August to share its ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2 with three-time Daytona 24 Hours winner Memo Rojas and Frenchman Leo Roussel.
DragonSpeed's sporting director is standing in for Hirakawa because the Japanese driver is unavailable courtesy of his commitments in the Super GT Series with the TOM'S Lexus team.
Minassain said: "I'm really excited to get back behind the wheel of a prototype and race in such a competitive series.
"I did a few laps at the Le Mans test when Elton [Julian, the team boss] gave me a run with four-stint old tyres and a full tank of fuel, so I already have a feel for the new-for-2017 LMP2s."
Minassian said his job would be "to assist Leo and Memo in scoring two good results and valuable points" after they moved into contention for the championship with victory at the most recent ELMS round at Monza in May together with Hirakawa.
Minassian will also contest the Spa 24 Hours at the end of this month at the wheel of a pro-am class Ferrari 488 GT3 entered under the Spirit of Race banner by AF Corse.
He will share the car in the Endurance Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series on July 29/30 with Davide Rizzo, Alex Demirdjian and a yet-to-be-determined fourth driver.
It will be Minassian's first attack on the Spa enduro since he raced a Ferrari 550 Maranello GT1 car run by the British Cirtek team for Russian Age Racing in 2005.
Minassian's race outings so far this year have come in the Dubai and Paul Ricard 24-hour races in Mercedes-AMG GT3s run respectively by the IDEC and RoFgo teams.
Motorsport.com launches Swiss version in three languages
Ecurie Ecosse to be celebrated at 2017 Goodwood Revival
Laser Tools Racing continues in BTCC with Hill
The Laser Tools Racing name that was carried to British Touring Car Championship titles in 2020 and 2021 will continue in the series after all with Jake Hill.
McLaren to share F1 reserve driver Schumacher with Mercedes
Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher will be also made available as a stand-in to McLaren, the Woking team has announced.
NASCAR Next Gen car gets safety upgrades for 2023 season
NASCAR unveiled some changes to the Next Gen car for the 2023 season, with most enhancing its safety aspects.
O’Ward optimistic about Rossi and that McLaren IndyCar DNFs can be reduced
Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward says he’s confident that Alexander Rossi will be a strong addition to the line-up and that the team has gotten on top of its mechanical woes.
The 2022 Autosport Awards winner using Esports as a launchpad
A trail blazed in Esports has inspired a revamp of the annual prize that aims to discover the best young engineering talent. Autosport met Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future winner Michael Preston
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past
Rising sportscar star Adam Smalley had to pinch himself when offered the chance to drive the car that won the world’s most famous enduro in 1987
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.