Acura LMP2 that only raced once to return to action at Silverstone Festival
The Acura ARX-04b LMP2 that raced only once in period will return to competition at the Silverstone Festival, while the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams have confirmed a presence.
Masters Endurance Legends frontrunner Steve Tandy, who has sold the second-generation Peugeot 908 LMP1 turbodiesel in which he was a race winner last year, will drive an Acura that has been restored by BBM Sport.
Bob Berridge’s operation has purchased two of the cars designed by Wirth Research for the 2015 season and has undertaken a nine-month rebuild of the first chassis.
The car was given a shakedown at Donington Park last week with Tandy and Richard Bradley driving. The P2 Le Mans 24 Hours class winner lapped the national circuit just below the one-minute mark.
“It was a successful test after quite a complex rebuild – the engines came in kit form and have been built up by Mountune and we are now running on MoTeC electronics,” said Berridge.
“Richard reckoned he would have been able to get into the 58s on fresh rubber and low fuel, and Steve was in the 62s, which isn’t bad for a 69-year-old.”
The ARX-04b was abandoned by the Extreme Speed Motorsports squad after the opening round of IMSA’s United SportsCar Championship in 2015.
The car subsequently underwent a development programme for the following year, but never raced in its revised form.
Tandy’s outing in two 40-minute MEL races on the Festival bill on 26-27 August remains a one-off for the moment.
Meanwhile, also confirmed as making an appearance at the event will be the Mercedes and Williams F1 teams, with both set to run cars around the circuit.
Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP W01
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Mercedes will bring six of its cars to the event, including an MGP W01 as raced by Michael Schumacher in 2010 and the most recent W14 model currently driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
The team’s development driver Esteban Gutierrez will also take to the track in a W04 used during the 2013 season.
Williams will have Alain Prost’s 1993 title-winning FW15C on display, while an FW19 used during the 1997 season will also be demonstrated on track.
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