Alexander Sims joins Status GP for European Le Mans Series
Sportscar newcomer Alexander Sims will race for the Status GP team in this year's European Le Mans Series alongside his role as test and development driver for the McLaren GT programme
Sims, who raced with Status in GP3 last season, will drive the team's LMP2 Lola B12/80-Judd/BMW in the full ELMS.
He will be joined at the season opener at Paul Ricard this weekend by multiple Superleague Formula race winner Yelmer Buurman and British sportscar regular Dean Stirling.
Sims, the 2008 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner, said: "To be able to balance my programmes this year is a fantastic way for me to quickly gain sportscar experience and hopefully top results. Developing the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 and racing a prototype in ELMS will complement each other perfectly."
Status is moving into sportscars under its own name for the first time in 2012. The team has previously helped run cars for the Level 5 Motorsports LMP2 team and Team Modena in GT1.
Status team principal Teddy Yip Jr said: "It's fantastic that Status GP's long-held ambition to move into sportscar racing in our own right is coming to fruition this weekend, and it's an important development for the company."
The Status Lola shaken down at Snetterton on Monday, with Sims getting his first laps in a prototype, before the team left for Ricard.
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