Ex-IndyCar driver Tristan Vautier joins SARD Morand WEC LMP2 team
Former IndyCar racer and 2012 Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier will race for the Team SARD Morand LMP2 squad in the opening two rounds of the World Endurance Championship
The Frenchman will drive one of the squad's pair of Morgan-SARD LMP2 EVOs alongside Oliver Webb and Pierre Ragues in the Silverstone and Spa rounds, before the winner of the team's Raceto24 reality TV show takes over at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June and subsequent rounds of the WEC.
Vautier, who graduated from his successful Lights campaign in 2012 to the IndyCar Series in '13 with the Schmidt team, makes the move into the WEC after three appearances driving a SpeedSource Lola-Mazda LMP2 in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship last season.
Team boss Benoit Morand said: "I had a few very good options for the third seat in the first two rounds of the WEC.
"What made the difference in favour of Tristan was that he was highly motivated to be in the car, and his race record speaks for itself."
Vautier, 25, added that it was an "honour" to be joining the team.
His replacement will be picked from a list of 24 drivers, which includes Conor Daly, Christopher Haase and Sam Brabham, taking part in the Raceto24 internet-based reality show.
A full-season partner for Team SARD Morand's other WEC entry alongside Christian Klien and Koki Saga has yet to be announced.
DID YOU KNOW...
Tristan Vautier has a family connection with a stalwart sportscar racer?
He is the godson of 13-time Le Mans 24 Hours starter Jerome Policand, who notched up a best result of fourth position in 1997.
Policand runs the Auto Sport Promotion GT team for which Vautier contested the Spa 24 Hours in 2012 and '14.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Le Mans 24 Hours: #8 Toyota takes lead at half-distance, #7 gets turbo issue
Le Mans winner Tandy set to return in Algarve Pro-run LMP2 with Jarvis
Allan McNish: Going the Distance
Bruno Senna signs up for WEC LMP2 campaign with Morand-run team
Morand eyeing two-car WEC programme through new Franck Muller deal
Morand LMP2 team confirms it will miss Silverstone WEC round
Porsche lodges appeal over da Costa's Misano Formula E disqualification
2024 MotoGP world championship standings after the Americas GP
What Aston Martin’s curfew burn told us about its F1 upgrade trajectory
Tank Slappers Podcast: MotoGP Americas GP review
Ranking Derek Warwick’s top 10 greatest races
Why Peugeot had no choice but to revamp its radical Le Mans Hypercar
How motorsport is embracing the opportunities of AI
The experiment WEC could revisit to magnify its boom period
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.
Top Comments