Kubica's ByKolles WEC stand-in Rossiter stays on till Le Mans

Rossiter, 33, received a late call to rejoin the team ahead of last weekend's Silverstone WEC opener and will remain on board until Le Mans to fulfil his ambition to return to the French enduro for the first time since 2013.

He was called up to race the ByKolles ENSO CLM-NISMO P1/01 alongside Oliver Webb and Dominik Kraihamer after ex-Formula 1 driver Kubica pulled out of his projected full-season return to circuit racing in the week leading up to Silverstone.

"I've only done Le Mans twice, but it really captured my imagination the first time I did it with Lotus in 2011 [pictured below]," Rossiter told Autosport.

"I haven't had the opportunity to do it since 2013 because I have been so busy in Japan [racing in Super Formula and Super GT]."

Rossiter's participation at the Spa WEC round on May 6 in the car he raced twice in 2014 and '16 will require clearance from race officials because he is competing in the Super GT round at Fuji on the Thursday of the Belgian event.

"I can get there in time for Friday, but I just need to make sure that I can miss signing on and the drivers' briefing," he explained.

His regular team-mate at the TOM'S Lexus squad in Japan, Kazuki Nakajima, will miss the mid-week Fuji round in order to take part in WEC free practice at Spa on the Thursday.

Rossiter believes that ByKolles can make significant progress with its renamed ENSO CLM before Le Mans now that the team has switched from the car's original AER engine to the NISMO-badged Nissan twin-turbo V6.

"This is the first time we've really been able to work on the car and develop the vehicle dynamics," he said.

"The Nissan engine is exactly what the project needed, because we have now got a consistent working platform."

New front-end aerodynamics are set to be introduced on the CLM at Spa.