Prodrive tipped for Le Mans entry

Prodrive, the dominant World Rally Championship and British Touring Car Championship team, is likely to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours as a manufacturer next year, according to team boss David Richards

Jun 28, 2000, 12:03 PM

According to reports, two manufacturers are interested in using the company which builds and runs WRC Subarus and BTCC Fords, for an assault on the legendary endurance event.

"The interest we've had... leads me to believe we'll be competing there soon," said Richards. "We've had couple of approaches," he confirmed, before adding "we're trying to understand the market before we commit to one or the other."

The race car preparation concern has links with several manufacturers through its other motorsport activities, such as GM, who own a stake in Subaru, and Ford. A sportscar assault with the Aston Martin brand, which Ford owns, may be a possibility, as Ford has no major presence in sportscar racing - and Le Mans in particular - at present.

Richards claimed that the car could be in any category, prototype, GT2 or GT3. "If a client wanted a GT3 type car, and that looked a good business prospect, then we would have to consider it," he said.