Werner seals Highcroft Le Mans deal

The American Le Mans Series champion squad is entering Le Mans for the first time this year, and will run its HPD chassis in the LMP2 class.

With regular driver Simon Pagenaud contracted to Peugeot for Le Mans, Highcroft is bringing in former Audi man Werner to join David Brabham and Marino Franchitti.

"With our team going to Le Mans for the first time this year we have quite a bit to learn," said team boss Duncan Dayton.

"Obviously we will rely a lot on David's expertise and experience but when it came to completing our driver line-up it was important for us to find somebody who had great experience and knew how to win there.

"Marco knows the rhythm of the race and the weekend and clearly when he became available, there was certainly nobody else we could grab to help us quickly learn how to win there."

Werner, whose career achievements also include an ALMS title, a Daytona 24 Hours victory and three Sebring 12 Hours wins, tested the Highcroft HPD for the first time at Sebring earlier this week.

"Compared to the Audi, this is going to be a completely different world for me so I am really looking forward to driving the car at Le Mans," Werner said.

"I know the car in Sebring as an LMP2 was very competitive and it is much lighter than the Audi. I'm looking forward to having a much more agile car to drive.

"It will be very different at Le Mans. We know that LMP2 and LMP1 are in a different world, but at circuits like Sebring there isn't that much difference."