Barrichello to drive at Le Mans

PARIS: Retired Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello will make his debut driving in the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race, it was confirmed on Thursday.

The Brazilian will share the wheel of a Dutch entry with Jan Lammers, the 1988 winner with Jaguar.

“I’m delighted to hear that we have been accepted for my 23rd Le Mans and Racing Team Netherlands’ first entry,” ex F1 driver Lammer told Britain’s autosport magazine online edition.

“We are extremely proud to enter some Brazilian flavour into Le Mans,” he added.

They will be driving a Dallara LMP2 car which the pair have already started testing.

Whilst this will be Barrichello’s first taste of Le Mans, the 44-yearold has completed three editions of the Daytona 24 Hour, finishing runner-up last year.

The former Ferrari ace retired from F1 in 2011 after 11 wins.

The 85th running of motorsport’s mythic race will be staged without the participation of Audi.

The German auto g iant announced in October they were pulling out of the world endurance championship to focus on Formula E.

Audi won Le Mans 13 times between 2000 and 2014 but the last two years saw them usurped by Porsche.

Barrichello fol lows in the footsteps of other F1 stars to be drawn to Le Mans including Mark Webber, the Australian who on June 17 will be acting as a marshall and official starter.

In total 60 cars were accepted Thursday for the race which attracts a crowd of 250,000 petrol heads to the circuit. — AFP