14 French drivers on the starting grid at Le Castellet

Of the 80 drivers who will compete in France, 14 will be sporting the blue, white and red colours of the French flag – more than 17.5% of the grid – and most of these will be driving in the LMP2 category.

The French Thiriet by TDS Racing team, which is currently second in the championship and just two points behind championship leaders JOTA Sport, will be entering the only ORECA 05 on the grid for its three French drivers, Pierre Thiriet, Tristan Gommendy and Ludovic Badey.

Clermont Ferrand resident, Nathanaël Berthon, has always done well at the track in the Var region of France, and he will be aiming to repeat the excellent form he showed at the official test session earlier this year driving for Irish team Murphy Prototypes. Local star Nicolas Minassian (he was born in Marseille), will also be doing all he can to get a podium finish at his home race for the No.20 AF Racing BR 01.

French driver Léo Roussel - who is today (August 31st) celebrating his 20th birthday - Happy Birthday to you Léo ! - will be driving the only Morgan Nissan on the LMP2 grid for Pegasus Racing.  The No.44 and No.45 ORECA 03s of Ibanez Racing will each feature one French driver, respectively Pierre Perret and José Ibanez.

A newcomer to the ELMS for this round will be multiple 2014 WEC race winner and official Nissan driver in 2015, Olivier Pla, a driver with many years of top level experience. He will join Tracy Krohn and Oswaldo Negri at the wheel of the American team’s No.40 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2.

In the LMP3 class, the only driver to carry the French Tricoleur will be Nissan academy wunderkind, Gaëtan Paletou. He will be driving the No.2 Team LNT Ginetta with his team mate from Silverstone, Michael Simpson.

Just one French driver will represent France in the LMGTE category, 2012 FFSA French GT champion Henry Hassid, who will share the BMW Z4 of Team BMW MarcVDS with Guernseyman Andy Priaulx and Finn Jesse Krohn.

TDS Racing will field a second 100% French driver line up on the 2015 ELMS grid, this time in the GTC category.  At the wheel of the No.59 BMW Z4 GT3, Franck Perera, Dino Lunardi and Eric Dermont will aim to do all they can to maintain their advantage over rivals AF Corse , currently standing at just 5 points, at their home race.

The 4 Hours of Le Castellet will take place this weekend on Sunday 6th September at the Circuit Paul Ricard.  All the information you might need can be found on ELMS official website (www.europeanlemansseries.com) – come and join us!

Entry List HERE