Where are they now? Part 3: 2015

LMP2

2015 was a superb battle between Greaves Motorsport, Thiriet by TDS Racing and JOTA Sport that went down to the final race of the season in Portugal. JOTA Sport entered the final round as championship leaders but the no38 Gibson went off the track during a heavy rain storm and the no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca came home to win, with the no41 Greaves Motorsport Gibson in second.  The 18 points for second place were enough to give Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster and Bjorn Wirdheim the 2015 drivers’ title and Greaves Motorsport the team crown.

Gary Hirsch

The 2013 ELMS LMPC and 2015 LMP2 Champion joined Beechdean AMR for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans racing alongside Andrew Howard and Liam Griffin, finishing 7^th in LMGTE Am and 36^th overall.

Jon Lancaster

Like Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster only competed in one race in 2016, piloting a Simpson Motorsport Ginetta G57 in the Challenge Endurance PFV V de V series.

Bjorn Wirdheim

Bjorn Wirdheim took part in three different championships in 2016.  The Swede competed in two races for Krohn Racing in the ELMS, finishing 4^th at Silverstone and 6^th in Imola.  He also finished 4^th overall in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship with 1 win, 4 podiums, 2 pole positions and 1 fastest lap to his credit.  In Japan he finished 9^th overall in the Super GT – GT300.

LMP3

The LMP3 class attracted seven cars in its first season in the ELMS and it was the no3 Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan of six times Olympic cycling gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy and fellow Briton Charlie Robertson who clinched the inaugural title with three wins from five races.

Chris Hoy

After taking the ELMS title, the British cycling legend moved up to LMP2 with Algarve Pro Racing to complete his goal of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  He did two races at Silverstone and Imola before competing at Le Mans where the team finished 12^th in LMP2.  Chris Hoy has been named on the entry list for the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with Eurasia Motorsport.

Charlie Robertson

Charlie Robertson took part in several series in 2016 in his factory driver roll for Ginetta.  He finished 3^rd in the GT4 class during the Sepang 12 Hours with Simpson Motorsport, he took two wins and three podiums in the Challenge Endurance PFV V de V series, he raced in the 2016 Road to Le Mans with Laurence Tomlinson finishing 14^th overall and finished 2^nd overall in the Asian Le Mans Series Cup LMP3 with 1 win and 4 podiums from the six races.

LMGTE

Once again the LMGTE class provided some of the best racing action in 2015 with Ferrari , BMW, Porsche and Aston Martin going head to head.  In the end, it was the double race winning Formula Racing team who secured the title at the end of the season, with Johnny Laursen, Mikkel Mac and Andrea Rizzoli securing the drivers’ crown.

Johnny Laursen

Laursen returned to the ELMS in 2016 alongside Mikkel Mac, finishing the year with one podium finish in Le Castellet.  He also finished 6^th in LMGTE Am in his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Mikkel Mac

Mac competed in the ELMS in 2016 alongside his fellow Dane, finishing 9^th in the championship standings at the end of the season.

Andrea Rizzoli

The Italian had one outing in 2016 for AF Corse, finishing on the top step of the Pro-Am podium after starting from pole position at the Gulf 12 Hours.

GTC

If Ferrari held the upper hand in LMGTE, in GTC it was BMW that proved to be victorious in the final season of the class in the European Le Mans Series. The all French TDS Racing team scored two wins at Silverstone and Le Castellet to beat a trio of AF Corse Ferraris to the top spot with Dino Lunardi, Eric Dermont and Franck Perera finishing 20 points ahead of the chasing pack as the chequered flag was waved in Estoril.

Dino Lunardi

The Frenchman moved to the LMP3 class in 2016 with Duqueine Engineering, taking two podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet with David Droux and David Hallyday.

Eric Dermont

After winning the GTC title Eric Dermont didn’t compete in 2016.

Franck Perera

Franck Perera took part in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series sprint Cup, finishing 12^th overall with 1 podium, 2 pole positions and 2 fastest laps in the ISR run Audi R8 LMS.