David Tunnicliffe
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Derani joins Ford for Le Mans
Brazilian driver Luís Felipe Derani will drive for Ford in the first three rounds of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed yesterday. The 23-year-old Brazilian enjoyed a breakthough year in 2016, winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring overall for Extreme Speed Motorsports and…
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Kubica joins ByKolles in LMP1
Robert Kubica has been announced as the lead driver for LMP1 team ByKolles for the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship. The former F1 driver joins the Austrian-entered squad on a full-season basis after successfully testing the car at the official test in Bahrain last November. The Pole raced in Formula 1 until 2011, when a serious…
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Book review: Porsche Victory 2016
Books are popular gifts for friends and family at Christmas time. When it comes to motorsport books, it’s often hard to wade through the vast range of titles on offer to find something suitable. “Porsche Victory 2016”, published in November by Gruppe C Verlag, may just be the perfect present for that motorsport-mad member of…
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Driver ratings cause controversy once again
Driver ratings have arguably been one of the most controversial aspects of the FIA World Endurance Championship in recent years. For the uninitiated, driver ratings may seem like a relatively unimportant issue in the grand scheme of things, but in reality they can play a major role in whether or not drivers – and indeed teams –…
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World Champions Dumas and Lieb to leave Porsche
The newly crowned World Endurance Drivers’ Champions, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, are to end their relationships with Porsche as factory drivers in a major shake-up of the Porsche LMP1 driver line-up. Mark Webber’s departure from the sister car leaves a total of three empty seats to be filled for the 2017 season. Lieb and…
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Nicki Thiim: A career-defining decision
On 19 November 2016, a dream became a reality for a 27-year-old Danish driver by the name of Nicki Thiim. As he crossed the line in his Aston Martin Vantage V8, Thiim, together with fellow Dane Marco Sørensen, secured the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers – ahead of the baying competition of Ferrari…
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Audi exit prompts change to LMP1 roadmap
Saturday’s Six Hours of Bahrain marked the final appearance of Audi Sport on the prototype scene. Besides the tears of joy and sadness at the circuit at the weekend, the decision has put the ACO and the FIA at a quandary in terms of the LMP1 class’ future. With only two manufacturers remaining in the top…
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Strakka Racing out of remainder of 2016 season
Strakka Racing have been forced to withdraw from the remainder of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season, citing a lack of available engine components. The team has suffered from a consistent issue relating to crankshaft pressure build up this season – most recently at last weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji – and has no spare units…
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Audi LMP1 programme to end in 2016
Audi Sport today announced that its vastly successful LMP1 programme will come to an end at the conclusion of the current season. In what it has referred to as “realigning its motorsport strategy”, the Audi Sport marque will now switch its focus to Formula E in a factory-backed effort. The rumours had been circling for some…