Fleet

Sir Chris Hoy: Cycling champion becomes motor racing champion

  • British Olympic legend makes successful transition from two wheels to four
  • Victory at Paul Ricard seals European Le Mans Series LM P3 Championship
  • Greaves Motorsport takes the LM P2 win after penalty for JOTA Sport
  • Jann Mardenborough makes his GP2 debut at Monza

LONDON, UK - 6 September 2015: Sir Chris Hoy took an important step on his road to Le Mans with Nissan today when, along with his Ginetta-Nissan team-mate Charlie Robertson, he clinched the European Le Mans Series LM P3 title.  The duo sealed championship victory with a stylish win at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France, which gives them an unassailable lead with the final race of the season still remaining.

Since stating his intention to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours, Hoy has been on the same driver development programme that trains Nissan's GT Academy winners, turning talent into real racing results.  Approaching his motor racing with the same commitment that took him to Olympic glory, Hoy is now making the progress he needs so he can be ready to line up on the grid at the greatest race in the world, the Le Mans 24 Hours.

"I really can't believe how well the year has gone," said Hoy.  "I can't believe I have been given access to such a world class driver training programme as the Nissan GT Academy and I absolutely can't believe that I am allowed to race these amazing cars. 

"To actually race them, then to win a race with them, and then a European title is just stunning," he continued.  "The competitor in me though is now steeling myself for the next challenge ahead - I can't wait!" 

While the champions celebrated on one side of the garage, 2014 GT Academy winner, Gaetan Paletou, had to console himself with the fact that he took the race lead in the early stages and put in an incredible drive before an apparent technical issue caused him to spin his Ginetta-Nissan.  The Frenchman will be out to take his first LM P3 win of the year at the final race in Estoril, Portugal next month. 

GREAVES TAKES THE LM P2 WIN AFTER JOTA RECEIVE PENALTY

In the LM P2 class, Nissan powered the top four finishers in the LM P2 class. The JOTA Sport team, which includes Nissan LM P1 driver Harry Tincknell, matched their result from the previous race at the Red Bull Ring by taking pole position and race victory.  They were then handed a 45-second post-race penalty for a driving time infringement, which knocked them down to third place. The win goes to Greaves Motorsport, who finished the race in second place.

MARDENBOROUGH MAKES HIS GP2 DEBUT AT MONZA

After receiving the call up to GP2 last week, Jann Mardenborough made his debut at Monza in Italy this weekend.  A great drive in qualifying meant that he took 17th place (from 25 runners) on the grid for the first of the weekend's two races, beating two of his fellow rookies by more than half a second.  The races themselves proved to be a baptism of fire but Mardenborough made it to the chequered flag both times, gaining valuable experience of what is usually the last stepping stone before Formula 1.

Pretitle

Big page header

SUBTITLE

Big page EASY

Subtitle
Pretitle

Big page IMPORTANT header

Pretitle

Simple SMALLER

Pretitle

Big page Double item

What would you like to do