Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg announced today that he will driver for Porsche during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Hulkenberg made the announcement on Twitter to his followers. In his tweet he also thanked Managing Director and Team Principal Vijay Mallya for allowing him to compete at Le Mans.
Hulkenberg becomes the first driver since 2009 when Sebastian Bourdais, who raced for Toro Rosso, also competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Peugeot.
He wont just climb into the Porsche WEC car and start racing. He has a program mapped out for him to follow which will involve him learning how to deal with the traffic of the the slower GT cars and most importantly he will have to get used to the conditions for driving at night.
“Porsche and Le Mans – this combination probably attracts every race driver,” said Hulkenberg.
“I’ve been a Porsche fan for a long time and have been watching their return to the LMP1 class closely.
“I am very pleased the 2015 Formula 1 calendar allows for it and I’m grateful to my Force India Formula 1 team’s generosity to let me go for it.
“Now it’s up to me to work hard to satisfy both commitments.”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place on 13th-14th June 2015, right between the Canadian Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix.
“Having caught the interest of another world class driver like Nico is validation for the job the entire Porsche LMP1 crew had done in our first WEC season,” said Porsche team principal Andreas Seidl.
“Having caught the interest of another world class driver like Nico is validation for the job the entire Porsche LMP1 crew had done in our first WEC season,” he added.
“Now we will prepare Nico for his new challenges such as dealing with the traffic of the slower GT cars and racing into the Le Mans night.
We’re looking forward to working with Nico and we want to thank the Sahara Force India F1 team and team principal Vijay Mallya for loaning him to us.”
Photo Credit: Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team
