Alex Brundle joins OAK Racing for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo

Round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo (September 15), will see Alex Brundle make his maiden appearance at the wheel of OAK Racing’s #35 Morgan 2012 LMP2 Nissan.

The Briton will be the silver grade driver on the three-man crew which also includes team regulars Bertrand Baguette and Dominik Kraihamer. French trio Matthieu Lahaye, Olivier Pla and Jacques Nicolet continue their partnership aboard the sister #24 car in Brazil, where both line-ups share a common goal: the podium.

Brundle is a promising young talent whose achievements last year earned him a place on the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s prestigious SuperStar programme. An experienced single-seater competitor who has earned podiums and pole positions in Formula 2, Formula 3 and GP3, the 22-year-old has recently dovetailed his open-wheel exploits with a successful campaign in prototype racing. This year will see him complete the full European Le Mans Series in the top-tier LMP2 class having already contested two WEC events, the Le Mans 24 Hours and last month’s 6 Hours of Silverstone.

Sébastien Philippe, OAK Racing Team Principal: "OAK Racing is very pleased to welcome Alex Brundle as the new addition to our #35 LMP2 crew for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. He is a fast, talented young competitor and, alongside Bertrand Baguette and Dominik Kraihamer, he forms part of a crew from whom we can expect a good result in Brazil. For the #24, we will give our all in pursuit of a podium at Interlagos having so narrowly missed out at Silverstone.

"The trip to Brazil is a first for us and I hope that the few hours of free practice will be sufficient to prepare the two cars and for the drivers to learn the circuit. Fortunately, Interlagos is not very long and the layout, particularly its tight corners, should be well suited to our cars. The Morgan 2012 LMP2s are generally comfortable with this type of track and we also benefit from good exit speed and excellent torque from our Nissan engines. These assets should play into our hands come the race."

Oak Racing at 6 Hours of Silverstone

Photo by: Daniel James Smith

Alex Brundle, #35 Morgan 2012 LMP2 driver: "I was delighted to receive the call from Sébastien Philippe of OAK Racing asking me to drive at the Brazilian round of the World Endurance Championship in Sao Paulo. The OAK cars have been fierce challengers in both the ELMS and WEC and my team-mates are very strong, so I am confident we will have a good package. I am looking forward to using this opportunity to continue to carve out a career in sports car racing and I would like to extend my thanks to OAK Racing for offering me the chance to do so."

OAK Racing and Onroak Automotive, the department that designs and builds the teams prototypes, will also be present in a more unusual setting during the Brazilian event: Sao Paulo’s prestigious JK Iguatemi shopping centre. The team’s Morgan 2012 LMP2 and endurance racing photos shot by DPPI will be displayed at the exhibition, which has been organised with the support of the WEC and is already proving a great success.

Source: Oak Racing