Scherer to miss Portimao WEC after positive COVID test
United Autosports LMP2 driver Fabio Scherer has been forced to sit out this weekend's Portimao FIA World Endurance Championship round after testing positive for COVID-19.
DTM convert Scherer was set to share United's #22 Oreca with Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta for the eight-hour race after winning on his WEC debut with the team last time out at Spa.
However, on Friday morning it was revealed in a stewards' bulletin that Scherer had tested positive for COVID-19 twice in a 48-hour period and that the Swiss driver will be replaced for the weekend by Wayne Boyd.
The team itself then made a brief statement saying that Boyd is on standby to take up the vacated seat "pending the results of his COVID-19 test taken this morning", promising a further update "in due course".
Boyd, 30, is therefore set to make his WEC debut this weekend after years of racing prototypes for United in the European Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Asian Le Mans Series.
Since 2019 the Ulsterman has mostly campaigned LMP3 cars, but he did a full season in a United-run LMP2 car in 2018 and more recently raced for the team in the Sebring 12 Hours earlier this year.
This is the second change to the United line-up for the Portimao race, as di Resta deputises for Filipe Albuquerque, who is away on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship duty at Detroit.
Di Resta was replaced by Scherer in the full-season line-up following Hanson's promotion from silver to gold status over the winter, but the Scotsman will return to defend his Le Mans 24 Hours win in an extra United entry alongside Alex Lynn and a third to-be-named driver.
Related video
Le Mans 24 Hours to admit 50,000 spectators in August
Le Mans 24 Hours fans won't be divided into groups
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race
How Toyota's WEC dominance was curbed at stormy Sebring
Toyota’s stranglehold on the FIA World Endurance Championship ended at the 2022 opener at Sebring, but all accusing eyes were on the Balance of Performance system as the key to the shake-up. Here's how it unfolded, to see Alpine celebrating under a stormy sky having blown away the defending champions...
Why Penske remains ambitious for its WEC learning year
Team Penske is gearing up for its role in running Porsche’s LMDh programme from 2023 by entering this year's World Endurance Championship with an LMP2 car. Although the team is considering 2022 as a season to learn, it is no less serious about winning than ever - which should make the already fiercely competitive class even more so
Why Peugeot couldn't afford to take a Le Mans gamble in 2022
Ahead of the much-anticipated arrival of its new 9X8 Hypercar, Peugeot revealed that it would not be entering this year's Le Mans 24 Hours with its incoming machinery. Although development restrictions for homologated cars are partially responsible, the French marque can draw on its own lessons from its history in sportscars
Why the GTP name undermines convergence between IMSA and WEC
OPINION: The adoption by IMSA of the GTP name for its forthcoming LMDh versus Le Mans Hypercar era in 2023 appeals to fans of nostalgia - but it undermines the commonality achieved by bringing its rulebook into line with the WEC. GTP or Hypercar, both sides should settle on a single name
Celebrating the weird and wonderful monsters of sportscar racing
Few disciplines of motorsport offer better possibilities to build a colossus of the track than sportscars. For Autosport's recent Monsters of Motorsport special issue, we picked out some of the finest (and not so fine) that have graced sportscar classics including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring
Why F1-snubbed Davidson has no regrets in retirement
He may not have won the Le Mans 24 Hours - falling agonisingly short in 2016 - and didn't get the opportunities in Formula 1 his talents merited. But after calling time on his professional career last month, Anthony Davidson says his pride in his performances with Peugeot and Toyota in LMP1 mean more than the results he achieved
Why Le Mans didn't decide Toyota's WEC title outcome in 2021
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez scored a second successive FIA World Endurance Championship title in the #7 Toyota, as its new Le Mans Hypercar went unbeaten. Motorsport.com recaps how each of the four classes in the 2021 season were won and picks out the best LMH and GTE drivers