Team LNT will not be taking part in next week’s 24 Hours of Le Mans after their single LMP1 entry was removed from the entry list.
The British outfit was set to campaign a single Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – AER for Guy Smith, Chris Dyson and Mike Simpson after the team had already previously downgraded their entry from two cars to a single car.
The team has not raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship since the 8 Hours of Bahrain in December. It has since missed the COTA round in February and last month’s Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Team LNT has explained its decision to withdrawal in a statement, citing the difficulties brought on by COVID-19 restrictions.
“Team LNT with its Ginetta G60-LT-P1-AER will not be contesting the 24 Hours of Le Mans of 2020.
“New COVID cases in France are at their highest level since the start of the pandemic and with the latest quarantine rules in place when returning, as a factory based team, this will in effect mean a minimum four-week closure of the Ginetta manufacturing facility, with a knock-on effect on Ginetta’s core UK championships.
“This, coupled with the significantly altered WEC calendar, has meant that after careful consideration, the decision has been taken that the G60-LT-P1-AER will not contest this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“The factory will instead focus on testing and refining the cars in preparation for the 2020/2021 season.”
The withdrawal brings the LMP1 field down to field cars, with the two Toyota and Rebellion entries joined by ByKolles’s single ENSO CLM P1/01.
Elsewhere on the updated entry list, released, on Friday, Juan Pablo Montoya was confirmed at Dragonspeed although organisers have appeared to have made an error in the #21 ORECA 07-Gibson’s listing. Montoya was brought in to replace Derani, but the entry list shows Montoya’s name in place of Memo Rojas while Derani is still on the entry list.
In GTE Am, Porsche Supercup racer Max van Splunteren was confirmed as the third man aboard the #78 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR alongside Michele Beretta and Horst Felbermayr Jr.
Elsewhere, Julien Piguet is shown as a replacement for Hugo de Sadeleer aboard Dempsey-Proton Racing’s #99 Porsche 911 RSR.
