IDEC Sport and Era Motorsport have announced that they have decided to withdraw the #17 ORECA 07-Gibson from this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The car, entered by the French team in cooperation with Era Motorsport, has sustained multiple crashes in practice for this year’s edition of the French endurance classic.
First, a crash for Dwight Merriman during Sunday’s Test Day forced a tub change, before Merriman crashed it again in the third practice session on Thursday
After the second crash, Era Motorsport team owner Kyle Tilley says the team made the difficult decision to withdraw.
“It’s heartbreaking to be pulling out of Le Mans before we even got a chance to race, but I know we’re doing the right thing,” said Tilley. “We had high hopes going into the event, but with a handful of unfortunate events in the span of a few days, this year’s race week has been a constant uphill battle.
“Circuit de la Sarthe demands respect, and we take the speeds and technicality of this track very seriously.”
“The low downforce nature of the LMP2 makes it incredibly difficult to drive on the hard Goodyear compound, and the BOP hasn’t played into our favor either.
“After a last-minute driver swap, a new chassis, and a second on-track incident, we had to make the tough call: If we don’t feel 100% confident going into this race, we feel we have the responsibility to our competitors not to run.”
The team has had a problem-filled week at Le Mans. Apart from the crashes, Tilley was ruled out from driving himself with a shoulder injury.
The original substitute driver the team had lined up then tested positive for COVID-19, after which the team was able to secure Thomas Laurent as the third driver in the line-up.
Ultimately, after the second crash in practice on Thursday, the team made the call to not compete this year.
“This is an event where you really have to be on top of your game across the board, and with these setbacks, we just didn’t feel we were there this time,” said Tilley. “
“Sadly, this isn’t the type of event where you can close your eyes and hope for the best. That’s what makes it Le Mans.”
“I hope our fans can respect the decision. It was a tough one to make, as no one wants to win here more than we do. I’d like to thank our drivers, crew, and everyone at IDEC Racing for all the hard work they put in for this one. We’ll be back.”
