Prema will return to the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023 with a two car LMP2 effort, the Italian team has announced.
Prema debuted in the FIA WEC last year with a single Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 entry, impressing rival teams, finishing second at Le Mans. It also entered an Oreca 07-Gibson into the European Le Mans Series, winning the title in its first season of prototype racing.
One of the drivers from that victorious campaign, Juan Manual Correa, will be included as part of the team’s lineup, with the Ecuadorian-American in the team’s #9 car. He began his car racing career with Prema in 2016, and has seen success with the team in the junior formulae of single-seater racing.
The 23-year-old said: “It’s super exciting to be taking the next step up the endurance racing ladder alongside my Formula 2 commitments in 2023. ELMS was a new challenge for me last year and one that I really enjoyed, so thank you to PREMA for keeping me on board as they step up to this new two-car entry in FIA WEC.
“We have a very cool calendar and there are some tracks I’m really looking forward to racing at for the first time, so I’m looking forward to another exciting season with the team,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the other car, #63, ‘Iron Dame’ Doriane Pin will step up to prototype racing after the 18-year-old impressed the endurance racing world in her multi-series endeavours last year, finishing 10th in GTE-Am at Le Mans with her fellow Iron Dames, plus winning the final ELMS race of the season and winning their class at the 24 Hours of Spa.
The young French racer said of the opportunity to step up into prototypes: “I am very happy and excited to join PREMA for the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023 as an Iron Dame. I have been working hard for this and I am very delighted for such opportunity, and I can’t thank the team enough for their ongoing support. I am looking forward to starting the season in Sebring and to reaching our common goals together with the team.”
The other four drivers, split across both cars, will be named at a later date.