KyraSage
On June 15th – 16th, the eyes of the world will turn to France as the 92nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place.
Returning to the sports crown jewel event is fan favorite team AO Racing. This year they have partnered with two time Le Mans winning entrant TF Sport to run Spike, the purple and orange dragon themed LMP2 Oreca. Behind the wheel will be PJ Hyett, Louis Delétraz and Alex Quinn.
Tom Ferrier, Owner of TF Sport, had this to say about the partnership, “We are hugely excited to bring our partnership with AO Racing to Le Mans. It’s such a fantastic event and we have a brilliant line up. PJ is one of the best bronze drivers in the world and with Alex and Louis we have the drivers to back him up. A 24-hour race is always hard but we plan to be there at the end and fighting for the win.”
AO by TF are hoping the 92nd running will bring them some redemption. Last year AO won the hearts of motorsports enthusiasts all over the world when they brought fan favorite, Rexy, the Porsche 911 RSR to Le Mans. Driven by PJ Hyett, Gunnar Jeanette and Matteo Cairoli, they had a strong and impressive performance and were in contention in the final hours until suffering a mechanical issue.
“Rexy Racing at Le Mans for the 100th anniversary was an incredible experience, but we have some unfinished business at the Circuit de la Sarthe,” AO Racing Team Owner and driver, PJ Hyett, said. “We’re coming back this year with Spike, our LMP2 dragon, to delight fans on the way to the top spot! Allons-y (Let’s go)!”
Not only is this race bringing AO back to Le Mans, it’s also bringing back together PJ and Alex, who raced Spike together in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. They have three more endurance races together slated to follow Le Mans as well.
“I’m really happy to be a part of this team effort for Le Mans,” Alex said. “It was a pleasure to race with AO and PJ in Daytona and at the start of the season. PJ is really fast, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve. It’ll be great to team up with both Louis and the TF side of the program for the first time and get to work to achieve a strong result at Le Mans. There is clearly one target and that is to win.”
Currently AO and TF have a partnership in the European Le Mans Series, where they most recently earned a third place finish at Circuit Paul Ricard with Louis Delétraz, the current World Endurance Champion.
“I’m very excited to take part in my fifth Le Mans with AO by TF,” Louis said. “It’s great to share the car with PJ and Alex. I feel like we have a strong crew between the teams and the drivers’ experiences. Le Mans is a very special event. The prep has started months ago and, of course, we want to do well so the motivation is high!”
For fans wanting to support the team in France, AO will be launching Le Mans specific merchandise in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout.
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