LMP1 driver speculation

[Mike E]

As the Nissan LMP1 program gears up for next year's WEC, we should undertake some educated guesswork on who will be driving and what knock on effects this will have in other areas.

Darren Cox was interviewed informally during the Nurburgring 24 Hours about the program, and he wouldn't be drawn on any of the details but the RLM guys threw a load of names at him to test his poker face. Names included:

Nick Heidfeld (currently a GT Academy judge/mentor), Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf, Katherine Legge, Jann Mardenborough, Alex Brundle. Oli Pla must be in with a shout and you would think they would want some Japanese drivers, particularly if they run three cars at LM, as they have suggested they could do. Satoshi Motoyama would surely be in the running.

Heidfeld seems an obvious choice for his Academy links, LMP1 experience and general competence. If he were to move it would free up a space at Rebellion for an LPM2 or single seater driver to move up into.

Any hints at all that Audi or Toyota will drop any of their current roster of drivers? Their experience would be invaluable to the Nissan program. Could any of them be tempted away from their current employers?

If the Lotus-AER does turn up at a race that would be three more seats to fill although we might just see the proposed LM line up of Bouchut/Kaffer/Albers fill that.

Any more rumours?

[carbon_titanium]

my bet: very likely Quintarelli, Matsuda and De Olivera from SGT, less likely Motoyama and Krumm.
Luhr, Heidfeld, Pla could get a seat too.
To me academy guys will be taken in consideration only if nissan is going to bring a third car for real.

[J Jay]

Missed this, timed my outing to make sure I didn't have to listen to Darren Cox!

Audi seem to be better at getting drivers from other programs, if anything. The only possible mover is Jarvis, but he seems happy enough doing double duty for Lexus/Toyota (as Lotterer/Treluyer did before him, probably how Audi keep their drivers happy). As for Toyota, Sarrazin has notably slowed over the past season and a bit. If Conway were to be promoted, he'd by my pick for getting the shove. Or TMG could run three cars!

Was there no mention of Quintarelli/Oliviera alongside Motoyama? Quintarelli's fluency in Japanese and English will surely make him fantastic for development. Also, any mention of Ordonez? Or is he seen as lacking the sheer speed for the top level of prototypes? Don't forget Krumm either, another fantastic development driver who doesn't lack for pace.

[Rodger Davies]

I'd guess Heidfeld is a shoe-in, though I hope he does N24 again next year too.

After that, Audi have proved Super GT is a good proving ground so I imagine Quintarelli and a couple of others will get a test at least.

I think pressure from the GT academy programme will see Ordonez and Mardenborough given a test and they'll see how Shultzitsky (sp?) does this year.

Other than those, Brindle and Place both have links and would be worth considering.

I doubt the other contenders' drivers will change much, if indeed they all return.

[carbon_titanium]

forgot to say that a lot of GP2 drivers debuted in sportscars recently, maybe nissan could hire someone like palmer or nasr

[Koenigsegg]

My guess for the 9 Nissan LMP1 drivers:

Jann Mardenborough
João Paulo Lima de Oliveira
Lucas Luhr
Masataka Yanagida
Nick Heidfeld
Oliver Pla
Ronnie Quintarelli
Satoshi Motoyama
Sébastien Buemi

[JoestForEver]

My guess would be Mardenbrough, Ordonez, Nick for #1, Krumm, Luhr+another young gun, Alex Brundle maybe for #2

[deggis]

It was specifically said by Cox that no Academy driver has a guaranteed spot on the team but obvioiusly for PR reasons they're forced to pick one. They might be fast but I'm not sure how good they are for car development.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by deggis

It was specifically said by Cox that no Academy driver has a guaranteed spot on the team but obvioiusly for PR reasons they're forced to pick one. They might be fast but I'm not sure how good they are for car development.

Not sure how much worse any of them are for car development than the new breed of drivers coming straight out of the single-seater ladder, some of whom may have never had to develop a car having made it solely in single-make series.

Especially with three cars, I'd be really surprised if at least one Graduate didn't make the roster. They've got to find 9 drivers and there aren't enough experienced guys around.

[carbon_titanium]

most of '90 lmp1-gtp top drivers came from a tourism career, now most lmp1 drivers come from f1 or other important open wheels championship like formula nippon or GP2. As you can see, moden lmp1 require more advanced skills than past! for this reason I think that GT academy drivers simply don't have enough skills and experience to be competitive among lmp1 top drivers like duval or lotterer.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Not sure how much worse any of them are for car development than the new breed of drivers coming straight out of the single-seater ladder, some of whom may have never had to develop a car having made it solely in single-make series.

That still sounds better than... a video game. I don't see how GTA "grads" could suddenly build up same kind of general exprience in just couple of years compared to some who started their careers in karting. Isn't car development for the driver mostly setting up the car in tests?

[TF110]

Imo, Toyota should consider losing Lapierre and possibly Sarrazin. Id promote Mike Conway, as Jay suggested. Put him in the #7 car since he's a good match for height with Nakajima. I hope Toyota enter a third car, they have a few others they can put in from Super GT. As for car development skills, most information is feedback from the drivers. The computers and such now can handle the rest.

[Peugeot908]

Montagny. Even though he drives wild at times, still too good of a driver not to have a ride. IIRC, He has driven for Nissan in the past in some other form of motorsports.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by carbon_titanium

my bet: very likely Quintarelli, Matsuda and De Olivera from SGT, less likely Motoyama and Krumm.
Luhr, Heidfeld, Pla could get a seat too.
To me academy guys will be taken in consideration only if nissan is going to bring a third car for real.

Richard Lyons perhaps ?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Peugeot908

Montagny. Even though he drives wild at times, still too good of a driver not to have a ride. IIRC, He has driven for Nissan in the past in some other form of motorsports.

I doubt that he will ever be back in a factory seat - his time is long gone, surely. For me, the first name on my list would be Mardenborough - the guy is a star.

[Nordic]

I think they will bring in at least on driver with current F1 experience to give the project credibility in the mainstream as Porsche did with Webber.

Not big or clever, but when your selling sponsorship it helps.

[Aysedasi]

Sounds a good theory to me - who did you have in mind?

[Mike E]

Button? He's past his sell by date in F1, but still young (34). He's smooth, smart, gets on with his team mates and is very media friendly.
Experience of top level hybrid systems has to be a plus for any F1 driver moving over.

[carbon_titanium]

Kobayashi, surely he is not satisfied to run with catheram, the team has financial issues and he is japanese too.
Maldonado, he could lose his seat in F1 if venezuela will skip to supply his sponsors.
Button will be dropped by mclaren only if (very unlikely) will be hired a top driver like alonso or vettel with honda money.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by deggis

That still sounds better than... a video game. I don't see how GTA "grads" could suddenly build up same kind of general exprience in just couple of years compared to some who started their careers in karting. Isn't car development for the driver mostly setting up the car in tests?

It really depends how you spin it. If they can get Mardenborough in a LMP1 seat, they'll do it for the PR....and I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Darren Cox tell us all about how great the story is

Toyota and Porsche could well decide to bring 3 cars to Le Mans next season. 12 factory cars, that's 36 drivers (that's not even counting the top GTE-PRO teams, who are also on the lookout for a similar quality of driver). 36 drivers willing to do an entire season's worth of driving in the space of two weeks, who can't be racing elsewhere in that fortnight, and can't be tied to another manufacturer already.

There's a limited supply of top-quality drivers who would be available. With that in mind, I honestly believe that for the third car, Mardenborough could probably take the seat on merit.

We've seen far worse drive factory prototypes at LM, even relatively recently.

[kurski]

I would Heikki Kovalainen "swallow their pride" and the outgoing hunt seat eg Nissan LMP1. Yes, a professional driver definitely found a job, but he like only F1. My second choice is Aaro Vainio.

[Somatosis]

No one mentioning John Martin, Ticknell or Turvey?

[bella]

turvey's a VERY good call.

it's a bit soon for tincknell given he's got precious little big car experience, there's other guys to call on before him. and i've never got the fuss about martin to be honest.

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by deggis

That still sounds better than... a video game. I don't see how GTA "grads" could suddenly build up same kind of general exprience in just couple of years compared to some who started their careers in karting. Isn't car development for the driver mostly setting up the car in tests?

Many people don't know it but mardenbrough is not exactly inexperienced. He did have a small career in karting before his time at the GT academy.

[valedave]

Darren Cox can't resist given hints in stuff like this, and at one point in that N24 Midweek Motorsport episode he says "You'll never guess" in relation to one of the LMP1 drivers. I fancy one big name, as others in this thread have suggested. A current F1 driver would make sense for PR/media impact, most likely Button IMO.

The fact that Nissan have sent Mardenborough all around the world in the past couple of years suggests to me that he'll get a seat. He was doing that Toyota single-seater series in New Zealand, and now GP3, while most of the other GT academy graduates stayed within the realms of sportscars.

Could one of the LMP1s even be a GT Academy entry (if they go for three at Le Mans) with Mardenborough, Ordonez and Reip/Shulzitsky?