IndyCar Series front runner and former A1 GP pilot Darren Manning has joined the Embassy Racing driver line up for the remaining three rounds of the 2007 Le Mans Series.
With this year’s LMS culminating in the eleven hour Mil Milhas at Interlagos there was always going to be a need for a third driver to join Neil and Warren for this event. The decision, however, has been brought forward to include both Spa and Silverstone due to the happy news that Neil Cunningham and wife Rachel are expecting a baby the very weekend of the Belgian race.
The imminent arrival of Cunningham junior means that Neil will miss the 1000km of Spa, and as we were already talking to Darren about the series closer in Brazil, it made sense for the man from North Yorkshire to step in early and partner Warren behind the wheel of the Embassy Racing Radical SR9 LMP2 around the historic Belgian circuit.
Embassy Racing Team Principal Jonathan France is delighted with the decision:
“Darren was always my number one choice as the third Embassy driver and I am very
pleased that he has agreed to join us. He has a remarkable talent and will be a worthy stand-in for Neil at Spa. The decision has had to be brought forward, but I couldn’t be happier for Neil and Rachel and it is only right that he should stay behind to be with his family at this time.”
Although Darren will be Neil’s replacement at Spa, all three will return to drive the SR9 at both Silverstone and Interlagos.
Jonathan continued:
“I fully expect Neil to be back behind the wheel at Silverstone. With Darren stepping
in at Spa and coming with us to Interlagos, it made sense that he should be part of the line-up at Silverstone. I think that as the car is now much improved both on performance and reliability, the move to three drivers for the final two races will provide us with a better opportunity to finish the series on the podium.”
The wonderful news about Darren and Neil comes on the back of a much improved performance at the Nurburgring recently. After a decidedly difficult first two rounds of the 2007 LMS, our fortunes definitely changed in Germany as we ran second for a time before the fire incident which everyone agrees probably cost us our first LMS podium.
Anyhow, the arrival of a driver of the calibre and profile of Darren not only adds strength to our racing proposition, but underlines our commitment to become one of the leading teams in the LMS paddock.
Although not linked, the announcement about Darren has led to some speculation about our plans for 2008. Certainly the Embassy 2008 programme is well underway, though there are no plans to reveal the details just yet. One thing is for sure, though, we are gearing up our efforts to make an all out assault on the Championship next year and these will include some quite significant and even shocking decisions when the time comes.
