By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
The Auto Magazine
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
    Auto ShowsShow More
    Ulterio Motiv Toyota Land Cruiser 6×6 and 6×4 to invade Land Cruiser Festival
    June 3, 2025
    Maserati enthrals at FuoriConcorso with GT2 Stradale and MCXtrema
    May 14, 2025
    Leapmotor presents its range at Automobile Barcelona, Spain
    May 14, 2025
    Alfa Romeo sporting glory dominates “Fuori Concorso”
    May 13, 2025
    Market Art Fair Stockholm and BMW Sweden present Gregor Hildebrandt as artist for BMW Art Commission 2025
    May 13, 2025
  • Bikes
    BikesShow More
    Desmo450 MX: Production of the first Ducati Motocross bike begins
    May 28, 2025
    25YM Honda NC750X
    May 13, 2025
    BMW Motorrad presents the new BMW R 1300 RS
    May 2, 2025
    BMW Motorrad presents the new BMW R 1300 RT
    April 30, 2025
    Honda NC750X Named Winner in 2025 Red Dot Design Award
    April 10, 2025
  • News
    NewsShow More
    Toyota South Africa Motors maintains new vehicle sales market share
    June 3, 2025
    Hyundai Motor Reports May 2025 Global Sales
    June 3, 2025
    Toyota Group to Accelerate Collaboration Towards Transforming into a Mobility Company 
    June 3, 2025
    Ford Expands Territory Line-up with New Dark Edition
    June 3, 2025
    MICHELIN Primacy 5 Launches in the Middle East and Africa
    June 3, 2025
  • Concepts
    ConceptsShow More
    FIAT unveils the manifesto Grande Panda 4×4
    May 20, 2025
    Renault 4 Savane 4×4 Concept makes its global debut at Roland-Garros 2025
    May 16, 2025
    Hyundai Motor and Plus Unveil Concept for Autonomous Hydrogen Freight Ecosystem at ACT Expo 202
    May 2, 2025
    Hyundai Motor Unveils the new IONIQ 6 and IONIQ 6 N Line
    April 5, 2025
    Kia and LG Electronics Partner to Showcase New PBV Concepts for Work and Play
    April 4, 2025
  • Interviews
    InterviewsShow More
    Kosmas “Dudie” Mamaloukos – The Formidable Racing Talent
    May 15, 2025
    Hi-Range Safari City
    Hi-Range Safari City – The Premier outfitter for 4×4 customization
    May 15, 2025
    BEHIND THE SCENES: ARCHIE RUTHERFORD ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING THE W2RC TO SOUTH AFRICA
    May 9, 2025
    Europe and China’s automotive future in a shifting global order
    May 5, 2025
    Sourcing Guide Right-Hand Drive American SUVs and Pickup Trucks in Africa
    April 29, 2025
  • EVs
    EVsShow More
    Daimler Truck, DHL and hylane form partnership for fully electric trucks
    June 3, 2025
    Blower Jnr completes sign-off and enters production
    June 3, 2025
    SEAT S.A. moves towards electric car production in Martorell
    May 29, 2025
    Polestar 3 wins Best EV SUV and Luxury Car of the Year awards
    May 29, 2025
    All-New Nissan MICRA EV debuts ahead of European launch
    May 28, 2025
  • Motosport
    MotosportShow More
    Nissan Formula E Team secures valuable double points finish in challenging Shanghai weekend
    June 3, 2025
    Porsche defends championship lead with podium finish in Detroit
    June 3, 2025
    Top-5 result for the BMW M Hybrid V8 on the streets of Detroit
    June 3, 2025
    Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti dominates the race in Barcelona
    June 3, 2025
    AT MONZA, MANN-FILTER TEAM’S MERCEDES TRIUMPHS IN THRILLING RACE
    June 3, 2025
  • Trucks & Buses
    Trucks & BusesShow More
    Daimler Truck, DHL and hylane form partnership for fully electric trucks
    June 3, 2025
    Volvo Trucks wins prestigious design award
    June 3, 2025
    MAN development team for autonomous driving is ‘Engineering Team of the Year’
    May 29, 2025
    Scania to start deliveries of new electric buses to northern Sweden
    May 29, 2025
    From left to right: Jens Böther, Regional Council; Nikolas Wenzel, Managing Director of MOIN; Claudia Kalisch, Mayor of Lüneburg; Alex Meier, Depot Manager; Nils Richert, Daimler Buses
    Daimler Buses builds a completely new electric bus depot for a customer for the first time
    May 28, 2025
  • Reviews
    ReviewsShow More
    New Bentayga Speed: the most powerful and dynamic Bentayga yet
    June 3, 2025
    GR Supra pushes performance limits with A90 Final Edition and Lightweight EVO
    May 28, 2025
    The new BMW M2 CS
    May 28, 2025
    Defender upgraded: The unstoppable 4×4 is now even more distinctive 
    May 28, 2025
    From vision to Veyron: the evolution of a Bugatti icon
    May 17, 2025
  • Tech
    TechShow More
    Audi develops the picking process of the future
    June 2, 2025
    Volvo EX90 LiDAR and smartphone cameras: What you need to know
    June 2, 2025
    VNC Automotive Partners with P3 to Enhance the SPARQ OS Platform
    May 29, 2025
    Artificial intelligence: Audi boosts production efficiency
    May 28, 2025
    Greater efficiency and productivity with artificial intelligence – generative AI in BMW Group Purchasing
    May 19, 2025
Hot News
Toyota South Africa Motors maintains new vehicle sales market share
Daimler Truck, DHL and hylane form partnership for fully electric trucks
Nissan Formula E Team secures valuable double points finish in challenging Shanghai weekend
Hyundai Motor Reports May 2025 Global Sales
Toyota Group to Accelerate Collaboration Towards Transforming into a Mobility Company 
Latest News

JLR SALES GROWTH CONTINUES IN THE THIRD QUARTER

Motosport

Monster Energy Honda HRC get ready for the challenge of the Dakar Rally

Motosport

Mercedes-AMG brings a top line-up with victory ambitions to the 24 Hours of Spa

Latest News

Tata Motors Celebrates 1 Millionth Car Roll-Out from its Sanand Facility

Font ResizerAa
The Auto MagazineThe Auto Magazine
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
  • Bikes
  • News
  • Concepts
  • Interviews
  • EVs
  • Motosport
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Reviews
  • Tech
Search
  • Home
  • Auto Shows
  • Bikes
  • News
  • Concepts
  • Interviews
  • EVs
  • Motosport
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Reviews
  • Tech
Follow US
Crafted by Intellegere Media. © 2024 The Auto Magazine. All rights reserved.
Motosport

Meet the 2024 Rookies – LMGT3

Itumeleng Garebatshabe
Last updated: February 29, 2024 08:08
By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
486 Views
11 Min Read
Share
11 Min Read
SHARE

A bumper crop of 26 WEC rookies will take to the track at the Qatar 1812km this weekend. Below is what you need to know about them in our special ‘meet the rookies’ feature.

LMGT3

- Advertisement -
Ad image

Darren Leung

Team: Team WRT

Nat: British

Age: 36

Leung competed in the Ginetta 2021 GT4 SuperCup and gained more GT4 experience in the 24H Series at the Dubai 24 Hours and Abu Dhabi 6 Hours.

A memorable win at Donington Park in the British GT Championship in 2022 alongside former WEC racer Alexander Sims was a breakthrough success, before a full season of BGT last season witnessed two ins and title success in a BMW M4 GT3 run by Century Motorsport.

Valentino Rossi

Team: Team WRT

Nat: Italian

Age: 45

Seven-time Moto GP champion and motorsport legend, Rossi makes his WEC debut with Team WRT in LMGT3 this season alongside Ahmad Al Harthy and Maxime Martin.

Rossi’s experience in GT3 started in 2019 when he took part in the Gulf 12 Hours. Since then, he has raced in various European GT series, including the Michelin Le Mans Cup where he memorably won the 2023 Le Mans race alongside Jerome Policand.

James Cottingham

Team: United Autosports

Nat: British

Age: 40 

A director of the well-known DK Engineering restoration company, Cottingham has been racing in GTs since 2021 when he took in some races in British GT with a RAM Racing Mercedes AMG Evo.

A full season followed in 2022 and 2023, the latter of which saw him finish a close runner-up in the title standings with a 2 Seas Motorsport run Mercedes.

Cottingham makes his international racing debut in 2024 alongside Nicolas Costa and Gregoire Saucy in the No.59 United Autosports McLaren 720S.

Nicolas Costa

Team: United Autosports

Nat: Brazilian

Age: 32

Reigning Porsche Carrera GT champion Costa arrives in WEC on a high as he gets set to campaign a McLaren 720S for United Autosports in the No.59 entry.

An experienced racer, Costa previously raced in several series including the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Blancpain GT3 and Italian GT Championship. He took the 2016 Italian GT crown for Vincenzo Sospiri Racing.

Gregoire Saucy

Team: United Autosports

Nat: Swiss

Age: 24 

Swiss racer Saucy started out in mini-endurance racing in the VdeV series before trying single-seaters in Italian F4 and Formula Renault Eurocup.

After taking the Formula Regional crown in 2021, he graduated to FIA F3 in 2022 with the ART GP team taking two podium positions.

This season he joins United Autosports in the No.59 United Autosports McLaren 720S alongside James Cottingham and Nicolas Costa.

Franck Perera

Team: Iron Lynx

Nat: French

Age: 39

Experienced Perera joins Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni in the No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan Evo2 this season.

Perera was a single-seater contemporary of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and finished fourth in the 2005 F3 Euro Series.

A long endurance career started in 2012 after racing in GP2 and briefly Indycars. This saw him win the 2015 European Le Mans Series GTC class and the 2018 GTD category at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Timur Boguslavskiy

Team: Akkodis ASP Team

Age: 23

Boguslavskiy started racing early and by the age of 18 was already crowned Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East – Pro champion.

That led to appearances for Akkodis ASP team from 2019 to 2023. Last season saw him win the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with

This season he makes his WEC debut with Arnold Robin and Kelvin van der Linde in the No.78 Lexus.

Kelvin van der Linde

Team: Akkodis ASP Team

Nat: South African

Age: 27

Springbok van der Linde comes from a large racing family and arrived in Europe during 2014 racing the ADAC GT Master where he immediately took the title.

He repeated that feat in 2019, while also racing in Blancpain GT3 and DTM with ABT.

Van der Linde, the elder brother of BMW WRT’s Sheldon, is also a two-time winner of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He races in his first season of WEC for the Akkodis ASP Lexus squad.

Sebastien Baud

Team: TF Sport

Nat: Belgian

Age: 23 

Baud scored some strong results in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup last season.

Prior to that he raced in the GT4 Europe, French GT and Michelin LM Cup in 2021 and the Ligier Euro Series R class Champion (4 wins) in 2020 where he took four wins.

He joins Hiroshi Koizumi and Daniel Juncadella in the No.82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.

Daniel Juncadella

Team: TF Sport

Nat: Spanish

Age: 32 

Racing is in the Spaniards blood as he is the nephew of former F1 and Le Mans driver Luis-Perez Sala

Juncadella is one of the most highly rated GT3 drivers of his generation and arrives in WEC after many achievements in his career to date. These include a Formula 3 title in 2012 and the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup crown.

Formerly a Mercedes factory driver, Juncadella will compete this season in the No.82 TF Sport Corvette.

Yasser Shahin

Team: Manthey EMA

Nat: Australian

Age: 47

A co-owner of The Bend Motorsport Park in Adelaide, Shahin has been racing in GT3 since 2018.

In 2021, he took the Pro-Am GT World Challenge Australia Championship, with six wins and then successfully defended that crown in 2022 .

A 2023 Asian Le Mans Series campaign was completed with United Autosports and included a second place at Yas Marina.

Morris Schuring

Team: Manthey EMA

Nat: Dutch

Age: 19 

The youngest driver on the 2024 WEC grid, Schuring came to prominence in the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany before taking second in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East title.

Schuring also raced in the Porsche Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2022 and 2023, while also taking in two races of the 2024 Asian Le Mans Series with Herberth Motorsport.

For his WEC debut season Schuring will  partner Yasser Shahin and Richard Lietz in the No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R machine.

Aliaksandr Malykhin

Team: Manthey Pure Rxcing

Nat: St Kitts & Nevis

Age: 36

Malykhin raced in the British GT Championship for several seasons before making his name in 2023 with title successes in the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup. He followed that up with more silverware in the 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series after taking two wins at Dubai and Sepang.

For 2024 he is joined at Manthey Pure Rxcing by Joel Strum and Klaus Bachler.

Joel Sturm

Team: Manthey PureRxcing

Nat: German

Age: 22

A product of GT4 racing in 2020 and 2021 when he raced in the German and European Series, Sturm took a win in the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Bronze series with a Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3.

Sturm also tasted success in the recent Asian Le Mans Series when he partnered WEC teammates Aliaksandr Malykhin and Klaus Bachler to seal the title.

Joshua Caygill

Team: United Autosports

Nat: British

Age: 34

Caygill started out in motorsport racing motorbikes but soon switched to four wheels, racing in the 2018 Blancpain GT Series and the British Touring Car Championship.

He switched to endurance racing in the European Le Mans Series, VLN and Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2022 and 2023, before committing to a WEC programme with United Autosports with a McLaren 720S that he will share with Marino Sato and Nicolas Pino.

Marino Sato

Team: United Autosports

Nat: Japanese

Age:24

From Yokohama in Japan, Sato rose through the junior single seater ranks all the way to Formula Two. That career included a 2018 title success in the Euroformula Open Championship in 2019.

By 2023 Sato decided to switch to a sportscar career, signing for United Autosports and a full season in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 class. That brought success with wins at Aragon and Portimao and a close second in the points standings.

Clement Mateu

Team: D’Station

Nat: French

Age: 42

Mateu made the switch to endurance racing in 2016 with IDEC Sport in the VdeV series before moving on to Blancpain GT  competition for several seasons with Attempto Racing.

Porsche Supercup and GT World Challenge races followed until an entry in to Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Bronze series last season.

He makes his WEC debut this season as part of the re-organised D’Station Racing line-up alongside Marco Sorensen and Erwan Bastard.

Erwan Bastard

Team: D’Station Racing

Nat: French

Age: 25

With an engineering background, Bastard has gained increasing respect for his racing after beginning in the French GT4 Cup in 2018.

A double French and European GT4 title was secured in 2022 before a graduation to the 2023 GT World Challenge last year, again with Sainteloc Racing.

He moves in to WEC this season, joining Marco Sorensen and countryman Clement Mateu with the Japanese D’Station Racing Aston Martin squad.

TAGGED:LMGT3rookies

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Stay Updated! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn VKontakte Telegram Email Copy Link Print
Share
ByItumeleng Garebatshabe
Editor
Follow:
Itumeleng is the Managing Editor of The Auto Magazine. He is a tech and car enthusiast

Follow US

FacebookLike
XFollow
InstagramFollow
YoutubeSubscribe
TiktokFollow
TelegramFollow
Google NewsFollow
LinkedInFollow
- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image

You Might Also Like

Motosport

Vantage GT3 ready for FIA WEC debut in Qatar

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
February 28, 2024
Motosport

Aston Martin Vantage GT3 records brilliant double podium finish on World Championship debut in Qatar

By Itumeleng Garebatshabe
March 4, 2024

The Auto Magazine

  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Policy
  • Bikes
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Trucks & Buses
  • Auto Shows
  • Latest News
  • Motosport

Made by Intellegere Media. All rights reserved. 2023

Don't not sell my personal information
Join Us!
Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc.

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.
adbanner