Andretti planning expansion to Le Mans Hypercar entry · RaceFans

In brief

Andretti’s ambitions extend to Le Mans hypercar entry

The Andretti racing organisation is looking to further expand its operations to include the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship as well as enter Formula 1.

Andretti, which has publicly announced it intends to submit an entry into F1, is competing in the IMSA sportscar championship in the United States in partnership with Wayne Taylor Racing. Speaking at a press conference ahead of next weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours, Michael Andretti said his family’s racing team also held ambitions to compete in the WEC and at Le Mans in the Hhypercar class.

“One of the objectives is to hopefully have a WEC team out there in the next few years,” Andretti said.

“That (Le Mans) is a definite goal for us. Our goal is to be in every major racing event in the world. And, obviously, Le Mans that’s one of the big ones. And so, down the road, we definitely want to be there.”

Michael Schumacher’s debut Jordan goes under auction

The Jordan 191 in which seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher ran in opening practice for his F1 debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix will go under auction in just under two weeks’ time.

Schumacher made a famous debut in the round to stand in for Bertrand Gachot, who was remanded in a British prison after assaulting a taxi driver. While Schumacher qualified and raced in chassis number five, he began the opening practice session in chassis number six, which will go under auction at Bonhams on Thursday 2nd February. The car has an expected sale price of between €1.4m-€2m.

After qualifying a remarkable fifth on the grid in a different car, Schumacher would retire from his debut after burning out his clutch. He would be signed by Benetton for the next round.

Wurz extends lead in FROC

Charlie Wurz, son of former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, extended his championship lead in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship – formerly known as the Toyota Racing Series – in New Zealand.

The 17-year-old won two of three races over the second round at the Teretonga circuit to extend his championship and advantage earned over the first round to 24 points over Callum Hedge. There are three more rounds remaining, with the next coming this weekend at Manfeild.