2022 ELMS LMP3 News: Eurointernational, United, RLR & Inter Europol

Eurointernational

In addition to the pair of G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca’s campaigned by Algarve Pro Racing in the 2022 ELMS there will be an LMP3 presence too with EuroInternational fielding the #12 Ligier JS P320 in full G-Drive colours, albeit based around a very dark blue rather than grey.

The effort sees Glenn van Berlo (Silver), younger brother of newly confirmed United Autosports LMP3 returnee Kay van Berlo, and Evgeny Kireev (Bronze) with a second Silver driver to be entered soon.

Eurointernational will also race their traditional #11 with 2016 Italian F4 Champion Marcos Siebert ( Silver) and Max Koebolt ( Silver), the Dutchman switching from Nielsen Racing this year, with a Bronze (already signed) that is waiting for FIA categorization.

On the livery front, the #11 will have silver whereas the #12 is orange.

United Autosports

Kay van Berlo will return to the United Autosports team for the 2022 European Le Mans Series joining Jim McGuire and Andrew Bentley in the #3 AERO Ligier JS P320 taking the seat initially held by Duncan Tappy, who will now move to United’s LMP2 team for the 2022 season.

Kay first joined the team for the 2018/2019 Asian Le Mans Series where he won the second round at Fuji, Japan. Since then, he has gone on to race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux before moving to the US to race in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America finishing second in the championship. Most recently, Kay won the 2022 Rolex 24 At Daytona in the LMP3 class win a Riley Motorsports Ligier.

Kay van Berlo: “I’m super excited to start racing again for United Autosports after our Asian Le Mans campaign in 2018/2019, which went pretty well with a win in Fuji. There’s plenty of opportunities this year to get some trophies and see if we can put some good results down. I love working with the team and United has one of the fastest cars out there. They’ve had some amazing results in the last few years winning Le Mans, WEC and the ELMS. It’s good to be back with Jim. I’ve raced with him a few times and he’s been doing a lot of driving since I was last with him. I’ve also worked with Andrew before which is great. United is already a familiar environment so we are good to go. I’m looking forward to getting back to the ELMS as well. I’ve never raced at Hungary, but it looks like an awesome track. I can’t wait to get going.”

Zak Brown: “I’m glad we could welcome Kay back to the team to take the third spot in the #3 LMP3 car this year. He is a fast, reliable driver and I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on with Jim and Andrew this year.”

Richard Dean: “I’m so pleased we have agreed a deal with Kay to return to the team for the 2022 ELMS. When he first joined the ELMS grid, we were racing against him, so to now have him as part of our crew is fantastic. He has been racing over in America for a couple of seasons now and has really excelled in everything he has done, including getting the win at Daytona. I’m looking forward to seeing him back with the team.”

RLR MSport

RLR MSport will field a pair of LMP3 entries in the 2022 European Le Mans Series, doubling the Bolton, UK-based outfit’s presence from 2021.

Valentino Catalano, Austin McCusker and Horst Felbermayr Jr. will race in the #15 Ligier JSP320, the car expected by DSC to feature the iconic blue Felbermayr livery.

Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Alex Kapadia will combine in the sister #5 car.

Catalano is the latest in a line of 16-year-old racers emerging from karting and F4 to turn to sportscars, the German eyeing a future in endurance racing:

“I’m super excited about how the 2022 season will be,” said Catalano. “It’s my first time in endurance sportscar racing, having driven in the French and German Formula 4 Championships in 2020 and 2021, but I had the chance to drive an RLR MSport Ligier JSP320 LMP3 during two days of testing in Portimao and I quickly found pace. The work with the team was on point and I think we are set up perfectly to fight for the European Le Mans Series LMP3 title. This definitely has to be our main target.”

2019 IMSA Prototype Challenge Champion McCusker: “The European Le Mans Series is the best LMP3 championship in the world, where all the top drivers race,” said McCusker. “In addition to that, the calendar includes some really cool venues, and travelling Europe is always amazing for an American.

“I tested with RLR MSport in 2019, it was my first experience of working with a European team, and I’m happy we can finally do something together; the engineering is really great, the team was quick in testing and we have a stellar driver line-up capable of pushing for race wins and, hopefully, the championship. For me, the priority will be to consistently achieve solid results, to be in the title fight at the end of the season, we will certainly have the car and drivers for it, we will just need to be on our A-game throughout.”

Horst Jr Felbermayr, meanwhile, raced in the ELMS between 2005 and 2019 and returns to the series following a one-off outing with RLR MSport in the final round of the 2021 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

“I think we are ready to be on the podium in every race with two drivers as young and fast as Valentino (Catalano) and Austin (McCusker) in the car,” said Felbermayr. “I’m very happy to be back in the European Le Mans Series and I think it will be a very interesting season. My race with RLR MSport in the last round of 2021 in Portimao was really good; we performed well and I felt very comfortable with the team, which was very professional and clearly had its priorities straight. It’s great to be working with them again this year, and, while I don’t want to apply any pressure at this early stage, I think we have the ingredients to race at the front in LMP3.”

Jensen has raced LMP3 machinery in Europe and Asia but previously competed against teammate and friend Adcock in South Africa, and steps up to the ELMS after two learning years in the Le Mans Cup.

“This season, I wanted to work with an English team,” said Jensen. “I’m not the same driver as I was when I first stepped into an LMP3 prototype in the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup ‘Road to Le Mans’ because my pace has improved massively and my confidence is at an all-time high. In racing, confidence is a fragile thing that can take a long time to build up, but I immediately felt comfortable when I tested the RLR MSport Ligier JSP320 in Portimao in October 2021, and, combined with coaching from Alex (Kapadia), I’m expecting to take another step forward in 2022.”

Adcock, a British entrepreneur who resides in South Africa, has amassed experience in a wide spectrum of categories during 22 consecutive seasons of racing:

“Last season was going to be my swansong in international motorsport, but the prospect of sharing an RLR MSport-prepared car in the European Le Mans Series with my friend and teammate Michael (Jensen) and Alex (Kapadia) was more than enough to change my mind. The reality is, the ELMS is a fantastic championship and an immense challenge. I love the circuits, I love the show and I love how professional it is.

“I’ve known the RLR MSport guys since 2009 but have never raced with them, and I’ve always been very impressed with the team’s engineering. In fact, 2022 has all the potential to be a really good campaign. Fielding two Bronze drivers and a Silver seems to be the best way to go now driver gradings have been tightened up and I believe Alex (Kapadia) could now make a real difference to our performances, being that he’s a great driver coach who is very quick in his own right. We want to score well and have a shot at podiums, and I don’t see why that can’t be achieved with some good, consistent driving.”

The most familiar face within RLR MSport’s 2022 roster is Kapadia, who is highly regarded for his raw pace, his skills as a driver coach and his ability to provide engineers with accurate and detailed feedback, and he said: “This year, my role within the RLR MSport driver line-up will be a bit different, and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of leading the #5 car. Nick (Adcock) is extremely experienced, while Michael (Jensen) is comparatively new and will be taking his first steps in the European Le Mans Series, but both are very quick Bronze drivers and it will be good to work with them.

“One of my strengths is giving feedback and helping the team improve the car, and with two younger drivers in the #15, I’ll be there to give guidance and serve as a benchmark for all of my teammates. This will be more important now the calendar incorporates the Hungaroring and Imola, two very twisty, technical and physically demanding circuits where there’s more emphasis on setup and drivers can make a bigger impact.”

Inter Europol

Sixteen-year-old French driver Noam Abramczyk will join the Inter Europol Competition team in the Ligier LMP3 #14 for the full season of the European Le Mans Series. He will share the car with Canadian driver James Dayson. The third driver will be named in the next few days.

Abramczyk comes from a rookie season in the Spanish F4 championship, where he got some important experience behind the wheel. Coming from a karting background, it was a big step for the young Frenchman. This year Noam has tested the LMP3 at Paul Ricard, and he is now ready for the next phase of his career in sportscars.

Noam Abramczyk: “When I will make my debut in the ELMS with Inter Europol Competition team, the most important thing that I have to learn is that I have to deal with a compromise on what I think is the ideal car. For the first time in my racing life, I will have co-drivers which is good and exciting. I have a lot to learn.”

Sascha Fassbender: “To have that many young talented drivers in the team makes you look forward to the future. Noam has already shown he has talent and, even at his age ánd being new to endurance racing, we think he will be able to surprise many of us.”