WEC: ESM set for Shanghai 6 Hours

Extreme Speed Motorsports is en route to Shanghai, China, where it will field two Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPD ARX-03b prototypes in this weekend's round of the World Endurance Championship.

The Florida-based team made its WEC debut last month at Circuit of The Americas and earned a third-place finish. As the TUDOR Championship season drew to a close, ESM decided to embark on a journey into the FIA WEC and entered two cars in the November race on the 3.4-mile, 16-turn Shanghai International Circuit, which was developed to host the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix and MotoGP, and also hosts the V8 Supercar Championship.

The lineup has changed for the No. 30 Tequila Patrón HPD team. Mexican racer Ricardo Gonzalez, the 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 champion, will co-drive with Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel. Gonzalez has two previous starts at the Shanghai track. Last year, Gonzalez and co-drivers Bertrand Baguette and Martin Plowman qualified fourth and finished third in P2 driving an Oak Morgan-Nissan.

Dalziel is the 2012 FIA WEC LMP2 class champion. The Scotsman has three FIA WEC victories and seven podiums. In his FIA WEC championship season, Dalziel finished second at Shanghai. ESM team owner and racer Sharp is making his Shanghai debut.

New for the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai is the No. 31 Tequila Patrón HPD, co-driven by Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and David Brabham. Formerly the No. 2 Tequila Patrón HPD in TUDOR Championship, the addition of the second LMP2 machine in the WEC strengthens ESM's efforts. In 2014, Brown and van Overbeek earned their first pole position and win in the TUDOR Championship during the May race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Brown was part of the ESM team that raced to a third-place finish at COTA. Although a seasoned sports car racing veteran with four 24 Hours of Le Mans events under his belt, Oakland, Calif. native van Overbeek makes his first FIA WEC appearance outside Le Mans in China.

Brabham teams with Brown and van Overbeek for the first time. Earlier this year, Brabham co-drove with Sharp and Dalziel in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and assisted in a third-place finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Brabham also co-drove in the then No. 01 machine during the 2013 ALMS endurance races at Daytona, Sebring and at the Petit Le Mans in Atlanta.

Ride along with Extreme Speed Motorsports
Viewers will be able to watch qualifying and the entire race from on-board cameras mounted to both of the ESM Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPDs via the FIA WEC second screen app or online at www.fiawec.com

The cameras are mounted to the racecars, so viewers can watch the race from the drivers' point of view. To ride along with Sharp, Dalziel and Gonzalez, select the No. 30 camera, or to ride along with Brown, van Overbeek and Brabham, select the No. 31 camera.

Download the FIA WEC second screen app online at www.fiawec.com.