WEC: Hoy plans winter LMP2 test program

New European Le Mans Series class champion Sir Chris Hoy expects to start testing an LMP2 car this winter in his bid to race at next year's Le Mans 24 Hours.

The record-breaking Olympic cyclist said that sealing the ELMS LMP3 title with Charlie Robertson at Paul Ricard last weekend was a major step "on the road to Le Mans", but added that there "was still a long way to go."

"I'm looking forward to doing some testing in an LMP2 later this year," said the 39-year-old after notching up his third class victory of the season aboard his Ginetta-Nissan LMP3 run by the works Team LNT squad. "I'd love to compete at Le Mans next year, and Charlie would too, but it is about sorting out a team and a car."

Hoy is backed by Nissan, for which he is also an ambassador, and is being put through the same driver training program as the Japanese manufacturer's GT Academy winners. He explained that winning in motor racing gave him the same satisfaction as his successes on the the cycling track.

"It is the same feeling, winning, whether it is a school-level event, a regional race or an international," he explained. "It is that sense of satisfaction after working towards something."

Hoy is in this third season of racing after starting out by purchasing his own car for the Radical SR1 Cup in 2013. The link with Nissan took him into the British GT Championship last season and into the ELMS this year, while he has also raced in the Radical European Masters series in 2015 aboard an RXC Spyder.

Hoy gained his first experience of the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans in June when he took part in the Test Day at the wheel of his LMP3 car, in which he completed 34 laps.

Originally on Autosport.com