WEC: Catsburg gets late Le Mans test day call-up

BMW factory driver Nicky Catsburg will take part in this weekend's Le Mans test day with the Larbre Chevrolet team. The Dutchman has been called up together with team stalwart Jean-Philippe Belloc to drive the Larbre Competition GTE Am class Corvette C7.R with a view to taking the place of the injured Paolo Ruberti in the 24 hours on June 18-19.

The Italian, who was due to race the Chevy together with Pierre Ragues and Yutaka Yamagishi, will miss the race at Le Mans following an accident during a coaching session at Hockenheim on Thursday. He sustained back injuries that required surgery and will be out of action for at least a month.

"This only came up on Thurdsay, so I guess I just got lucky," said Catsburg, who has yet to race in the 24 Hours at Le Mans. "I have no connection with the team, but I drove a Corvette [for the Selleslagh team] in the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011 and know a few people at Chevrolet.

"I have no idea if I will get to do the race; it's one I really want to do but it is a bit out of my hands."

Catsburg was able to undertake the Le Mans simulator session, which is mandatory for rookies, in Paris on Saturday morning. That was made possible because the Black Swan Porsche GT Daytona squad for which he races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship withdrew from today's Detroit round due to family commitments for team owner Tim Pappas.

Catsburg, who won last year's Spa 24 Hours with the Mar VDS BMW team, revealed that he had been in contention for a drive in this weekend's ADAC GT Masters event at the Lausitzring.

Belloc, a veteran of nine Le Mans starts, previously raced with Larbre at Le Mans in 2001, '11 and '12.He won the FIA GT Championship and its blue-riband Spa 24 Hours round with the team in 2001.

Originally on Autosport.com