JMW confirms ex-F1 driver Stevens for Le Mans

JMW Motorsport has confirmed to RACER that ex-F1 driver Will Stevens (pictured) and WRT Audi's Dries Vanthoor (younger brother of Porsche factory driver Laurens) will join Rob Smith for the team's GTE Am class effort in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours with its brand-new Ferrari 488 GTE.

The race, which is JMW's first with the 488 – the team upgrading from a 458 Italia (pictured, TOP) after this weekend's European Le Mans Series race at Monza – will mark Stevens' second appearance at Le Mans. Last year he made his debut with G-Drive Racing in the LMP2 class, finishing second with teammates Rene Rast and Roman Rusinov. After that Stevens found further success in the World Endurance Championship with the Russian-flagged team, winning the LMP2 class later in the season.

For Dries Vanthoor, the race will mark his Le Mans debut. The 19-year-old has experience racing in Blancpain GT with WRT – scoring two second place finishes last year – and with the Belgian team in the European Le Mans Series, when the team raced an LMP2 class Ligier JS P2 in the ELMS race at Spa as a one-off.

Smith will also be making his debut at the 24 Hours with the team, the British driver having scored multiple wins and podiums with the team in the ELMS.

JMW team owner Jim McWhirter also confirmed to RACER that Jonny Cocker – who in the past raced with Drayson Racing in the American Le Mans Series – will drive for the team at the Le Mans Test Day, and play an advisory role. Cocker is driving with McWhirter's outfit this weekend in Monza.

The team's appearance at Le Mans this year marks its return to racing in the French endurance classic, after it wasn't granted an entry into the race in 2016. Prior to that the team had raced at Le Mans each year since 2008 – its maiden appearance under the Virgo Motorsport banner.

The 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours is set for June 17-18 at the Circuit de la Sarthe.