Hanley, Vergne and Rao set to complete WEC season with Manor

CEFC Manor TRS Racing's current driver line-up of Ben Hanley, Matt Rao and ex-F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne in the No. 24 ORECA 07 Gibson are set to finish the 2017 FIA WEC season together, team principal Graeme Lowdon confirmed to RACER at Fuji.

The trio has been together since the 6 Hours of Mexico, where they finished on the podium after a head-turning performance which saw them come close to scoring the British team's first class win in the series.

"Last year we had a lot of driver changes, and we know that it's not the most efficient way of doing things. So, we're happy that we have a consistent line-up for the rest of the season," he said.

"We're confident of good results, too – the crew performed well at Mexico and were unlucky at COTA after the car had to come in for a stop to repair the lights which had been damaged after contact with another car. The only consolation is that the No. 24 moved up a spot in the standings after COTA!"

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Prior to WEC's race in Mexico City, the team competed with Roberto Merhi, Tor Graves and Johnathan Hirschi in the car at the Nurburgring. Lowdon explained to RACER that Merhi wasn't in line to race again with the team, as the Spaniard's appearance was a planned one-off in place of Jean-Eric Vergne (who had Formula E commitments that weekend) and that Hirschi was only ever confirmed to take part in the European rounds of the WEC.

When asked about Graves' position in the team going forward, Lowdon went on to stress that he's still a key part of Manor as a stakeholder, despite not driving for the team at present.

"Tor is still a key part of what we do, and what we're planning going forward. He's got a lot of business commitments at the moment so he may not attend all the races. He's working in the background on commercial stuff for the team going forward."