Doohan eager to get his career reset started with Nielsen in ELMS LMP2

For Haas F1 reserve driver Jack Doohan, the upcoming weekend marks a significant moment in his career. The 23-year-old Australian is set to embark on a season of sports car racing for the first time, as part of British team Nielsen Racing's LMP2 class crew in the European Le Mans Series, finally returning to competition after his brief Formula 1 stint last year.

The softly spoken Queenslander progressed through the single-seater ranks from Formula 4 to F1 between 2018 and 2025. Now, following his exit from the high-pressure Alpine F1 environment, he is eager to make his mark in a new discipline and stay sharp while he works out what his future in the sport looks like.

Doohan doesn't underestimate the challenge ahead. He is still adapting to the ORECA 07, building chemistry with his teammates, learning the regulations, and integrating into the Nielsen Racing setup. He also hasn’t raced since the Miami Grand Prix in May last year. However, a busy winter that included testing in Abu Dhabi, Thermal Club and pre-season ELMS sessions in Spain earlier this week has helped him stay composed.

“It’s all excitement for me,” he tells RACER. “There’s not much nervous anticipation. If I wasn’t prepared, I would say so. I think when preparation is done correctly, there are nerves associated with excitement and the unexpected. But regarding the aspects in my control, I think the nerves are OK. There will be the factor of doing my first live driver change, there are firsts coming from F1 and F2, but I feel quite good.

“I haven’t raced in almost a year, and within that time, I wasn’t able to drive a car either. It’s a long time to be outside a car, not just racing but driving. Before my seven races with Alpine, I’d also not raced in the year prior, in 2024 (bar the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi). There’s been a gap, so it’s important to do this to get race fit and build up consistency again.”

Along with the new challenges of a new car and category with Nielsen's ORECA, Doohan will have to adapt to sports car racing's multi-driver format after a career in single-seaters. David Lord photo

During the on-track running in Barcelona so far this week, ahead of Sunday's four-hour curtain raiser, Doohan and fellow LMP2 rookie Edward Pearson have been working closely with Nielsen’s engineers to get up to speed. They have also benefited from the experience of teammate Roy Nissany, who competed in ELMS last season with rival LMP2 team Duqueine.

“I’ve got great teammates,” Doohan says. “Roy I’ve known for some time during my days in F2. Ed, I don’t know him well, but he’s a strong Silver, and I remember him from when I was with Virtuosi in F2, and he was with them in the F4 team.

“With Roy, I actually tested alongside him when I got my first taste of the ORECA in Abu Dhabi. It’s been great to pick his brain. He’s very strong; he showed a lot in F2 when things were right. We’ll be diving in to get a nice, consistent package between all of us. The team has also been very helpful to get Ed and I up to speed. It’s a well-structured organization.”

As for expectations, Doohan admits it’s still too early to define clear targets. The LMP2 grid remains highly competitive, with 11 strong entries this season, and he acknowledges there is still much to learn.

“I’m just focusing on the race, and the relevant areas where an impact can come from,” he adds. “It’s been about familiarization with the car, comfort over long runs and traffic. It’s difficult to outline where we are before Round 1.

“My main focus is to work with the team, stay race fit and sharp and get good results. If we do everything right as drivers, I think we won’t be in a bad place, but I’m not looking too far ahead as it’s a long championship.”

Although he's limited to a reserve role with Haas, Doohan is keen to stay ready to take any opportunity that may arise. Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Doohan’s long-term future remains open. While sports car racing presents a viable and attractive career path, his ambitions in F1 are still very much alive and, as Haas F1’s reserve driver, he knows opportunities could still arise.

“I definitely don’t rule it out (a long-term future in sports cars), and there’s been some great opportunities to be in sports cars,” he says. “But transparently, Formula 1 is the ultimate goal, and right now there’s still a good opportunity, not just a hope in the air. There’s still a foot in the door.

“However, if that wasn’t the case, this would be a nice focus – you can have a great career in sports cars.”

Doohan is far from being the only notable name on the LMP2 entry this year. The ELMS remains an attractive platform for rapid up-and-comers looking to make their mark in FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP, and established players in endurance racing.

Among the drivers set to do battle in ORECA 07s at the head of the field in the two LMP2 classes, two of Ford's newly signed Hypercar drivers – Seb Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller – catch the eye. They'll be competing with Proton Competition in an ORECA led by Ford Hypercar boss Dan Sayers and operated by technical partner Venture Engineering, as part of the Blue Oval's ramp-up to top-class competition in 2027.

New-for-2026 Hypercar manufacturer Genesis has a presence for a second consecutive season, too. Its reserve driver Jamie Chadwick will compete with this year's intake of Trajectory Program drivers, Valerio Rinicella and Laurents Hörr, in IDEC Sport's No. 18 machine.

Acura's Nick Yelloly and Louis Deletraz, Alpine's Charles Milesi, Ferrari's Antonio Fuoco and Peugeot's Malthe Jakobsen from the current Hypercar and GTP grids add further punch to the six-round championship's headline classes.