Proton taps multiple manufacturer connections for a young talent-rich Le Mans LMP2 line-up

Thanks to a mutual connection in Japan, Proton Competition has been able to bring together two young stars of two rival manufacturers’ sports car racing programs together in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Honda works driver Kakunoshin Ohta and Porsche factory driver Harry King are both making their Le Mans debut, aboard the yellow and black No. 9 ORECA 07-Gibson.

It’s not a particularly unique arrangement to have different drivers aligned with different manufacturers sharing a car in LMP2; in fact, multiple other LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am teams in this year’s field have a similar setup. And when it comes to working closely with multiple makes, that agility is something Proton is used to – it has a long-standing relationship with Porsche, and a more recent but fully involved partnership with Ford.

The overlap between Proton’s two Ford Mustang LMGT3 cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and its new-for-2026 LMP2 trajectory program in the European Le Mans Series, meant that the No. 9 Proton ORECA would have a different line-up for Le Mans no matter what.

At first it was set to be Jonas and Lenny Ried, the two sons of team principal Christian Ried, sharing the car with King – who not only drives for AO Racing in IMSA this year, but also drives one of Proton Competition’s customer Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the ELMS.

Then Ohta, who races full-time in Japan’s Super Formula and Super GT series, as well as select IMSA events for Acura Meyer Shank Racing, was added to the driver line-up in place of Lenny Ried. Along with him came a new primary sponsor for the entry, the Japanese luxury hotel company Seven x Seven.

Carrera Cup success earned King a works Porsche deal, which has included IMSA opportunities like with AO Racing's "Rexy." Geoff Miller/Lumen via Getty Images

King’s specialty has been in Porsche GT cars, starting in various Carrera Cups before moving up to the GT3 ranks in various championships and establishing himself as a dynamic, rapid young front-runner in all of them. It’s not King's first time behind the wheel of an LMP2 car, though.

“I drove LMP2 a couple years ago in Asian Le Mans, and that went well for me,” recalled the young Englishman of his time driving an ORECA prepared by TF Sport and Lithuanian team Pure Rxcing. “It was a car that I thoroughly enjoyed driving. It felt like (Porsche) Cup racing on steroids to a degree, with everything being same car, same manufacturer of course.

“Le Mans is a very unique event; the car is set up completely different for that race.”

Before they met as co-drivers, King was already thrilled to work with Ohta, who’s regarded as one of the most outstanding Honda works driver talents from Japan. “The line-up’s pretty exciting,” said King. “I was kept in the loop of who would potentially be in the car, and I saw Kaku – obviously, I saw his name when I was doing a bit in Japan last year.

“Seeing him taking part in Daytona with the Acura factory car, it looked like he was doing a good job. And Jonas, of course, spending a bit of time with him back in Europe when I’m competing there.”

Ohta (second from right) joined Acura Meyer Shank Racing's powerhouse GTP line-up at Daytona. James Gilbert/Getty Images

Ohta, like King, has also dabbled in LMP2 racing. During his first partial season of racing in IMSA, he did two races for Era Motorsport, at Sebring and Road America. Much like King, his specialty is in other types of cars: Single-seaters in Super Formula, hybrid prototypes like the Acura ARX-06, and silhouette GT500 cars from Super GT.

“This is my very first time in Le Mans, so I have to learn a lot of things, learn from my teammates…But there’s a long way to go,” Ohta admitted. “I drove (the LMP2) a lot before, so maybe it should be OK to feel comfortable with the car. But track-wise it’s long. Every lap you have to spend three minutes, 30 seconds for the next attempt at the same corner. So every session, every lap, you have to be very, very sharp.

The experience of the two-day public scrutineering in Le Mans city center was eye-opening for Ohta.

“I’m so happy to be here,” he stated. “I like this atmosphere. I haven’t seen anything like this in my racing career – the whole city is supporting the race. It’s so good!”

The common thread that links them is the Seven x Seven sponsorship; the hotel is one of the properties in the portfolio of Kasumigaseki Capital, a rapidly growing Japanese real estate firm which is looking to expand to the U.S., namely with a new property in Miami which is being advertised on the No. 9 car.

The driving force behind the firm is its founder and chairman Hiroyuki Ogawa, who also races sports cars under the pseudonym “Bankcy” – we’ll refer to him as such from here on out. Bankcy found success in Pro-Am racing domestically, and when he sought to spread his wings and compete internationally, he recruited King to be his co-driver for the Asian and European Le Mans Series.

In some respects, it was a reunion for King, who drove full-time in Super GT’s GT300 class for the Seven x Seven Racing team. At Autopolis last October, he not only gave Seven x Seven a win in its debut season, but also the first win in Super GT for Porsche since 2012.

"Bankcy" put his Seven X Seven Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R connections to work to help recruit Ohta. Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Meanwhile – in the Super Taikyu Series, Japan’s other prominent sports car racing championship – Bankcy and Seven x Seven Racing were fighting for the GT3 class title against established East Asian powerhouse Craft-Bamboo Racing, for whom Ohta occasionally races for at the wheel of its Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO. Seven x Seven Racing would take the title in a close fight, but last month, Bankcy reached out with an offer to Ohta.

“We’ve known each other, and he texts me, he asked me about Le Mans, and that’s why we could make this happen,” Ohta recalled of the interaction that brought him to make his first Le Mans start. All it took then was Honda to sign off on sending Ohta off to Le Mans, which they obliged.

“It’s not an easy decision for us. But every part surrounding me, it’s like they understand what I should do, and then what I want to do. And they support me, and that’s how we finalized the team.

“I appreciate everyone who’s supporting me – Honda, Seven x Seven and Craft-Bamboo as well – because I had to skip the (Super Taikyu) Fuji 24 Hours this weekend! So I’m feeling I have to grab some good result, then go back to Japan.”

King also expressed appreciation for being able to work with this group on his Le Mans debut.

“It’s a lot of close people that I know from my ELMS program, and to be sharing it with Seven x Seven, which is the team that I’ve got a good connection with, to have their support and backing for that event is something that I’m very privileged and proud to take part in,” he said.

Only Jonas Ried has run the 24 Hours of Le Mans before, three times, but even with their relative lack of experience, King felt somewhat confident that the team could get a good result.

“I think we’re in a good place, and look forward to hopefully executing a clean 24 hours,” he said. “We’ve got an experienced team with some experienced drivers, so I think it’s not unrealistic to expect a good result. Of course, everyone says a podium at Le Mans is always special. I think the targets are set on that. But also, I don’t want to sound too optimistic or come off rude or brash, that I’m being overconfident. So I’ll let you know, maybe, on Saturday morning!”

The team’s trajectory took a bit of a blemish once the race week started. On Wednesday during Free Practice 1, King had a bit of a wobble into Tertre Rouge, which led to a spin, a hit against the wall, and a damaged suspension which cost him and his co-drivers valuable track time before qualifying. Ohta, for his part, was also quite adventurous during Test Day – perhaps too adventurous, after racking up multiple five-minute stop-and-go penalties for breaching track limits.

It was not the ideal start to the week, but it’s clear that a team boasting two future stars like King and Ohta isn’t just being thrown together to promote some hotels. If their race goes smoothly there’s every chance these young drivers could take a career-defining LMP2 class win at Le Mans on Sunday.