Jota Sport are heading for pre-season testing this week but it hasn’t been plain sailing for the team with Nick Yelloly no longer part of their plans.
It means that Simon Dolan and Felipe Albuquerque will be heading to the South of France today and tomorrow looking to clock up some mileage in the season opening test session.
Dolan and Albuquerque will be on hand to drive the JOTA Sport Gibson 015S-Nissan having already tested at Estoril (twice) and Aragón this year.
Frant-based JOTA Sport, narrowly missed out on winning the ELMS title last year despite scoring three podiums including one win and four pole-positions. The British-team won the LM P2 division in last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours finishing an incredible fifth overall.
The two-day event at Paul Ricard is likely to feature almost all of the 34 full season entries. Indeed all of the 2015 LM P2 entries are expected to be present as drivers and teams prepare for the five-race series that begins at Silverstone next month (11 April).
However Nick Yelloly will not be joining Dolan and Albuquerque at Paul Ricard, or indeed, at any time this season in the Gibson. The British driver who was announced earlier this month as part of JOTA’s ELMS plus Spa and Le Mans squad will not now be a part of the team’s 2015 plans unfortunately due to other commitments.
An announcement concerning the third driver who will partner Dolan and Audi Sport “loanee” Albuquerque in the 4 Hours of Silverstone is likely next week.
Speaking about the important test sessions and the departure of Yelloly Sam Hignett, said: “Paul Ricard will enable us to amass further mileage on the revised Gibson and with every lap we are learning about the car. It’s also the first time that all of this year’s LM P2 competitors will be on the same track at the same time. So at the end of the two days, we’ll have a good idea on where we are in terms of competitiveness.
“Unfortunately Nick is not now part of JOTA Sport’s 2015 plans. Since our announcement earlier this month it transpires conflicting elements and commitments mean its best we go our separate ways with immediate effect.”