Aston Martin F1 reserve Felipe Drugovich has secured a FIA WEC drive in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Action Express Racing Cadillac.
Action Express Racing has announced that 2022 FIA Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich will join Pipo Derani and Jack Aiten in the #311 Cadillac V-Series.R for the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans, fourth round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.
For the past two seasons, Drugovich (age 23) has served as a test and reserve driver for Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team. He will continue in that role in addition to representing Vector Sport in the European Le Mans Series’ LMP2 category.
Action Express Racing team manager Gary Nelson: “Felipe has been on our radar for a couple of years. After watching him race a sports car in the ELMS recently, we finally got a chance to meet him and work with him in some simulator testing. We were impressed by his maturity, discipline and knowledge. Next, we took Felipe to a track test, where he shared our car with Pipo and Jack. We are very excited to take the next obvious step and enter Felipe alongside Pipo and Jack at Le Mans. His record speaks volumes.”
In F2, Drugovich (of Austrian decent with dual citizenship in Brazil and Italy) scored eight wins and five pole positions in 73 starts, winning the championship in 2022 with five victories, four poles and 11 podiums. He earned 14 wins in 16 races to clinch the 2018 Euroformula Open trophy and was also crowned MRF Challenge Formula 2000 champion in 2017 and 2018 with 10 victories in 16 races. Drugovich has competed in the FIA Formula 3 championship and in Spain’s F3 championship.
Felipe Drugovich: “I am only 23 years old, and I am having the most important opportunity in my racing car career until now thanks to Action Express and Cadillac. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is impossible to define in words, such is its magic and importance for cars in general and motor racing in particular. I am having the opportunity to live this 100-year history for the first time with AXR and Cadillac.
“I barely touched the magic of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning twice the Virtual editions. Now I am going to plunge into it for real with the #311 Cadillac of Action Express Racing with my fellow Brazilian Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken. What a privilege having another dream coming true.”
Action Express Racing’s #311 Cadillac is participating in its second 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American team finished 10th in the Hypercar category last year after Jack Aitken left the track early in the race at the Michelin chicane.
Full entry list: https://mcusercontent.com/b5f125906fc10a7f9e846de69/files/4cd0fa6d-a2ed-2596-c4ba-5f319feaae50/24H_LE_MANS_2024_Provisional__Entry_List_v6_06052024.pdf
[Note: The story is as per press release]