The Valencia-based by Speed Factory heads to Silverstone for the European Le Mans Series season opener in the frame of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Briton Tom Jackson and Spaniards Álvaro Fontes and Jesús Fuster will drive the Ligier-Nissan JSP3 LMP3 at the historic Silverstone Circuit.
By Speed Factory will take part in the opening round of the European Le Mans to be held at Silverstone, the famous British track built on the site of a WWII Royal Air Force bomber station. The team founded by Dalius Steponavicius made a brilliant debut in the new LMP3 class last year, when by Speed Factory ranked third in series points and stepped second onto the podium at Imola, in which was its second race in the series.
The new season brings many novelties as by Speed Factory acquired in winter a brand new Ligier-Nissan JSP3 LMP3, the most advanced car in class and a clear step forward. But, at the same time, LMP3 class is expected to be even harder as no fewer than twenty Ligier-built cars will be entered to run a full season programme. By Speed Factory draw positive balance during official ELMS testing carried out in March at Paul Ricard and ended night practice 2nd in class. The Spanish team took advantage to conduct pit stop practice but, finally, additional changes for the 2016 rules will not allow getting the most out of this valuable work.
Young ace Tom Jackson and Álvaro Fontes will be joined by Jesús Fuster behind the wheel of the Ligier-Nissan at Silverstone. Both Jackson and Fontes already tested the car last month and on the other Fuster is an expert driver who also put valuable experience under his belt with the car in the last weeks.
The timetable is as follows:
Friday 15 April:Free Practice 1 09:00Free Practice 2 14:45
Saturday 16 April:Qualifying - LMP3 11:10.Race (240´) 14:30Dalius Steponavicius (Team manager of by Speed Factory): "I´m very excited as finally the European Le Mans Series is about to start and a new chapter begins for us. I think we are well prepared for this season as collective tests at Paul Ricard went according plan. Our yellow/red Ligier JS P3 Nissan works fine and, in my opinion, we are in the right place at the right time. We didn´t experience major teething problems with new car in preseason, so we are ready for this year´s challenge. LMP3 class is going to be extremely competitive and closely-fought, maybe even more difficult than LMP2. There are 22 cars entered by experienced teams and with seasoned drivers at the wheel. Our preseason preparations started very early, but a couple of regulations changes about driver line up have disrupted our plans. Anyway we now have a homogenous, strong driver line up with Tom Jackson, Álvaro Fontes and Jesús Fuster..I´m a little disappointed for pit-stop rules changes only ten days before Silverstone. We worked hard on pit-stops in winter to gain valuable time in comparison to our rivals and optimize results for our drivers, not only on the track but in the pit-lane as well. But rules are identical for everybody and we must accept the proposed changes."
Established by Lithuanian rally driver, Dalius Steponavicius, in 2008, by Speed Factory was most successful team in Radical Masters series with wins of driver´s title in 2008, 2009 and 2012 and on its debut in the European Le Mans Series last year ranked 3rd in LMP3 class.
