TINCKNELL MAKES DRAMATIC RETURN TO JOTA SPORT FOR EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES ATTACK

British youngster to dovetail full ELMS season with existing Nissan NISMO factory WEC commitments

Britain's young sportscar sensation Harry Tincknell will make a dramatic return to JOTA Sport to contest the full five-race European Le Mans Series this year.

The 23-year-old Nissan NISMO factory LMP1 driver will team up with Simon Dolan and Filipe Albuquerque the same JOTA trio who cruelly missed out on last year's ELMS title by just four points.

Tincknell has been given permission by Nissan NISMO to race the LM P2 class JOTA Sport Gibson 015S-Nissan in ELMS alongside his FIA World Endurance Championship commitments for the factory team.

Harry had been due to debut the radical Nissan GT-R LM NISMO in the WEC 'opener' at Silverstone next month. But Nissan NISMO announced recently that it would delay the car's debut until the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

He will now compete at Silverstone over the same weekend in the first round of the ELMS, the 4 Hours of Silverstone, staged on Saturday (11 Apr). Although the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO will not race at Silverstone, Tincknell will be attendance on the day of the WEC race (12 Apr) with his NISMO team-mates to meet fans and the media.

Tincknell joined Dolan and Albuquerque in reacquainting himself with the rebranded Gibson in an 'official' ELMS test at Paul Ricard in Southern France earlier this week (23 March). It was the first time Harry had driven the car since the 2014 ELMS finale in Estoril last October.

The JOTA trio, which scored three podiums including one win and four pole-positions in ELMS last season, completed over 1,000-miles over the two days in a mixture of weather conditions at Ricard. Tincknell only drove on the first day before leaving for America for a Nissan NISMO test.

Harry Tincknell (GB). Age: 23. Born: Exeter, Devon. Lives: Sidmouth, Devon (GB):

"Firstly, I'm very grateful to Nissan NISMO for allowing me to undertake the ELMS programme with JOTA Sport alongside my commitments for NISMO in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Of course my sincere thanks goes to JOTA for the unexpected call-up.

"I'm really excited to be re-united with the 'Mighty #38' in ELMS for a second consecutive season. As a team we work well together and it's a great opportunity for me to get more [sportscar] mileage under my belt.

"The JOTA and Gibson guys have worked really hard on the car over the winter and new updates feel strong while we know the NISMO engine is the strongest out there in LMP2.

"Simon has been doing really well in winter testing and it's great to be back with Filipe. We'll all push each other forward again this season and I'm sure if we keep our hard working approach we can achieve great things this season."