Paul Ricard full of testing action

A huge amount of action is expected at the Circuit Paul Ricard this month, as three important championships will realize their official tests there.

Starting on March 11^th, the Blancpain Endurance Series entrants will bring their GT3 machines to two days of testing in the southern France. There’s still no entry list for the official test, but is guaranteed that lots of teams will be present. Some teams added the Endurance Series to their Blancpain Sprint Series schedule, as others are simply entering for the endurance races.

ENTRY: Free to public, with paddock access.

Two weeks later, a combination of ACO-sanctioned events takes place at Paul Ricard in the same week.

On March 23^rd and 24^th, the European Le Mans Series competitors will make the final preparation ahead of the 2015 season. 31 entries are expected for the official test, although some of them weren’t listed as full season entries.

Worth note is the first official outing of the new LMP3 category, at the moment composed only by Ginetta-Juno models. Other interesting entries to see are the BR Engineering BR01s from SMP Racing, the new ORECA 05 of Thiriet by TDS Racing and the BMW Z4 GTE of Marc VDS Racing, as the German machine will make its first laps on European ground.

And then, on March 27^th and 28^th, the Prologue of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which will feature 29 LMP and LMGTE machines at Castellet. Of the full season FIA WEC entries, only two Aston Martins, the Larbre Competition Corvette C7R and the pair of Rebellion R-Ones won’t make the trip to Paul Ricard.

The attractions of the Prologue will include the new Nissan GT-R LM NISMO, as well the 2015 versions of the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro, Porsche 919 Hybrid and Toyota TS040 Hybrid. New LMP2 machines will be on sight too, as the ORECA 05 from KCMG, as well the pair of ESM HPD ARX-04b models and the Strakka-Dome S103.

Not exactly a prototype fan? Don’t worry, 11 GTE cars from 7 teams and 3 manufacturers will be there too, including the factory teams from Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari.

ENTRY: Free to public, with paddock access.

Some teams are already testing at Paul Ricard, so if you can travel to Castellet, don’t miss this chance and enjoy your month full of race cars.

PHOTOS: Circuit Paul Ricard, European Le Mans Series