The FIA World Endurance Championship has announced that Julien Andlauer will be making his debut in the Hypercar category at the upcoming season-opener in Qatar. Andlauer, who has previously raced for the Dempsey-Proton Racing team in the GTE-Am category, will now join Proton Competition and drive the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 alongside teammates Harry Tincknell and Neel Jani. The race in Qatar will take place on 2 March and will cover a distance of 1812 km.
Andlauer had the opportunity to test the team’s #99 963 car during the post-season Rookie Test at the Bahrain International Circuit. This marked his first experience driving a Hypercar, with fellow drivers Rene Binder and Neel Jani also taking part in the test.
In the previous season, which was the final season of the GTE-Am category, Andlauer achieved his sole victory of the season at the 6 Hours of Monza, where he partnered with Christian Ried and Mikkel Pedersen. He has also competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3.R over the past two seasons.
Andlauer recently completed his second campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series, this time driving for Proton Competition in an Oreca 07 LMP2. Despite this, he once again finished as the runner-up in the championship standings for the GT category.
The FIA WEC has now released the full entry list for the upcoming race in Qatar, confirming the participation of 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 cars. Prior to the season-opener, teams will have the opportunity to prepare at the Losail International Circuit during the Prologue pre-season test, which will take place on 24-25 February. This will be the first time that the championship will be held at this venue.
According to the Source motorsportweek.com