Scotland’s most talented young sportscar driver, 17 year-old Sandy Mitchell, will partner Olympic cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy in their 420bhp LMP3 car this weekend.
Mitchell, the youngster from Forfar and 2016 British GT Championship Rookie of the Year, will partner fellow Scot, six-time Olympic gold medallist Hoy, in a 420bhp, five-litre V8 carbon-bodied United Autosports Ligier JS P3.
Ahead of contesting the final rounds of the Henderson Insurance LMP3 Cup Championship at Donington Park tomorrow and Sunday, Mitchell tested the car for the first time at the Leicestershire circuit yesterday.
Mitchell is looking forward to pairing up with Hoy, the 41-year-old from Edinburgh and a former European Le Mans LMP3 Champion, who completed the Le Mans 24-Hours on his debut last year in an LMP2 car.
“This weekend is going to be fantastic, and I’m looking forward to working both with Chris and United Autosports,” Mitchell, who clinched the race seat by winning the team’s Sports Insure Young Driver Initiative, said. “It’s a special, and important occasion for me.
“I grew up watching Chris win his final cycling gold medal at the London Olympics, and then his path to car racing and completing his debut in the Le Mans 24-Hours last year.
“His approach to everything he does is 100% focused on achieving the very best he can be. It’s a philosophy I admire and one which I always try to replicate.
“Chris has experience of not only racing in LMP3 cars, but of winning, and receiving his insight will be really helpful in ensuring I can maximise my first outing in the United Autosport Ligier.”
This weekend will also be Mitchell’s first race outing since he was selected to the British Racing Drivers’ Club Rising Star scheme.
The coveted position means the young Scot is now part of the scheme which scouts the nations’ top talent from trackside as junior members of what is widely regarded as the most exclusive club in motor racing.
Ultimately, the BRDC — which owns and operates Silverstone circuit — hopes its Rising Stars will eventually graduate to full membership. In doing so, Mitchell would join illustrious fellow Scots racing drivers, including three-times F1 world champ Sir Jackie Stewart, IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti and triple BTCC champion Gordon Shedden.
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