Racing News

The Belgian Marc VDS team has announced that Henry Hassid and Jesse Krohn will join Andy Priaulx in the team’s European Le Mans Series Z4 GTE.

ELMS regulations for the GTE class require that one FIA platinum or gold rated driver be joined by two semi-professional or “gentleman” drivers. Priaulx has a platinum rating. Hassid, who is rated bronze, ran for Marc VDS in the 2014 season finale at Estoril, scoring a win in his first outing with the team. Krohn, 24, who is rated silver, was the first winner of BMW Motorsport’s junior driver of the year title in 2014, when he drove an M235i Racing in VLN. The program was established to promote young touring car and GT drivers; the Marc VDS ride is his next step as a BMW Motorsport driver.

Marc VDS ran Z4 GT3s in 2014; the 2015 season will mark the first entry in European competition for the Z4 GTE, the car built to Tudor United SportsCar Championship specifications for use by Team RLL in the US.

Marc VDS team principal Bas Leinders said, “I’m very pleased to see this line up come together. We all know Andy’s qualities – how many teams have a triple world champion in their midst? – and we have what I believe to be a very strong team here. Henry showed at Estoril last year that he has everything a driver needs to succeed in ELMS, and Jesse looks like a fantastic talent. It’s great to see that BMW Motorsport trust Marc VDS to be such a major part of the development of their future talent.”—Brian S. Morgan