Team RLR Recruits Warren Hughes for Hungaroring

British-based Le Mans Series squad Team RLR has added class-winning driver Warren Hughes to its line-up for the fourth round of the championship at the Hungaroring (August 21-22).

The ambitious team from Bolton, Lancashire, has signed the experienced Hughes to bolster its debut appearance in the series, with Newcastle-born driver joining previously confirmed team members Barry Gates and Rob Garofall in the MG Lola EX265.

Hughes is fresh from a class win at last weekend’s Le Mans Series round in the Algarve with sixth place overall in a Formula Le Mans car. However, Team RLR believes Hughes will be a key addition to the squad for his all-round experience in endurance racing - which includes six drives in the legendary Le Mans 24-hours, with one of those in 2005 resulting in LMP2 class victory and lap record for Hughes whilst driving the MG Lola EX265 now run by Team RLR.

Hughes visited the team’s workshop yesterday (Tuesday) for a seat-fitting in the MG Lola EX265 and will join the rest of the Team RLR squad when it visits Snetterton race circuit two weeks from now to test ahead of its maiden Le Mans Series outing in Hungary.

Team RLR will also contest the final round of the Le Mans Series at Silverstone in September as it prepares for a full campaign in the world’s premier endurance racing series in 2011.

Team RLR’s long-term goal is to compete for honours in the Le Mans 24 Hours and bring through new British sportscar racing talent in the Le Mans Series over the course of the next three seasons.

Nick Reynolds, Team RLR Principal, said:
“We are delighted to be welcoming Warren to Team RLR for our debut appearance in the Le Mans Series at the Hungaroring. I think he will bring a lot to the team and the other drivers in the squad with his professionalism and experience of the championship. Warren has a superb track record in the Le Mans Series, and has even taken class honours in our car a couple of seasons ago when it was with another team. The car has been completely rebuilt since then and we have done a huge amount of testing this year to get it to where we think it needs to be, so it will be great to see what he thinks of it when we run with him at Snetterton at the beginning of August. We tested there earlier in the year too so it will be a good yardstick for us to measure how far we have progressed since then. We are excited about that and looking forward to the build up to our race debut in Hungary.

Warren Hughes, Team RLR driver, said:
“This is a great opportunity for me. I was aware of the guys behind Team RLR competing in the SPEED Series and knew that they did a very good job. When I got the chance to join the team and drive an LMP2 car again I jumped at it. I think the competition is going to be pretty tough in Hungary as there’s a lot of new cars in the field and the depth of the LMP2 class has definitely gotten stronger over the past couple of seasons. However, if we can get a good run and keep the car out of the pits then I’m sure we can get a very good result and maybe surprise some people. I’m really looking forward to going testing with the team at Snetterton, and if that goes well we can push on and get a result in Hungary that the team deserves for their efforts so far.”

You can follow Team RLR and its Le Mans Series campaign on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamrlr