24 Hours of Le Mans

Hughes and Firth to lead Murphy Prototypes ELMS Challenge

Murphy Prototypes would like to announce the driver line-up for its planned assault on this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

Having engaged Bolton-based Team RLR MSport to run its 2012 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) campaign, Murphy Prototypes has signed experienced British professionals Warren Hughes and Jody Firth to do the driving work. They will share the wheel of the squad’s newly-acquired ORECA-Nissan 03 LMP2 car, in which they will tackle the ELMS and, hopefully, Le Mans itself.

With proven winners in the driving seat, Murphy Prototypes will certainly get the most out of its exciting car, which will race on Dunlop tyres. Hughes and Firth already have a fine record as a pairing, with two sportscar championships in as many years and an undefeated record together in the Le Mans Series (as the ELMS was known until 2012).

Hughes’s CV includes an LMP2 victory at Le Mans and Formula 1 test driving work, while former GT driver Firth has quickly established himself as a winner since stepping up to prototypes. Last year he took two races on his way to fourth in the LMS drivers’ championship.

Murphy Prototypes has a reserve spot on the initial Le Mans entry list, and the necessary third driver will be confirmed in due course if the team does get a start slot at the world’s most famous endurance race.

The Irish-owned team, backed by Dublin-based green energy entrepreneur and former Formula 3 race winner, Greg Murphy, has enlisted British outfit Team RLR MSport to handle the day-to-day running of the car.

The car will hit the track for the first time at the ELMS official test, which takes place on March 9/10 at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.

The ELMS, which features rules similar to the Le Mans 24 Hours, consists of five six-hour races across Europe. However it does not include LMP1 prototypes, which means LMP2 teams will be the main contenders for overall wins. Prior to 2012 it was known as the Le Mans Series.

The ELMS kicks off with the Six Hours of Le Castellet, also at Paul Ricard, on March 31.

Murphy Prototypes aims to incorporate cutting-edge renewable energy technology into its race programme. This will include third-generation renewable technologies on the car, plus third-generation thin film solar technologies in the garage. Murphy Prototypes will also strive to achieve carbon neutral status for the planned Le Mans project.

Murphy Prototypes has competencies in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for automotive, renewable and aerospace applications. Through its partnership with Dell Computers, Murphy Prototypes will have state of the art Dell HPC computing capabilities to facilitate ongoing chassis development throughout the season. Murphy Prototypes is also developing innovative in-house solutions for the development of hybrid technologies.

The team’s full list of sponsors is: Biodiesel Ireland, Solarprint, Greenwell Resources, Dell, Sparco, Schuberth Helmets.