Mercedes chief strategist secures Asian Le Mans race seat

Mercedes chief F1 strategist James Vowles will swap the pit wall for a race seat by taking part in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Vowles has joined Garage 59 to drive a McLaren 720S GT3 for the series that gets underway in Dubai on February 12 and will be joined in the number 59 car by Manuel Maldonado and Nikolai Kjærgaard.

The season takes in four races, with two taking place at the Dubai Autodrom and the other two at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The four races will be run between February 12 and 20, allowing Vowles to return to the Mercedes set-up for the first pre-season test in Barcelona beginning on February 23.

Garage 59 team principal Andrew Kirkaldy said: “I’m really happy with the driver line-ups we’ve secured for Asian Le Mans.

"We’re all looking forward to getting started with the McLaren 720S and hopefully getting our first win of the season.

"For sure it will also be handy to have one of F1’s best strategists in the team.”

Meet our 2022 @AsianLeMans squads 👊

#59: @nicolai_kj @Manu33Maldonado @JV_F1
#88: @aglwest @officialmarvink @frankbird67

It all starts in Dubai next week but, until then, here's the full story: https://t.co/Q6npPvbhrF#AsianLeMans #McLaren pic.twitter.com/iXe7yOZmTk

— Garage 59 (@Garage_59) January 31, 2022