Beitske Visser is confirmed as part of the Richard Mille Racing trio for the upcoming Le Mans 24 Hours race, as Katherine Legge recovers from her testing accident. Visser will tackle the legendary race for the first time alongside Sophia Floersch and Tatiana Calderon.
The final spot on the entry list has been filled for Richard Mille Racing, as the Swiss team opted to confirm Beitske Visser as one of its three drivers for the upcoming Le Mans 24 Hours.
Visser thus joins Sophia Floersch and Tatiana Calderon at the wheel of the #50 LMP2 Oreca - replacing the injured Katherine Legge, who is still recovering from her serious crash at the ELMS prologue at Paul Ricard.
The experienced British driver went off at high speed during the first day of collecting testing and crashed into the barriers after Signes corner. Legge was quickly attended by the medical personnel, extricated and transported to the circuit medical centre. Following evaluation, she was then airlifted to Sainte-Anne hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken leg and a with an injured wrist.
Legge - an elite racer with experience spanning from F1 testing, DTM, Champcar, Indycar, Formula E and IMSA, is a seven-time starter at the 24 Hours of Daytona, but was targeting her first Le Mans 24 Hours as part of the FIA Women in Motorsport-supported project with Richard Mille Racing.
The ELMS season opener was contested by Tatiana Calderon and Signatech driver André Negrao, with the French team running the Richard Mille operation. The team completed the 4-hour race in 5th overall position.
Dutchwoman Beitske Visser joined the squad at Spa Francorchamps, as the third designated team member, German Sophia Floersch, could only make her sportscar debut at the third round of the season due to her FIA Formula 3 commitments. Floersch and Visser were a convincing P11 at the Le Castellet 240 event, following a drive through penalty that denied them of a potential top-5 finish.
Visser, 25-year old from Dronten, Netherlands, was W Series runner up in 2019, winning one race at Zolder. A BMW Junior driver, she previously competed in both GP3 Series and Formula Renault 3.5, two of the highest ranked formula championships, before making her debut in 2017 on GT4 machinery.
W Series brought her back under the international spotlight and, after the 2020 women-only F3 season was cancelled, Visser was crowned champion in dominant fashion in the iRacing-based W Series Esports League.
The Visser, Calderon and Floersch trio will share the Oreca seat for the first time next week at La Sarthe, as each of them will tackle the legendary race for the first time.