German racer Sophia Floersch will make her ELMS debut at the next Le Castellet 240 for Richard Mille Racing in order to gain valuable experience prior to her Le Mans debut. She will thus miss the next FIA F3 round at Spa Francorchamps.
FIA Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch will miss the next round at Spa Francorchamps on 28-30 August as she will make her race debut in the European Le Mans Series at Le Castellet, France.
The 19-year old German was set to enter both series but the revised and compressed calendars meant that Floersch had to prioritize her maiden FIA F3 campaign over LMP2 duties. So far, Sophia has driven the Richard Mille Racing LMP2 Oreca in pre-season testing at Paul Ricard, but then had to miss both races for clashing commitments.
The brand-new Richard Mille squad - which was forced to find a replacement for the injured Katherine Legge - relied on Signatech's experienced driver André Negrao and on W Series runner-up Beitske Visser, in the two round of the ELMS season so far at Paul Ricard and at Spa Francorchamps. The team finished P5 and P6.
With the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans approaching, Sophia Floersch therefore decided to enter the third round at Le Castellet - which was initially scheduled to run at Barcelona, but was moved again to the French venue amid the new Covid cases - in preparation for the endurance classic at La Sarthe.
So far, Floersch's co-drivers are not officially confirmed, but it is likely that Visser and Negrao will again drive the #50 Richard Mille Racing Oreca, as Tatiana Calderon is currently in Japan for the upcoming start of the Super Formula championship. The Colombian will be back in Europe in time for Le Mans.
Sophia Floersch will thus make her return to Campos Racing for the eighth round of the season at Monza.
You can find the full Le Castellet 240 entry list here.