RLR MSport is proud to confirm that France’s Norman Nato will join the team for its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans (15-16 June).
Nato will partner India’s Arjun Maini and Canadian gentleman racer John Farano in an ORECA 07 LMP2, prepared by the reigning European Le Mans Series LMP3 Teams’ Champion at the 87th edition of the iconic French endurance race.
The 26-year old from Antibes first turned a wheel in karts at the age of nine and secured a run of race and championship wins before graduating to car racing in the 2010 French Formula 4 Championship.
Vice-Champion at the end of his maiden F4 season, Nato stepped up to Formula Renault 2.0 and finished fourth overall in the 2012 Eurocup and runner-up in the Alps Series that same year, before notching up victories in Formula Renault 3.5 and the Formula 1-supporting GP2 Series between 2013 and 2017.
A prolific junior single-seater career preceded a successful switch to endurance sportscar racing in the 2018 European Le Mans Series (ELMS), where he made an instant impact by finishing runner-up in the final championship classification.
However, Nato will now enter the RLR MSport fold in an attempt to add an LMP2 Le Mans victory to his already glittering racing résumé, saying: “I am delighted to be joining RLR MSport for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team already showed great potential in the opening round of the European Le Mans season in Le Castellet. We have the best chassis with the ORECA 07 and a good driver line-up with John (Farano) and Arjun (Maini); we will work hard to be as prepared as possible and I’m really looking forward to starting testing with the team.”
RLR MSport Director of Motorsport Operations, Nick Reynolds, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Norman (Nato) to RLR MSport for our return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s an important milestone for the team and we’ve always wanted the strongest drivers possible to maximise the opportunity we earned by winning last year’s European Le Mans Series LMP3 titles. With Norman sharing the ORECA 07 – widely recognised as the best LMP2 chassis – with John (Farano) and Arjun (Maini), we have a potent and balanced line-up and I’m really looking forward to bringing the three of them together in testing. Norman’s contribution will be great and we should be in very good shape come June.”
