IndyCar Series frontrunner Darren Manning has agreed to join the Embassy Racing line-up for the remaining three rounds of the 2007 Le Mans Series at Spa, Silverstone and Interlagos.
The Yorkshire-based team had always been on the look-out for a third driver to join regulars Warren Hughes and Neil Cunningham for the eleven-hour Mil Milhas finale in Brazil but, with the Cunningham family expecting a new arrival around the time of the Spa-Francorchamps round, the team has decided to offer Manning a three-race deal.
Team principal Jonathan France confirmed that Manning - a native Yorkshireman - was already in talks for Interlagos and admitted that it made sense for him to step into the breach early and partner Hughes in the Radical SR9 LMP2 in Belgium, before forming a three-man assault for both the team's home round and the marathon finale.
“Darren was always my number one choice as the third Embassy driver and I am very pleased that he has agreed to join us," France said, "He has a remarkable talent and will be a worthy stand-in for Neil at Spa. The decision has had to be brought forward, but I couldn't be happier for Neil and Rachel and it is only right that he should stay behind to be with his family at this time.
“I fully expect Neil to be back behind the wheel at
Silverstone. But, with Darren stepping in at Spa and coming with us to Interlagos, it made sense that he should be part of the line-up at Silverstone. I think that, as the car is now much improved both on performance and reliability, the move to three drivers for the final two races will provide us with a better opportunity to finish the series on the podium.”
After a difficult start to the 2007 LMS campaign, Embassy finally displayed its true potential at the Nurburgring in June, running second for a time and narrowly missing out on a podium finish due to an unfortunate incident in the pits which cost vital minutes.
![Darren Manning - AJ Foyt Enterprises [pic credit: IRL/McQueeney]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/286616.jpg)
