The fourth round 2018 European Le Mans Series which will take place at Silverstone on the 18th of August and it will see a change in the Racing Engineering driver line-up. Regular driver Olivier Pla, who is currently lying second in the 2018 European Le Mans Series Driver Championship alongside his teammates Norman Nato and Paul Petit, will be unable to compete due to a prior commitment in the World Endurance Championship which will also be held at Silverstone on the same weekend.

Replacing Olivier for this race only will be Matthieu Vaxiviére and although only 23 years old the young Frenchman is already very experienced having won numerous races in the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship, finishing second in the 2015 season. For the last two years Matthieu has been competing in both the European Le Mans Series and the World Endurance Championship and he is currently lying fourth in this year’s ELMS and seventh in the WEC. In both series he is racing the same chassis as that used by Racing Engineering, the Oreca-Gibson 07, so he will be ready to race from the start of Free Practice and Racing Engineering have every confidence that Matthieu will help keep the Spanish team at the front of the ELMS field.

Matthieu Vaxiviére:
"I'm grateful to work with a team like Racing Engineering for this ELMS round and I will do my best to help them to fight for the championship. It's also a great opportunity for me to be able to continue this great championship in LMP2. When I was competing in single seaters I was following GP2 and this team was one of my favourites, and now to drive for them it's such an honour. I will try to bring my maximum and use all my experience."

Alan Queille - Technical Director:
"We are delighted to have Matthieu joining us for the Silverstone round. He will certainly be a good addition to the team. He is one of the quickest drivers in the category and he will bring his experience with the car and the championship.
We were following him during his single seater career when he already proved his raw speed, winning and fighting for the top spot in all the categories he competed in. This year he has also demonstrated that he is a versatile driver, winning at Silverstone in one of the toughest GT championships. It will be a busy and challenging weekend for Matthieu competing in both the WEC and ELMS. But we are confident that Matthieu, alongside Paul and Norman, will help us to keep fighting for good points at Silverstone. We are looking forward to working with him."