After making their European debut in the Le Mans Cup season finale at Portimão last year as a toe in the water, Jones and Malvern have opted to enter the European championship full-time this year, having spent the last seven seasons competing in British GT.
The pair will remain with the Team Parker Racing squad for the coming season, but have upgraded to run the new-for-2023 Porsche 911 GT3 R 992, which promises to be a considerable step forward from the older car.
The new car has been in development since 2021 and boasts improvements in every area, with better downforce and aero balance levels, plus improved braking, grip and performance from the 4-litre naturally aspirated engine.
Jones and Malvern gave the car a first shakedown at Spa-Francorchamps recently, before heading to the first test at Barcelona. This weekend they will be part of a bumper 42-car field split between 30 LMP3 prototypes and 12 GT3 cars.
The weekend ahead will mark a steep learning curve with both a new car and new championship to get to grips with, but Jones and Malvern are confident of fighting for valuable points early on.
Nick Jones said: “I’m really excited to get going for our first Le Mans Cup season, and I’m loving driving the new 911 GT3 R 922. The old car was always quite ‘on-the-edge’ to drive, especially through the higher-speed stuff, but this new one is a lot more confidence inspiring. It’ll be a new challenge this weekend, with a lot of new competitors and a lot of unknowns, but racing’s all about a bit of adventure! We’ve still got a great team around us in Team Parker Racing, and I know Scott can get the job done when he needs to. We’re hoping to be in the mix from the start.”
Scott Malvern said: “It’s all looking very positive ahead of the first Le Mans Cup round. The first test in the new car went well and we’ve already worked through a lot of checks and data, and the 992 is definitely a step up. Compared to the old car it’s so much more stable under braking and is less on a knife-edge when you’re pushing hard. So far Nick’s driving it very well and is close to my performance already, which is a really good sign. I think our race pace and tyre management will be good during the stints too. At the start of a new season, nobody ever truly knows where they stand until the flag comes down at the end of the first race, but we feel we’re in a good position to come out fighting from the start.”
The Michelin Le Mans Cup is run across six rounds this year, starting in Barcelona. As the name suggests, the championship is run by the same organisers as the world-famous Le Mans 24 Hours, and the Le Mans Cup will form an important part of the support package to the world’s biggest race by racing immediately before the start of the 24 Hours at La Sarthe in June.
Action for the opening Michelin Le Mans Cup round at Barcelona gets underway with two free practice sessions on Friday, before qualifying takes place at midday on Saturday. The 110-minute race goes green at 17:30 CEST, 16:30 GMT. Live timing and a live stream for the race can both be found on the Michelin Le Mans Cup website.
