JOTA Sport have announced the signing of Mitch Evans to join their World Endurance Championship and Le Mans challenge.

Evans will make his sportscar debut will take part in the six hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the prestigious Le Mans 24 hour race.

The 20-year-old Kiwi will be joining Simon Dolan and Nick Yelloy in the two WEC races replacing Felipe Albuquerque who is obligated to race for Audi team Joset for those two races.

JOTA Sport achieved a praiseworthy second and then a brilliant first placing in the corresponding Spa and Le Mans races respectively last year.

Evans had his first taste of the Gibson in a test last month (24 Feb) at the Aragón circuit. Yelloly and Albuquerque were also present in Spain. Mitch, who will also contest a full season of GP2 again this year, joins former single-seater race winners Harry Tincknell, Oliver Turvey and Yelloly in switching to the sportscar category with JOTA Sport.

Speaking about the opportunity to race in the WEC, Evans said: “I’ve never raced a sportscar and only drove one for the very first time last month but I don’t see this an issue. I’ll use my single-seater experience to get to grips with the LM P2 sports-prototype as fast as possible. I’ve followed sportscar racing for many years and Le Mans has always been on my ‘bucket list’.

“My aim at Spa will be to learn this new style of racing and gaining experience with driver changes. For Le Mans, the goal will be to help JOTA win LM P2 again.

“I visited Le Mans for the first time last year and honestly didn’t realise the size of the event – in terms of the track itself and the spectacle as a whole. I’d watched it previously on television but you cannot appreciate the magnitude of the event until you actually visit the place. I can’t wait to experience my first laps around there at the test in May. I am so excited and can’t wait to get started.”