A good start for the Duqueine D08 LMP3

Jean-Karl Vernay, who has just taken up his new position as Head of Customer Racing at Duqueine Automotive, has already had the opportunity to experience three meetings with the launch of the European Le Mans Series season, not forgetting the Le Mans Cup and more recently the Prototype Cup Germany where the brand is very active.

The Duqueine D08 LMP3 is still less present on the racetrack than its direct competitor, the Ligier JS P320, but this does not mean that Duqueine Automotive intends to leave the victories to the competition. For the D08 LMP3 chassis, the 2023 season has started well with a class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona with AWA, followed by a double podium at the 12 Hours of Sebring with AWA and JDC-Miller Motorsports. On the European side, the Duqueine D08 LMP3s were out in force in the Prototype Cup Germany series, which opened its season at Hockenheim last weekend and won both races.

"The performance of the Duqueine D08 is clearly there," Jean-Karl Vernay told Endurance-Info. "This performance was evident at Daytona, Sebring and again last weekend in Germany. The Prototype Cup Germany is becoming more and more popular with a different, more sprint-like format with one-hour races. There are more and more young drivers in it."

Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apothéloz are the perfect example. The JvO Racing by Downforce Motorsports team won race 1, while the Racing Experience team of Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser won race 2.

In the German championship, teams such as BWT Mücke Motorsport, Mühlner Motorsports and DKR Engineering rely on the Duqueine chassis. "Teams with a solid track record trust us", Vernay continues. "This is also the case in the ELMS with Rinaldi Racing and JDC-Miller Motorsports in the USA. The whole Duqueine Automotive team is keen to have as many cars as possible around the world. Now we need to win back more places in the ACO-labelled championships to restore some equality between the chassis."

 Six Duqueine D08 LMP3s are on the Road to Le Mans entry list against 32 Ligier JS P320s. "The Duqueine D08 LMP3 shows great reliability, the product is good and performs well," said the new head of customer racing. "As I said before, the German championship is important for us because the platform is good. Discussions are underway with new teams."

During the winter, Duqueine Automotive continued its restructuring by recruiting staff. While Jean-Karl Vernay will not be racing in the LMP3, there are plans to see him behind the wheel in testing in order to get better feedback for customers. "The opportunities to see more Duqueine D08 LMP3s around the world are numerous," he concludes.