Button heading to Le Mans for classic outing

©SuperGT

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Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button will be racing at Le Mans in July, it's been announced.

However he's not joining the line-up of the 24 hour endurance race - this year, at least. Instead he will be among the entry list for the Le Mans Classic event on July 6-8.

He will be driving for JD Classics at the wheel of an ex-Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar XJR-9 for the event. He will race chassis number 688 - the last of the Le Mans-winning models to be built.

It was previously runner-up in the 1988 Spa 1000km World Sportscar event, with Martin Brundle among the drivers.

Button will also take part in his first Goodwood Revival in September, also with JD Classics. His car for that event is still to be confirmed. The team has previously entered a Ford GT40, a Jaguar E-type Lightweight and a Cooper T33.

While Button has long been a familiar face at Goodwood's Festival of Speed, the Revival has typically clashed with his Formula 1 commitments.

“It’s an absolute pleasure for us to have Jenson racing with us twice this season," said JD Classics founder Derek Hood.

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“I know the talented engineers working in our race shop in Maldon are some of the best in the world, so Jenson will have all the technical support he needs.

“We’re proud sponsors of both the Le Mans Classic and Goodwood Revival," he noted. "We believe they deliver some of the best historic motorsport action on the calendar.

"Having Jenson racing at both just goes to show why," Hood added.

Button is combining the two outings with his current 'day job' competing in the Japanese Super GT. He made his series début last year in Suzuka and this year will be racing full time in a Honda NSX-GT.

The 2009 world champion's final Formula 1 outing was in May last year at Monaco. He sat in for McLaren's Fernando Alonso when the Spaniard opted to enter the Indianapolis 500 held on the same day.

Button's final race ended after colliding with a Sauber and he subsequently confirmed his retirement from F1. His role as McLaren's official reserve driver has since been taken up by Lando Norris.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.