Morgan badges OAK racers

The Morgan name will return to the Le Mans 24 Hours 50 years after its famous class victory in the French enduro.

The British sportscar manufacturer has joined forces with the French OAK Racing team in an agreement that will result in its LMP2 OAK-Pescarolo chassis competing in 2012 as Morgans. The badging deal will encompass the solo works entry OAK will field in the new FIA World Endurance Championship and customer versions of the car racing around the world, including a car run by IndyCar squad Conquest in the American Le Mans Series.

Morgan boss Charles Morgan, grandson of marque founder HFS Morgan, said: “This deal gets us back to Le Mans 50 years after our two-litre class win with the Plus 4 Supersport. We’ve been looking to do something in motor sport again after the Aero 8 GT3 project [which ended in 2010] and this is the perfect partnership for us.

“Racing is important for the brand, but it also puts us in touch with technologies that we are not involved with already. For example, OAK has its own carbon facility. This deal could, perhaps, lead to a limited edition.”

Morgan said that he hoped that a British driver would be part of the Le Mans line-up.

Morgan last competed at Le Mans in 2004 with the factory-run Aero 8R GT2 car.