Chris Dyson has been named as part of Team LNT’s driving line-up for the FIA WEC race in Bahrain next month,

The two-time American Le Mans Series champion is set to make his first WEC start in LMP1 with Team LNT, after missing the opening rounds to the season due to clashes with his Trans-Am programme and an injury. The last time he was seen in an FIA WEC meeting outside of Le Mans was back in 2013 when he made three starts with Greaves Motorsport in LMP2.

Dyson will compete in the #6 G60-LT-P1 with Ginetta factory driver Mike Simpson and 2003 Le Mans winner Guy Smith.

“It’s been a long wait to get back into an LMP1 car. I can’t wait!” Said Dyson.

“The car was excellent in testing and I have been keeping a close eye on the team’s progress through the season so far.

“Bahrain, finishing at night under the floodlights, will be a new experience for me. I’ll be pushing as hard as I can to deliver on the clear potential of the Ginetta AER package.”

This shuffle in driver crews means that Charlie Robertson, who drives the #6 in Shanghai, moves over to race the #5 alongside Ben Hanley and Jordan King. Egor Orudzhev will not make the trip with the team after racing with it in the opening three races.

“It’s great to finally get Chris in the car. He showed great speed and consistency in pre-season testing and I know he’s raring to go,” Team LNT owner Lawrence Tomlinson said.

“Bahrain should suit the Ginetta, and as we saw in Shanghai where we ran first and second for over an hour and set the fastest lap, there is a real opportunity for a breakthrough result.

“At 8 Hours the race will be the longest so far for the Ginetta AER package but the reliability so far has been excellent. A good result is there for the taking.”

Elsewhere for Bahrain, the other known change to the entry list will be the addition of G-Drive Racing to the LMP2 class. There, the Russian-flagged team, which represents Aurus, will look to add to its tally of wins during 2019. This year G-Drive scored two wins in the European Le Mans Series and a victory in the Asian Le Mans Series opener last weekend.

Driving G-Drive’s Aurus 01 will be the team’s 2019 ELMS trio of Roman Rusinov, Job van Uitert and Jean-Eric Vergne.

The 8 Hours of Bahrain gets underway on 14 December.