Julien Canal is a new driver at Larbre Competition in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Canal is the defending LMP2 Champion in the FIA WEC, and until only a few days ago, he seemed to only have an ELMS programme at Panis Barthez Competition for this year.
But all of a sudden he appeared on the entry list for the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps this weekend.
The team had originally announced Fernando Rees would join Romano Ricci and Erwin Creed, but the two parties split a few weeks ago. The team have been silent about the break up, but according to Rees, the team lost a sponsor and requested more money than he was willing/able to bring.
Julien Canal is one of the best silver-ranked gentlemen drivers currently out there, which he has proven with three Championships in the FIA WEC, on top of three Le Mans victories in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Other than his speed, Canal is known for bringing at quite good sponsor package – something that the team apparently needed.
There are no reports about all team members receiving free vouchers for McDonalds in Le Mans and the surrounding area, or if he paid in a more regular way – Canal is the owner of some McDonalds restaurants, including the one located on the Mulsanne straight at Circuit de la Sarthe.