Van der Zande joins DragonSpeed WEC LMP1 line-up

Sports car racing veteran Renger van der Zande will make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut this year after being named in DragonSpeed's line-up ahead of its step up to the LMP1 class.

DragonSpeed confirmed last year it would be entering the WEC full-time in 2018, taking advantage of the revised LMP1 rules for privateers that were tweaked following Porsche's departure from the premier class of sports car racing.

The Swedish outfit confirmed the return of Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley, both of whom raced for the team at Le Mans last year in LMP2, before announcing on Sunday that the pair would be joined by van der Zande.

Hailing from the Netherlands, van der Zande has spent the last five seasons focusing on sports car racing duties in the United States, joining the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014 before winning the Prototype Challenge title two years later for Starworks Motorsport.

Van der Zande kicked off his year by taking pole position for the Rolex 24 at Daytona last week, and will feature in the WEC's pre-season Prologue at Paul Ricard in April before making his debut in the series one month later at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

DragonSpeed also confirmed in the announcement it would make an announcement regarding its "super sub" driver in the near future.