photo by Regis Lefebure It’s about time Ben Devlin and Gunnar Jeannette have teamed up. The young sports car talents have known each other for the better part of a decade but finally see themselves in the same car this weekend at Le Mans in the Team Bruichladdich Radical SR9-AER LMP2 entry with Marc Rostan. This is the first Le Mans for Devlin but seventh for Jeannette, both 26 years old. Their Radical will start 30th overall and 10th in class.

“It’s always a tough thing getting the last-minute call,” said Jeannette, who didn’t learn about his race entry until about a week ago. “But it’s a good car and a good team. And it’s good to finally drive with Ben.”

Jeannette drives a Ferrari F430 GT in the American Le Mans Series GT2 class for Corsa Motorsports. He first raced at Le Mans in 2000 and became the youngest driver to finish a race at age 18. He has raced in three separate classes at the 24 Hours, and Radical will be his fourth manufacturer.

“LMP2 has shown that it can be a race of attrition,” Jeannette said. “But Le Mans also is one of those races that has shown that it can be an all-out sprint. We’re not on the pace of the Porsches or the top-flight runners but I think we’ll be OK.”