George King will return for a second crack at the Ligier European Series crown this season, having starred en route to third overall in the championship in 2022.
Determined not to be overhauled for the final step of the overall podium in last year's championship finale, King performed heroically when forced to drive solo for the entire meeting in Portugal, earning the respect of the LES paddock and ultimately landing him a seat at reigning champions Team Virage for the coming campaign.
Formed in under the name G-TEC Sport, what is now the Virage Group earned early success in singles-seater series ranging from Formula Junior and F3 to the F2-level Open Telefonica by Nissan series. The Virage Academy was created in 2011 in order to assist drivers with their physical, mental and technical preparation, with several future F1 drivers — including Sergio Perez, Vitaly Petrov, Giedo van der Garde and Rio Haryanto — passing through its doors. Team Virage followed several years later in order to compete in various endurance categories, including the LES as well as the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup, and duly swept the board in last year's LES as eventual champion Gillian Henrion won all but one of the season's 12 races.
King entered the 2022 LES on the back of a similarly dominant winter season in the Gulf Radical Cup — where a stellar start to the campaign paved the way for the Essex native's first motorsport title — and continued his earlier success by claiming a series of podium finishes alongside Italy's Ronnie Valori. The move to Virage will see King sharing the team's Ligier JSP4 prototype with Portuguese karting graduate Bernardo Pinheiro, who got his first taste of the LES on home soil at last season's finale.
"I'm excited to announce my plans for 2023," King enthused. "After establishing myself in the Ligier European Series last year, joining Team Virage takes me to the reigning series champions, who showed just how dominant they can be by winning 11 of the 12 races. I'm looking forward to continuing that sort of success and chasing my first LMP4 title in what is sure to be an exciting season."
King's LES programme will start at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in Spain over the weekend of 21-22 April.
