Manor has confirmed its third driver for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, with James Jakes joining Will Stevens and Tor Graves.
The British LMP2 team recently announced it was expanding to a two-car WEC line-up, fielding a second Oreca 05 in its debut season. Jakes previously raced for Manor in Formula 3 and GP3 before racing in the US.
The Englishman spent four seasons racing in the IndyCar series. He debuted for Dale Coyne Racing in 2011 and remained there for a second year, finishing 22nd in the standings both times.
He switched to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for 2013 and scored a best finish of sixth in Houston, before taking a sabbatical and returning last season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, scoring a podium and several top 10 finishes.
"I'm delighted to be joining Manor WEC team," he said. "I've known John [Booth] for many years and when the opportunity came up to work together again I couldn't have been happier.
"To have the chance to go endurance racing competitively on some of the greatest tracks in the world, I'm very excited. I have been racing in the USA for the past 4 seasons and to start back up again at Silverstone where it all began for me is just icing on the cake.
"It's going to be a very busy few weeks leading up The Prologue and the first race, but I have every faith that we will be fighting for some good finishes this season.”
Team principal John Booth added: "It is great to welcome James back to Manor, another talent to our growing driver line up. It will be good to pick up where we left off following successful seasons with James in both Formula 3 and GP3 series. I have had some good results with James in the past and hope to carry this onto WEC."
