Hong Kong – Local Hong Kong driver Darryl O’Young is set to take on the 82nd edition of the iconic Le Mans 24 hours race amongst a star studded field, which includes former F1 and current Porsche factory driver, Australian Mark Webber, as well as Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey.

It’s a landmark year for the event, with Porsche returning to the premier Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) class following a 16-year absence. Webber will be the headline act behind the wheel of the 2014 Porsche 919 Hybrid car in the premier class, while Dempsey will also line up for Porsche, driving the Dempsey Racing-Proton Porsche 911 RSR car in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE-AM) class.

For O’Young, this year’s event will mark his third attempt at Le Mans making previous starts in 2009 and 2013, with the latter providing a career best result of second in the LMGTE AM class. This year, the Hong Kong national has joined Aston Martin Racing for the entirety of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) following on from his time in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) from 2010 to 2013.

Darryl O’Young

The move to Aston Martin has also seen O’Young step up to the LMGTE PRO class for the famous race team, which last year endured a bittersweet day following the death of Danish driver Allan Simonsen in a lap three incident, before the sister Aston Martin entry claimed third in its class at race’s end. Aston Martin Racing will again field four cars this year, with two entries in LMGTE-PRO and LMGTE-AM respectively.

While Dempsey may be best known for his exploits on the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy, his credentials as a race driver should not be underestimated, with a career best result of fourth in class at Le Mans last year alongside co-drivers Joe Foster and Patrick Long. Foster and Long will again join Dempsey, who was excited to return for the 2014 event.

“We are honoured to have been invited back to Le Mans, it is an amazing, larger than life event and the wonderful fans in France and the incredible support from the ACO always make the race a pleasure,” Dempsey said.

Despite an extended absence for both Webber and Porsche from Le Mans, results thus far in the WEC have been promising with a third place in the opening event, the six hours of Silverstone, before a tough six hours of Spa-Francorchamps netted the Australian and his team mates, German Timo Bernhard and Kiwi Brendon Hartley, 23rd place.

Webber, who last entered the event in 1999 for Mercedes where he failed to start the race courtesy of a spectacular crash that saw his car become airborne, told Eurosport that Le Mans is the number one race he would like to win this year, but noted that such a result would be tough to achieve in Porsche’s first year back in the competition.

“It’s the hardest motor race in the world to win. It’s a very long race, a Formula One season in one day in terms of mileage,” Webber said.

“It’s a tough race to put together, it only takes one small thing to go wrong and you’re out of the race.

“In the future we can certainly have an eye on victories at Le Mans. We have such respect for the race and for us to turn up with our chest out and say ‘We are Porsche and we will conquer the race in the first attempt’ would be incredibly optimistic.

“I’m extremely motivated to put this race on my CV and to win it with my team mates and with Porsche.”

Current Ferrari Formula One driver, and two times World Drivers Champion, Fernando Alonso has been appointed the official starter for the 2014 edition of the race. A close friend of Webber, Alonso said he was keen to catch up with the Aussie in his new racing environment.

“We miss him in Formula One and I want to know how he’s getting on in endurance racing,” Alonso said.

The 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 hours is set to be one of the most exciting to date with the return of Porsche, the arrival of Toyota as outright favourites after wins in the opening two rounds of the WEC and 2013 Le Mans champions Audi hoping for a return to form after a difficult start to 2014.

All the race action from Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France will be broadcast live and in HD on Eurosport on the weekend of June 14-15.