Australian sportscar driver James Allen will contest the 2021 European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing.

Allen will be part a trio of pilots which includes former Caterham and Marussia F1 racer Will Stevens in the team’s Oreca LMP2 machine.

“I’m extremely excited to announce that I am competing with Panis Racing for the 2021 season,” Allen said in a statement issued to Speedcafe.com.

“I am thrilled with our driver line up being Will Stevens and Julien Canal. Both coming with massive experience. I look forward to working with both of them.

“I am feeling very elevated to head over to Europe and start getting acquainted with both the team and my new co-drivers.

“I cannot wait to see what we deliver for this season.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for their support going into this year.”

Allen began his career in karting, winning a national title in 2012 before progressing to Formula BMW.

Since 2017 he has been focussed on sportscar racing, with appearances in the ELMS and World Endurance Championship.

Driving for Graff in his rookie ELMS season, he finished third with two wins before switching to G-Drive for the following season.

He then moved to DragonSpeed for 2019 he chalked up two wins alongside outings in the TCR Australia Series, and an LMP2 class pole position at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Last year he returned to Graff, finishing fifth in the series with two podium appearances.

The 2021 ELMS season kicks off with the 4 Hours of Barcelona on April 18, the first of six rounds.