Oliver Jarvis will replace nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen in Audi’s main World Endurance Championship LMP1 line-up next year.

Jarvis, who has driven the German manufacturer’s third R18 e-tron quattro at Le Mans for the last three years, will step up to partner Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi in place of the retired Kristensen.

The 30-year-old Briton (pictured above, right) has finished third twice at the French enduro, having been a part of Audi’s motorsport programme since moving into the DTM in 2008 following a junior single-seater career that included a Macau Formula 3 victory and the 2005 Formula Renault UK title.

Jarvis’s appointment came at Audi’s end-of-season awards, where the marque reaffirmed its two-car commitment to the WEC across the full season run by long-time partner Team Joest.

It was also confirmed that GT ace Rene Rast would replace Jarvis alongside Filipe Albuquerque and Marco Bonanomi in the third R18 e-tron Quattro it traditionally runs at the Spa WEC round and Le Mans showpiece.

Rast, who won the Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hours this season and also clinched the ADAC GT title, made his Le Mans debut this year, finishing fourth in LMP2 in an ORECA-Nissan run by Sebastien Loeb Racing.

DTM LINE-UP UNCHANGED

Audi has also confirmed that its DTM entry will remain the same for the 2015 season.

Champions Mattias Ekstrom, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider will continue to spearhead its programme, which includes eight RS 5s run by the Abt, Phoenix and Rosberg squads.

Jamie Green, Miguel Molina, Edoardo Mortara, Nico Muller and Adrian Tambay complete its DTM driver line-up.