Penske LMP2 confirmation spearheads 39-car 2022 FIA WEC entry list
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | January 12, 2022 8:50 AM ET

The FIA World Endurance Championship’s full-season entry list for 2022 has been revealed. The series’ 10th season includes a record 39 cars across the four classes, with healthy numbers in each category and a slew of driver crew confirmations.

At the head of the field, the Le Mans Hypercar category features six cars. The two Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRIDs return, with Ryo Hirakawa confirmed as the team’s new full-season driver in place of Kazuki Nakajima, who revealed he would step back from professional racing at the end of the 2021 season after a storied career as a Toyota factory driver. He will continue his association with the Japanese OEM, though, as vice chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, based in Cologne.

Kamui Kobayashi, meanwhile, will continue to compete with the team in the No. 7 GR010, alongside his new assignment as team principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s WEC effort.

“Thank you to President Akio Toyoda, GR President Sato and Toyota Gazoo Racing for putting their trust in me,” Kobayashi said. “I will give everything to succeed in my new role, which is a big challenge and a great opportunity. I look forward to fighting for the world championship as a driver and team principal. I will bring all my experience as a race driver to my new job, and I know I have a fantastic team who will support me in my mission.

“This new team structure is an important step for us to stay sharp and be ready for the next battle. I am pleased that Nakajima can stay within our team and I am sure his driver’s perspective will strengthen the management team at TGR-E. I look forward to working alongside him to make ever-better cars.

“With Hirakawa, we welcome the next generation of endurance driver and, with the support of the team and his fellow drivers, I know he will be a big success in the WEC.”

Alpine’s factory entered (grandfathered LMP1) A480 Gibson also returns ahead of the team’s planned LMDh program in the future, as does a single Glickenhaus 007 LMH entered by Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Peugeot’s new 9x8s, which are set to debut this year. While they are listed on the full-season entry, RACER understands that it remains unlikely that the French marque will embark on a full campaign. Last year RACER was told by a program insider that it was unlikely Peugeot would be present at the season-opening round at Sebring, and that even an appearance at Le Mans was not confirmed internally.

The pace of the manufacturer’s progress in developing and testing the car will dictate the debut of the 9×8, as the program’s leaders are keen to avoid rushing the car’s testing phase and are prepared to sit out races in order to ensure the team enjoys a strong first impression.

Nevertheless, the list currently stands at six cars. Absent from it is ByKolles, which was scheduled to debut its new Le Mans Hypercar this year, which was due to be badged as a “Vanwall” after the team’s parent company registered the name of the 1958 F1 world champions as a trademark. It remains to be seen whether or not the Austrian outfit will make an appearance at all in 2022.

LMP2, meanwhile, has a huge 15-car field, with the entire list made up of ORECA 07-Gibson chassis. Richard Mille Racing, United Autosports, G-Drive Racing, JOTA, WRT, Inter Europol and ARC Bratislava all return and are joined by a slew of new and debuting teams.

Team Penske, in preparation for its Porsche LMDh entry, is listed with IMSA regulars Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr joined by Le Mans stalwart Manu Collard, though RACER believes that like Peugeot, it is unlikely to complete a full season. Prema Orlen Team, with Robert Kubica as the headline name will also make its WEC debut, as will British team Vector Sport, ELMS regular Ultimate and AF Corse with reigning GTE Am champion Francois Perrodo returning to LMP competition.

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Penske to run WEC LMP2 entry ahead of Porsche LMDh program

From last year’s field, High Class Racing, DragonSpeed and Racing Team Nederland are missing, all three outfits set to focus instead on IMSA campaigns in 2022.
A full-season program this year for Corvette Racing and its Corvette C8.R JEP/Motorsport Images

GTE Pro also has seen an uptick in entries, with the addition of a Corvette C8.R entered by the factory, with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy named as a driving pair. In Corvette’s first full-season WEC campaign, it will go up against last year’s quartet of factory entries from AF Corse (Ferrari) and Porsche respectively.

And finally, GTE Am is 13 cars strong, once again featuring a mixture of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin customer teams. The field features AF Corse, Iron Lynx (plus Iron Dames) and Spirit of Race representing Ferrari, Team Project 1, Dempsey Proton Racing and GR Racing racing with Porsche and D’Station Racing, Northwest AMR (Paul Dalla Lana’s factory-supported effort) and TF Sport competing with Aston.

The only major omission here is Cetilar Racing, which enjoyed a successful maiden WEC GTE Am campaign last year, finishing the season with a podium at Spa and a class win at Portimao to its name.

The season is set to start at Sebring with a Prologue on March 12-13, ahead of the opening race of the year at the same location, a 1000-mile encounter as part of a doubleheader with IMSA on March 18. As ever, all FIA WEC entries gain automatic berths to the Le Mans 24 Hours, as the French classic remains the crown jewel of the schedule.

 

WRC ace Ogier set for WEC LMP2 campaign

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emailBy RACER Staff | February 2, 2022 10:07 AM ET

Eight time and reigning World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier is expanding his motorsports portfolio to sports car racing, having been confirmed as part of the driver line-up for the Richard Mille Racing LMP2 team in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship, starting with the season opener at Sebring on March 18. The move follows a pair of test runs for the Frenchman with Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR010 WEC Hypercar, at Bahrain last November and at the Spanish circuit of Aragon last week.
Ogier’s Toyota association has already expanded with a pair of tests with the manufacter’s WEC Hypercar. JEP/Motorsport Images

Ogier (pictured at right, top) will join Charles Milesi and Lila Wadoux in a Signatech-operated ORECA 07 for the coming season, taking the place of the all-female line-up for Richard Mille Racing’s No. 1 car the past two years.

“I know it’s a big challenge, but I have been looking for a program that motivates me more than the easy option,” explained Ogier, who has had personal backing from the Richard Mille Swiss watch brand since 2016. “Up until now, I have focused on my rally career, but it has been on my mind for a long time that endurance racing could be a good challenge. All drivers tend to be a bit self-centered, but there comes a time you want to share more when you are lucky enough to have had a successful career.

“LMP2 is a fantastic category and the best way for me to reach the highest level of endurance racing and improve in this discipline. I am a novice for sure, but I want to enjoy myself while assessing what’s possible and seeing how close I can get to the best. Everyone is excited about it. Charles, Lilou and I come from three different worlds, and it will be interesting to combine our different experiences with Richard Mille, who has been by my side for several years now. This adventure is enticing, but I am aware that I have a lot to learn and a lot of experience to gain. I have always had a good capacity to adapt in rallying, so I hope that this will also be true on racetracks!”

Ogier is running a partial schedule of WRC events for Toyota this year, and finished second for the team at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally last month. Toyota’s WEC arm tweeted its support for his new program following the announcement:
Best of luck for your new project. 🤞 We look forward to see you in the @fiawec paddock! 👋 https://t.co/Dw7RgGqu4t

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@TGR_WEC)



LMP2, Sebastien Ogier, Toyota, Le Mans/WEC, Rallying

 

Racers Edge, WTR to field GTD Acura NSX entry for Sebring

Image courtesy of Racers Edge Motorsports
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emailBy Richard S. James | February 4, 2022 12:30 PM ET

Racers Edge Motorsports is teaming up with Wayne Taylor Racing to field an Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro class at the Sebring 12 Hours next month. Ashton Harrison, an HPD Driver Academy graduate, will pair with Kyle Marcelli and Tom Long for the race.

Harrison, the 2022 full-season driver for Racers Edge in SRO GT World Challenge America, will anchor the Sebring line-up. Harrison is a 2021 HPD Driver Academy graduate and part of the WTR driver development program. In her first GT3 race last November, she won the Silver Cup in the Indianapolis 8 Hour Intercontinental GT Challenge event with Matt McMurry and Mario Farnbacher. She will be joined by seasoned professional Marcelli, with whom Racers Edge won its 2019 GT3 title. Marcelli is also a coach for the HPD Driver Academy program, a driver for WTR in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series, and the 2020 GS Michelin Pilot Challenge class champion. 2018 IMSA TCR champion Long, who previously raced in DPi as a Mazda factory driver and is Harrison’s long-time coach, rounds out the trio.

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“This is a really fun and exciting opportunity for Racers Edge Motorsports,” said Racers Edge president and CEO Jon Mirachi. “Wayne Taylor Racing has tremendous experience and success in endurance racing and merging that with our expertise and experience with the Acura NSX GT3 is a great combination. Add in HPD’s unmatched technical support and we’re confident we have a really strong effort. Our two teams and HPD all have a commitment to winning, so we’re looking forward to building on this collaboration for the future. And finally, having Ashton take on this challenge gives us yet another opportunity to showcase one of our HPD Academy graduates and we believe, a future star in sports car racing.”

After successfully racing in Grans Am and the Continental SportsCar Challenge series for over 25 years, Racers Edge Motorsports established themselves as strong competition in the SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS series, most recently winning the 2019 GT3 Pro-Am drivers’ championship and 2020 GT3 drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ championships in an Acura NSX GT3 Evo. Through the support of HPD Racing, Racers Edge also helped develop and now operates the HPD Driver Academy program, which expands for 2022 to include a TCR race car in addition to the current NSX GT3 program.

Wayne Taylor Racing enters its 16th year in sports car racing with a continued focus on its championship DPi effort with the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05, while also beginning development and testing with Acura and HPD of the LMDh Prototype (now to be named GTP).

“It’s an exciting time for Wayne Taylor Racing to be working in collaboration with Racers Edge,” said Travis Houge, vice president and general manager of WTR. “We have been looking for some time on a way to put together a GTD program. It’s the next level for the program that we currently run in Super Trofeo in order to give our drivers a place to grow and develop within the IMSA WeatherTech platform. Racers Edge worked really well with HPD and Ashton in the Academy last year and I think they fit the overall brand that Wayne Taylor Racing strives to present. The package we have put together is strong. Wayne, Jon and I have had discussions on how to move this program forward in the future with the hope of building a long-term relationship between all our companies.”

The 12 Hours of Sebring, Round 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, takes place March 19.

 

Sebring/Texas clash puts IndyCar's IMSA moonlighters at a crossroads.
How hard headed race organizations F each other and themselves.

F'ing each other is fun until someone gets maimed or killed because of stupid butthead race organizers.

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | February 3, 2022 7:57 PM ET

With the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the history books, conversations have returned to the big date conflict coming up for the second round of IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Sebring International Raceway in Florida and the second NTT IndyCar Series event of the season at Texas Motor Speedway near Dallas Fort-Worth.

For the first time in memory, Sebring’s traditional mid-March date for the 12 Hour endurance classic has an IndyCar event dropped on the same weekend, creating a conflict for the several IndyCar drivers who are accustomed to competing at Sebring. In order to participate in both races, some IndyCar drivers would need to trek back and forth between TMS and Sebring as practice sessions take place ahead of their respective races, and there are fears the rigors of travel and endurance racing would leave those IndyCar drivers in an exhausted state prior to going green at TMS.

The March 16-19 IMSA round, with the 12-hour race expected to conclude around 10:40 p.m. ET on Saturday night, is followed by the TMS oval race with a start time of 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday March 20. Qualifying for the TMS race is thought to be on the calendar for Sunday morning, which would leave very little time for the arriving IndyCar drivers to sleep and recharge after flying in from Sebring.

And you buttheads act like you don't know this??? And you think you have what it takes to run a racing organization?

RACER understands those concerns have led the Chip Ganassi Racing team to cancel its plans for its IndyCar drivers to compete at both events. At the Rolex 24, Dixon and Palou were part of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R team (main image), Ericsson slotted into the No. 02 Cadillac, and Johnson raced with the rival Action Express Racing/Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Cadillac effort.

In light of its move to keep its IndyCar foursome focused on TMS, Ganassi is expected to sign new endurance drivers just for Sebring to pair with Cadillac Racing’s full-timer drivers in the Nos. 01 and 02. Four drivers are routinely used for the Rolex 24, and at the rest of IMSA’s long races, it’s two full-time pilots and one extra driver is brought in to share the cockpit duties.

Meyer Shank Racing, new winners of the Rolex 24 for Acura, made use of Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud in the No. 60 ARX-05, and unlike CGR, the team is pressing forward with plans for its four-time Indy 500 winner to do the double while Pagenaud remains in Texas.

“We are 100-percent in with doing Helio at both races,” Shank told RACER. “That’s all depending on what IndyCar MF'er A-holes tells me, which I’m supposed to know soon.”

To accommodate its drivers who are meant to race at Sebring, IndyCar crafted a schedule that would allow teams to practice at TMS a day or two before the 12-hour contest and then return Sunday morning to qualify and race.

Those scheduling efforts were done with the assumption that a meaningful number of IndyCar drivers would be contractually obligated to race at Sebring, but with CGR keeping its drivers at TMS and few, if any others beyond MSR and Castroneves currently planning to do both races, IndyCar might only have one driver to factor into its conflict plans.

With one rather than many drivers to assuage, it’s believed IndyCar could change the TMS schedule to run as a normal event without making concessions for Sebring.

“MSR has got one driver going back and forth if it happens as it was planned, and doesn’t if it changes,” Shank added. “Either way, we’ll be ready to do whatever’s necessary, and I truly hope this is a one-time thing with Sebring and IndyCar being on the same weekend.”

 

Remember when Indy scheduled a late start time so drivers could not make a NASCAR start time at Daytona?

Who is it that now says: "F the fans!"

One day the fans won't buy your tickets,but by then you butthead organizers will be dead S.O.B.'s

 

Hunter-Reay replaces Dixon in Ganassi Cadillac for Sebring

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emailBy RACER Staff | February 15, 2022 1:11 PM ET

While Ryan Hunter-Reay’s IndyCar career is currently on hold, the scheduling conflict between the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship over Texas and Sebring has netted him an opportunity in the latter. The American was announced today as joining the line-up for the No. 01 Cadillac Racing entry fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing for the 70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on March 19.

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Hunter-Reay — a race winner in IMSA as well as a former IndyCar series champ — will team with full-season drivers Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais. He replaces Ganassi IndyCar regular Scott Dixon, who had been previously scheduled to drive.

“It’s beyond belief that Ryan Hunter-Reay is available to be a Cadillac teammate at Sebring. Chip Ganassi Racing has admired his ability to consistently win major globally recognized events. He has that special knack to be a separator,” Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull said. “We’re excited that Ryan’s an integral part of our team at the Twelve Hours of Sebring.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining Chip Ganassi Racing and returning to Cadillac for the 70th running of the Twelve Hours of Sebring,” said Hunter-Reay, who co-drove to the overall victory in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Mazda Motorsports. “This is a tremendous opportunity to work with one of the very best teams and manufacturers in motorsports. Sebring is my home track, and the Twelve Hours of Sebring is one of those iconic events that you focus on as a competitor. After winning the 2020 race overall, I’ve been eager to get back with a top team and compete for another win.”

Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar drivers Dixon and Alex Palou joined van der Zande and Bourdais in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R in the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona last month, with Palou setting the race lap record time.

 

IndyCar set to drop Sebring workaround plan for Texas

Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | February 14, 2022 3:47 PM ET

The NTT IndyCar Series is expected to scrap its plans to accommodate its drivers who were meant to compete at IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring event in Florida.

Having placed an IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway on the same mid-March weekend where Sebring is traditionally held, IndyCar created a special schedule that would have seen its drivers with Sebring obligations practicing at TMS on Friday, leaving for Sebring to race at the 12-hour contest on Saturday, and returning to qualify and race at the Xpel 375 oval event on Sunday.

But after Chip Ganassi Racing opted to cancel its plans for its IndyCar drivers to pull double duty between Sebring and Texas, only Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves and A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Kyle Kirkwood — two of the 26 full-time drivers in the field — were left to consider. Lacking a meaningful number of drivers to justify the Sebring-influenced Texas schedule, RACER understands IndyCar is meant to implement a standard schedule for the 1.5-mile oval, which is currently being finalized.

The decision means IMSA and MSR will not have Castroneves, winner of its big season opener at Daytona, on the grid for Round 2 at Sebring, and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus IMSA team will need to find a replacement for Kirkwood.

 

Herta in control on opening day of Sebring IndyCar test

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | February 14, 2022 7:26 PM ET

Colton Herta and new Andretti Autosport teammate Romain Grosjean controlled the opening day of the final pre-season test for NTT IndyCar Series drivers at Sebring on Monday.

Grosjean led the field during the morning session, and few drivers took turns leading in the afternoon, but in the end it was Herta as one of only two drivers to crack the 52.0s barrier on Sebring’s short course who came out on top. Herta was just 0.007s faster than Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports rookie David Malukas, who leapt towards the top late in the session. Grosjean, who completed a 1-2-3 for Honda-powered drivers, was third in a tight cluster of drivers who posted laps between 52.0-52.3s

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Elsewhere in the group, Felix Rosenqvist was quick throughout the day in his first test with Craig Hampson as his race engineer; Arrow McLaren SP teammate Pato O’Ward searched for a few missing tenths of a second. Indy Lights graduates Kyle Kirkwood and Devlin DeFrancesco showed pace, and Tatiana Calderon did as well as could be expected with limited IndyCar experience.
Rosenqvist looked strong first time out in his new Arrow McLaren SP colors. James Black/Penske Entertainment

Finally, Chip Ganassi Racing put Kevin Magnussen through an evaluation test where the ex-Formula 1 driver turned more than 100 laps in Alex Palou’s championship-winning car. Palou and his CGR teammates, along with Meyer Shank Racing and both Coyne entries are scheduled to complete the Sebring test on Tuesday.

 

Vandoorne to replace Castroneves at Meyer Shank for Sebring

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emailBy Mark Glendenning | February 24, 2022 12:11 PM ET
Stoffel Vandoorne will make his IMSA debut at Sebring next month as part of Meyer Shank Racing’s driver line-up in place of Helio Castroneves, who had to pull out of the event due to the clash with the IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Vandoorne will suit up alongside full-timers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis in the No.60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05.

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“I’m really excited to be joining Meyer Shank for the Sebring 12 Hour,” said Vandoorne. “For me it will be the first time racing in Sebring, and the first time racing in IMSA competition, which I am excited for because the racing in America is very close. I feel lucky to also be joining the team that just won the Daytona 24 Hours, so it’s going to be a really great experience. I know my teammate Tom already from last year racing in WEC, and Olly, I know him as well from endurance racing, but it will be the first time teaming up with them together. I’m really looking forward to the weekend and hopefully we can bring home a good result for the team.”

The ex-McLaren F1 and current Mercedes-EQ Formula E driver brings a strong sports car resume into his first IMSA race, earning five WEC podiums alongside Blomqvist for Jota en route to second in last year’s LMP2 class championship. He has also made two starts at Le Mans, including a third-place finish with SMP Racing in 2019.

“Stoffel impressed us at a test last week and will be a great addition to the team for Sebring,” said team co-owner Mike Shank. “It was our initial intention to have Helio race in both the IMSA and IndyCar events that weekend, but logistically it became a bit difficult. Tom has said great things about Stoffel from their time racing in WEC together last year, so I think we have another strong lineup heading into the race weekend.”

 

Dickerson joins Jr III Racing for Sebring

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emailBy Ryan Kish | February 28, 2022 11:32 AM ET

Reigning IMSA Prototype Challenge champion Dakota Dickerson will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Jr III Racing at Sebring.

This will be Jr III Racing’s third race in the WeatherTech Series after contesting Petit Le Mans and Road America last season. Dickerson will join a lineup of Ari Balogh and Garett Grist for the 12-hour race.

“I am excited to be joining Jr III Racing for the Sebring 12 Hours,” Dickerson said. “Being familiar with the Ligier as well as competing against the team, it was an easy yes because I know the quality of the car and the pace are top-notch.

“Our test together went very well and working with Ari (Balogh), Garett (Grist) and the crew came naturally. My goal is to perform and hopefully help bring the No. 30 Airbnb Ligier to victory circle.”

Dickerson, who was also a champion in the F3 Americas and F4 United States series, has 17 starts in the Ligier JS P320.