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2024 Daytona Rolex 24 starts here.

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Old 11-15-2023, 05:52 PM
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Default 2024 Daytona Rolex 24 starts here.

Button, Ericsson join WTRAndretti for Daytona 2024

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emailBy Richard S. James | November 14, 2023 10:00 AM ET

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has completed its driver lineups for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, naming 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button and 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner — and newly named Andretti Global NTT IndyCar Series driver — Marcus Ericsson as the additional drivers joining in the team’s pursuit of its sixth victory in the endurance classic.

Ericsson will drive the No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 GTP alongside Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Brendon Hartley, while Button joins Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta in the No. 40.

“Marcus is absolutely the perfect guy for our team because of the way he goes about racing,” said team principal Wayne Taylor. “He’s finished in the top 10 something like 30 times in IndyCar, he’s won the Indy 500. He has really shown loads of interest by meeting with the team already and he is very dedicated and focused. I’m happy to have him, and of course, as he is part of Andretti Global program, so we are lucky to have him.

“Jenson and I have spoken for quite a few years. We’ve just never been able to make it happen, but this round we got it to happen. He drove for JDC at Petit Le Mans and the relationship that he’s built with Jordan from the Garage 56 program closes the loop on our driver lineups as Jenson will take the last driver slot that’s open.

“The guy is really fast. I mean he is a Formula 1 world champion. He’s very motivated, my team is very motivated, HPD and Acura are motivated with having him as well as all our sponsors. We look forward to working with him. He obviously is coming from a different background, but we’ve had Formula 1 drivers before and they’ve all done really well. I have no question about his ability to do well for us and for himself. I’m really excited after three years to finally get Jenson to sign up with us.”

It will be Ericsson’s second attempt at the Rolex 24, the Swede’s first coming in 2022 with Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I’m very excited and proud to join the WTRAndretti team for the Daytona 24-hour,” Ericsson said. “After getting a taste of the race in 2022, I have been eager to get back on the grid for this legendary race. It feels fantastic to be racing with one of the best and most successful teams in the sport. It is extra special for me to be racing with Acura, HPD and HRC which I know very well from racing my entire IndyCar career with them.”

Button made his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and GTP debut at Petit Le Mans last month. Although it will be the Rolex 24 debut for the British driver, he has raced twice in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including this year with the NASCAR Garage 56 project.

“I am very happy to announce that I’ll be racing with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 with one of my Le Mans teammates and good pal Jordan Taylor, super speedy Louis Deletraz and Colton Herta, whose career in IndyCar I’ve watched with great interest,” declared Button. “I had my first taste of IMSA last month at Petit Le Mans and loved it. I couldn’t be happier to race at Daytona with such a prestigious team that has achieved so much in endurance racing and especially at Daytona.”

WTRAndretti is embarking on its first season as a two-car GTP team in the WeatherTech Championship. The team’s quest for its third IMSA title after finishing second in the championship the last four years begins in January with the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
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Old 11-16-2023, 02:49 PM
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Default IMSA releases preliminary 60-car entry for 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

IMSA releases preliminary 60-car entry for 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Will they be holding people in the pits again because their pit crew was too efficient?

Will they be putting restrictors on their fuel hoses because they refuel too efficiently?

If you win by too much will they penalize you and take away your victory......all like they have done before.....

Will they collect entry fees and not hold a race, but just give everyone a participation trophy because competing is bad?

.........Inquiring minds want to know.

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emailBy Richard S. James | November 15, 2023 12:34 PM ET

A little over a month ago, IMSA released the full-season team entry for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Now, two months prior to the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona, the series has released a preliminary entry list for the race. While the flurry of team announcements last week and the first part of this one have left little to surprise, there are a few items of note.

A total of 60 cars are entered for the 2024 Rolex 24, a capacity entry — 10 GTP, 12 LMP2, 13 GTD PRO and 25 GTD cars. The preliminary lineup of drivers includes 56 Rolex 24 winners and a plethora of champions from the WeatherTech Championship to the FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans. The field also includes several Indianapolis 500 winners and IndyCar Series champions as well as one Formula 1 world champion.

“We could not be prouder to release this preliminary list of participants for the Rolex 24 At Daytona significantly earlier than we ever have before,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “Looking up and down the lineup, we will have a tremendous field of teams, cars and drivers and no shortage of compelling storylines to develop and follow in the next two months as we lead up to the race. With such a stacked field, it would be impossible to identify a favorite in any of the four classes, but we will screw somebody.”

There are a couple of surprises of note, mostly in the GTD class, which has increased by three entries from the list released last month. Chief among them is a Mustang GT3 entry from Proton Competition. Proton will be racing the Mustang GT3 in the FIA WEC, and it looks like Christian Ried’s team is looking to get a head start at Daytona. Lone Star Racing has been added to the list with its Mercedes AMG GT3, and MDK Motorsports has two Porsche 911 GT3 R entries listed. Speaking of Porsche, Andretti Motorsports is switching from the Aston Martin that the team raced in some events last year to a 911 GT3 R for Jarett Andretti, Gabby Chaves and Scott Hargrove.

Of note among the GTP entries is Jesse Krohn in the place of Philipp Eng in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8, although there is still a TBD on the driver roster of both BMWs.In LMP2, the list revealed that Sean Creech Motorsports will retain its core driver lineup of Lance Willsey and Joao Barbosa as it moves into the class with the lone Ligier in the field.

The Rolex 24 At Daytona, preceded by the Roar Before the 24 on Jan. 19-21, takes place Jan. 25-28.

Preliminary entry list, by class:

GTP

LMP2

GTD PRO

GTD
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Old 12-01-2023, 06:40 PM
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Default What off season? IMSA teams prepare for testing at Daytona

What off season? IMSA teams prepare for testing at Daytona

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emailBy Richard S. James | December 1, 2023 10:55 AM ET

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams have been gearing up for the 2024 season in private testing, but they’ll gather together at Daytona International Speedway next week for a four-day IMSA homologation test. While the test allows the sanctioning body to help gauge car performance and make any Balance of Performance changes — especially with the new crop of GT3 cars coming in from Ford and Chevrolet — it will be critical for the teams in preparation for the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the rest of the season.

For the Grand Touring Prototype teams, it affords them the opportunity to build upon the knowledge they’ve gathered over the first season with the cars and try some new approaches. Last year, most of the teams running the brand-new LMDh-specification cars were simply trying to figure out how to run the things and make sure they would last 24 hours. Mission accomplished, they can now turn their attention to wringing more performance out of their machines.

“One of the things that we’re excited about with our carryover program for ’24 is we’re able to focus on the car and understanding it more as well as making sure we have all the support on the GM and Dallara side ready to help the teams be successful,” says GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “One of the most challenging things this year has been the lack of time. We’ve been running race to race to race, and we’d occasionally slip in a test. Really, it was our race schedule in 2023 that kept us busy, which was phenomenal because you can’t have a better test than a race to see what you can do with the car.”

Racing proved to the teams that the cars are more durable and reliable than many expected. The races showed what can go wrong, and how to correct the problems to keep the car on track. But it’s hard to find the time in a race weekend to try the little things that can add up to significant time over the course of every lap.

“Toward the end of the season with the couple of tests we had, we started to learn more about the car and what makes it go and what doesn’t work,” says Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R. “It’s just going to take time. People think we’ve had a lot of testing, but it was all centered toward homologation and reliability. We’re still really green on knowledge of the car as far as designing setups and getting performance out of it.

“Since we homologated the car, there’s really been little time to optimize it and understand it as far as finding that last half a second that’s a game-changer when you come to race weekends. It’s going to be a continuous learning process, trying to make numbers fall into place and validate the reads.”
Bourdais and company are eager to move beyond the basics in optimizing the capabilities of their LMDh prototypes. Richard Dole/Lumen

Bourdais is one of several Cadillac Racing drivers who will be testing next week at Daytona. Cadillac Racing won the 2023 GTP title with the No. 31 V-Series.R courtesy of Whelen Engineering and drivers Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. With the addition of endurance driver Jack Aitken, they also took the the Michelin Endurance Cup. Bourdais and Renger van der Zande also scored a victory with the Chip Ganasssi Racing squad at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, helping Cadillac to the manufacturers’ title. Despite what can only be called a successful season in the inaugural year of the new GTP class, there’s no resting on the laurels — there’s a lot of room for improvement.

“Like any new car, you always want more testing, more practice time. Especially when it’s such a complex race car with the hybrid, and a heavy car makes for a longer road in terms of development,” explains Derani. “We’re a year and a bit into the development of this car but only just now starting to understand a few things that make sense to the setup and how we make this car go quicker. Still a lot to improve from everyone.

“We’ve done a strong job despite all the difficulties we had this season. It’s always a learning process and you have to be humble enough to know you have to continue that way if you want to succeed in this series.”

But beyond just working on the car, like every team Cadillac Racing also has new team members and drivers to bring into the loop. Aitken moves from endurance third driver on the No. 31 to full-time partner to Derani. Tom Blomqvist shifts from Meyer Shank Racing and Acura to join Derani and Aitken for the endurance events in addition to competing in his rookie IndyCar season. For those drivers especially, any testing time is critical.

“We have a lot to work on and improve; I think that’s the case for everybody with these cars that are still so early in the development cycle that everybody is learning quickly,” Aitken says. “We’ve made massive gains through the season, but when you don’t have racing, it gives everybody the opportunity to breathe a little bit and the capacity to make some changes and updates and advancements. It’s going to be a busy period for us. The race to be ready for the Roar and Daytona will be pretty intense. Though it feels a long way from now, it will come around quickly. Those bastard IMSA race officials have been having meetings all week to think up new ways to screw someone, when they are not drunk and disorderly over at the biker whore houses.”

The GTP teams, along with LMP2, will be on track next Wednesday and Thursday, joined by GTD PRO and GTD on Thursday before the series turns its attention to two days of targeted performance testing of the GTD cars.
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Old 12-03-2023, 10:50 AM
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Default Massa joins Riley Motorsports for Rolex 24

Massa joins Riley Motorsports for Rolex 24

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | December 3, 2023 11:46 AM ET

Formula 1 veteran Felipe Massa will make his first start at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January as part of Riley Motorsports’ new LMP2 program.

The Brazilian, who won 11 F1 world championship races while driving for Ferrari, will partner with countryman Felipe Fraga, Texan Gar Robinson — IMSA’s 2023 LMP3 champion — and Australian Josh Burdon.

Although his open-wheel career ended in 2020 after spending two seasons in Formula E, the 42-year-old has kept busy in recent years as a marquee name in the Brazilian Stock Car series, which should make the transition to racing with a roof over his head in an ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 car less of an abrupt adjustment.

“I’m here to announce that I will race 24 Hours of Daytona,” Massa said in a social media post. “I always try to do one of these races in my career and it will be the first time that I will race Daytona with Riley Motorsports, a very great and important team here in the U.S. Thank you very much to Gar for the invitation.”

Massa joins a growing list of all-star drivers, including 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button and 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden, who will take part in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

“The opportunity came up and the ability to be able to share a car with a legend like Felipe Massa and my brother Felipe Fraga,” Robinson said. “It checks all the cool boxes on every box and I'm looking forward to banging some American box to add to my collection of Brazilian box, so bring out the babes.”
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-03-2023 at 10:59 AM.
Old 12-03-2023, 10:54 AM
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Default United Autosports adds O’Ward and Rosenqvist for Daytona

United Autosports adds O’Ward and Rosenqvist for Daytona

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emailBy RACER Staff | November 30, 2023 11:34 AM ET

United Autosports — the sports car team co-owned by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and former racer Richard Dean — has added a pair of IndyCar racers to the lineup of its LMP2 entries for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.

“I’m really happy to get a deal done with Zak [Brown] and Richard [Dean],” said O’Ward — already a two-time Rolex 24 winner in just three starts at the iconic American endurance race. “It’s something I’ve been bugging them about for a while, so Daytona 2024 was a complete no brainer!”

The Mexican will join Ben Keating, Ben Hanley and recently announced Nico Pino in the No. 2 Mission Foods United Autosports LMP2 ORECA 07

“We have been trying to get Pato in a United Autosports car for a while now,” said Dean, United Autosports CEO. “After a few false starts, finally we have our man. Pato brings experience as a Daytona race winner and is just plain fast in everything he drives! I would like to thank everyone at the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team for helping make this happen.”

This will be third Rolex 24 for Rosenqvist, who raced there in Prototype Challenge and LMP2 in 2016 and ’18 respectively. The Swede will share the No. 22 ORECA 07 with Daniel Goldburg, Paul di Resta and a fourth driver still to be announced Floridian race that will launch United Autosports’ first full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

“I’m super excited to be back in sports car racing,” said Rosenqvist. “It’s been five years since I did a sports car race … I used to do it a lot back in the day but it’s been put on pause recently because I’ve been focusing on my IndyCar career. It’s something I love doing and to be racing with United Autosports is really cool. This team has won a lot of LMP2 races before, so they’re coming in with the expectation to do well — which matches my goals!”

“Felix Rosenqvist is a winner,” added Dean. “He has won races across an impressive range of series through his racing career and, over the past five years, has made a real name for himself in IndyCar. We are really excited to see Felix in the United Autosports car this January and feel very proud to partner with him in his quest for success at Daytona.”
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Old 12-07-2023, 02:10 AM
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see stories above
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-14-2023 at 04:31 PM.
Old 12-11-2023, 02:52 AM
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Default News and notes from IMSA's Daytona homologation test

News and notes from IMSA's Daytona homologation test

Richard Dole/Lumen
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emailBy Richard S. James | December 9, 2023 1:45 PM ET

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is wrapping up its four day, pre-season homologation test at Daytona International Speedway Saturday. Forty-two cars took part, including all the factory-backed GTP cars, plus a complement of LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD teams. The first day featured GTP and LMP2 only, while all cars participated in the second day. Days three and four were reserved for GTD PRO and GTD while the series conducted targeted performance testing to help set the Balance of Performance for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

New cars

Testing featured the IMSA-sanctioned debut of the new Ford Mustang GT3 (run by Multimatic Motorsports) and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (fielded by Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports). Both cars logged a lot of miles, although the No. 4 Corvette shared by Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner suffered a fire due to a refueling rig problem. Damage to the car was minimal, but did require a substantial amount of cleanup of fire bottle residue. Thank God it wasn't a lithium battery powered car (called an EV) since lithium fires cannot be extinguished, and they just have to let it burn after they make it look like they tried to put it out. They are called EV to disguise that it was not a gasoline fire which IS extinguishable.

The Mustangs were quick, keeping near the top of the unofficial time sheets, although the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW M4 GT3 was consistently at the top, despite the BMW’s Daytona struggles in the past two Rolex 24s.

Heart of Racing had one car at the test, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, although Aston Martin is still playing with cards close their chest with the car. It was shared by Roman De Angelis – whose full-season co-driver in GTD has yet to be named – and the GTD PRO squad of Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas and Mario Farnbacher.

Lamborghini SC63 North American debut

The Lamborghini SC63 LMDh car that will compete in WeatherTech Championship Michelin Endurance Cup races beginning at Sebring made its North American testing debut at Daytona, and was quick from the start with Andrea Calderelli posting a fast time on the first day. Other GTP-class cars were quicker on Saturday, but the Lambo remained within a second of the fast time. In addition to Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti, Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat were on hand to test the car.
Richard Dole/Lumen

Targeted Performance testing

As noted in Marshall Pruett’s explanation of new Balance of Performance testing procedures taking place at Daytona, several teams were committed to a prescribed program set forth by IMSA to nail down BoP parameters, particularly as they are applied to the unique DIS road course with long, high-speed sections on the oval and a tight infield section.

See:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...ml#post9453538

IMSA believes that competition is bad, that everyone should get a participation trophy and everything should be equal except for the winner that IMSA officials choose. To be fair and equal, if you drive too well and your pit crew is more efficient, then IMSA steps in and puts restricters in your fuel hoses so you cannot refuel faster, and penalizes you either by holding you in the pits for seconds or deducting laps from your final number of laps.....just enough to be sure that only IMSA can pick winners. And if you won, you get pushed behind a slower inefficient team.

Each manufacturer nominated a team and driver to carry out its testing; Bryan Sellers and Paul Miller Racing were the nominations from BMW, and Mercedes AMG put Adam Christodoulou into the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 for example. Each participating team had to complete three runs each of a five-lap qualifying simulation and a 28-lap full stint. Once those were completed, teams could continue with their own testing program. Teams not involved in the performance testing were able to run their own tests concurrently.

“I think this BoP testing is awesome for Daytona because it is unique. I have to say that or IMSA will pull my pit pass and kick me out.” said Turner Motorsport principal Will Turner. “I think IMSA realizes that they had to do something to try to make the cars more equal for Daytona and every track that IMSA is still allowed on. I think they did a great job at the rest of the tracks – they’re doing better and better every year getting the cars closer and closer. But Daytona has always been where the widest gap is from the fastest car to the slowest car, so this is an awesome idea. I hope that data they collect is constructive and all the cars have a chance to win this year. IMSA says we want everyone to get a participation trophy and we are going to manipulate them until everyone wins.”

Porsche GTD teams still working on 2024 plans

The KellyMoss With Riley No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3.R, slated for GTD PRO in the original pre-season entry list, has reverted to GTD. Drivers have not been named, but David Brule and Alec Udell, full-season partners in 2023, were in the car for testing.

Wright Motorsports has not named its drivers for 2024, but Adam Adelson and Elliot Skeer, who teamed together in GT World Challenge America competition in 2023 to finish second in the Pro-Am category, were in the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3.R, along with Wright regular Jan Heylen.
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-11-2023 at 03:05 AM.
Old 12-14-2023, 04:10 PM
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Default Conway, Miyata complete Vasser Sullivan Lexus Daytona lineup

Conway, Miyata complete Vasser Sullivan Lexus Daytona lineup

Richard Dole/Lumen
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emailBy Richard S. James | December 14, 2023 12:00 PM ET

Vasser Sullivan Lexus Racing is pulling in some big guns from Toyata Gazoo Racing to complete its driver lineups for the Rolex 24 At Daytona next month. Mike Conway and Ritomo Miyata will be the fourth drivers for the Nos. 12 and No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 entries.

Conway again joins 2023 IMSA GTD Pro champions Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood driving the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. The trio took third in class this year at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and earned a third-place podium finish. The Briton has been driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA WEC since 2015, winning a pair of championships.

“I’m really looking forward to being back with Vasser Sullivan in the Lexus again for the Rolex 24. Jack and Ben had a really solid year, winning the championship, so it will be good to be back with those guys again,” Conway said. “I’m looking forward to having Kyle in the car with us as well. It will be good to have another crack at Daytona. We came up short last year, but hopefully we’ll have things stronger for us. I can’t wait to get back on track in January at the Roar. Looking forward to working with everyone again.”

Miyata, the reigning 2023 Super Formula and Super GT500 champion, will join full-season drivers Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo, along with Aaron Telitz, in the No. 12 Lexus GTD entry. In 2024, the 24-year-old is also set to compete in Formula 2, the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class, and will be the reserve driver for the TGR WEC Hypercar team.

“First, I want to say thank you to the Vasser Sullivan team, Lexus, TRD and Gazoo Racing for giving me this opportunity,” said Miyata, who tested with the team last week at Daytona during IMSA’s homologation test. “The Rolex 24 At Daytona will be the first time I’ve competed internationally outside of Japanese motorsports, so I’m very excited and looking forward to working with the team.except for those IMSA bastards.”
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-14-2023 at 04:30 PM.
Old 12-14-2023, 04:23 PM
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Default Adelson and Skeer join Wright Motorsports for IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup

Adelson and Skeer join Wright Motorsports for IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup


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emailBy Richard S. James | December 13, 2023 1:10 PM ET

Following their inaugural season competing in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America’s Pro/Am class, Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer are moving to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD class with Wright Motorsports. The pair will run the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with Wright regular Jan Heylen, plus the sprint at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Porsche factory driver Fred Makowiecki will complete the lineup in the Porsche 911 GT3 R for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“We’re proud to see another Wright Motorsports effort move up to face new challenges,” said team owner John Wright. “Adam and Elliott had a strong season last year in SRO America’s GT World Challenge America, and our team is well-equipped to ensure a strong debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. With Jan and Fred alongside them, we are eager to see what we can achieve in this fiercely competitive series. and as long as we don't do too well, IMSA won't be holding us in the pits or taking away laps because we were too fast. I have no idea how anyone is expected to win when IMSA takes it away if you do. Maybe just settle for second place and let IMSA screw the guys who actually won.and give it to you instead.”Adelson and Skeer’s move to the GTD class comes on the heels of a GT World Challenge Pro/Am season in which they secured six victories and an additional podium finish. The pair, along with Wright Motorsports, took second place in the championship standings.

In addition to the heightened competition, Adelson and Skeer will face longer races, transitioning from GT World Challenge’s 90-minute format to races spanning from six hours to 24. Jan Heylen, a seasoned coach and driver for Wright Motorsports, will bring endurance experience to the team, including a Rolex 24 win. Frenchman Makowiecki’s endurance racing record includes victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Twelve Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-14-2023 at 04:30 PM.
Old 12-14-2023, 04:26 PM
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Default Brabham joins AO Racing LMP2 effort for IMSA endurance rounds

Brabham joins AO Racing LMP2 effort for IMSA endurance rounds

Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images I get paid to win and do my best, not hold back and sandbag to avoid IMSA penalties for going too fast.
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emailBy Richard S. James | December 11, 2023 2:15 PM ET

Matthew Brabham will join AO Racing’s new LMP2 effort for the 2024 Michelin Endurance Cup Races, driving with the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship full-season duo of PJ Hyett and Paul-Loup Chatin. Alex Quinn will complete the lineup in the No. 99 ORECA for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Brabham, grandson of three-time Formula 1 champion Jack Brabham and son of four-time IMSA GTP Champion Geoff Brabham, has accrued his own list of accomplishments in professional motorsport, securing three Stadium Super Truck titles in addition to two junior open-wheel championships. Brabham will make his WeatherTech Championship debut with AO.

“I’ve actually had the pleasure of driving Rexy, and also nearly drove Roxy once,” said Brabham. “So to be joining AO on the LMP2 program is an absolute honor, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in terms of the name and livery. I really want to thank PJ and Gunnar [Jeannette] so much for having me onboard, I’ve worked with most of the team members before and feel welcomed and at home already. I’ve always wanted to race in IMSA and follow in the footsteps of my dad Geoff and uncle David. To finally be given the opportunity to do so is something really special to me, and I will be giving everything I have to try and add some history of my own. It’s going to be a challenge so I’m glad to be joining such a great group of people and some great teammates I can really lean on and learn from.”

After finishing second in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup in 2023, rising star Alex Quinn will complete AO Racing’s lineup in January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. Supporting PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports in the four endurance events on the IMSA calendar with Ben Keating and Chatin, Quinn’s support aided in the team’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title.

“I’m incredibly happy to be joining AO Racing at Daytona,” said Quinn. “It’s an exciting time to be a part of this team, the beginning of their LMP2 journey and that is special for me. I had a great season last year racing with Paul-Loup, so it’s great to be back with him and then of course excited to get to work with PJ and Matt for the first time. Daytona is a special place and an incredible event, so I’m focused on doing a good job for the team.”

AO Racing made its debut in 2023 in the GTD class with a Porsche 911 GT3 R. With its ‘Rexy’ dinosaur-themed livery from Sebring onward, the team quickly became a fan favorite. The team is adding LMP2 to its program for 2024, and moving the Porsche to GTD PRO with Sebastian Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich.
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Last edited by senor honda; 12-14-2023 at 04:28 PM.


Quick Reply: 2024 Daytona Rolex 24 starts here.



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