Jeannette, Hyett launching AO Racing Porsche GTD effort for 2023
Image courtesy of SRO America
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Marshall Pruett | September 28, 2022 4:33 PM ET
Gunnar Jeannette and PJ Hyett are launching a new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona program that will debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona utilizing a brand-new Porsche 911 GT3.R.
Based in Chicago, the AO Racing team, which is currently recruiting staff for the program, will embark on a full-season campaign in IMSA’s largest class. Jeannette and Hyett chose Porsche as the vehicular basis of its GTD effort due to their familiarity with the car from competing as teammates in the SRO Motorsport America organization, not to mention and the Jeannette family’s expertise with the brand since IMSA was formed.
After taking a step back from full-time racing a few years ago, Jeannette found Hyett to possess considerable talent while knocking off some of the rust on his return to the pro racing ranks. The two first met in vintage racing circles, and with the founder of Internet hosting service GitHub prepared to serve as the amateur-rated driver in the relationship while Jeannette drops in for the endurance races, the duo will build upon their ambitions to turn AO Racing into a front-runner in GTD.
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“I took some time away from pro racing, and when I started working with PJ, I legitimately struggled to match his lap times,” Jeannette told RACER. “He has a lot of potential and we can’t wait to build out the team and take delivery of the new car in November and get ready for next year.”
Hyett’s set a high bar for himself as he jumps into major endurance racing in his late 30s. His pro-rated teammate for 2023 and other important elements of the program will be announced by the outfit in the coming weeks.
“I want to be clear: I’m not doing this as a hobby,” he said. “I have every intention on winning every race we start and I’ll be doing my damnedest to try and achieve that. I’m investing a ton of money and energy and time into this and I plan on doing it for a very long time.
“My entire life is encapsulated in this racing effort with my love of cars, my love for competition. And I love the people that I’m working with. So I could not be more excited.”