CHARLOTTE, N.C. – CB Motorsports is set to make its IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge debut later this year.
The team will open the IMSA season with the BMW Endurance Challenge with drivers Caleb Bacon, Mark Kvamme and Trenton Estep behind the wheel of the No. 81 Hyundai Veloster N TCR for the four hour endurance event at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
The opening round will feature a four hour endurance format. Kvamme and Estep are slated as a full-season pairing for the championship campaign on board the No. 81 Hyundai, with Bacon joining the team for longer events.
Kvamme returns stateside following his latest campaign in the Asian Le Mans series in 2020. With nine previous starts onboard Prototype and GT platforms at the 3.56-mile Florida circuit, the veteran racer brings a wide range of Daytona experience as he looks forward to a return to TCR class competition in 2021.
“It’s exciting to be back at Daytona International Speedway for the start of the season with CB Motorsports,” said Kvamme. “While I have driven an assortment of cars at Daytona, the Hyundai Veloster N TCR will be a new and exciting challenge. The IMPC TCR class has some of the closest racing in IMSA competition and I got a taste of that with a few outings in 2019. Returning to the TCR field with Caleb (Bacon) and Trenton (Estep) as my teammates is an exciting opportunity. They are talented drivers that I get to work with. Together we have a great chance to fight our way to a podium and open the season on a high note.”
The 2018 IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge USA champion Estep will return to IMSA action in 2021 as Kvamme’s full-time co-driver in the No. 81 Hyundai. The 21-year-old has made quick progress in his racing career, moving from karting to quickly establishing himself in sports cars. Estep made his debut at Daytona Int’l Speedway in 2019 as he brought home a top-five finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. He will make his first IMPC start at the 3.56-mile course with CB Motorsports.
“I am super excited to be a part of Hyundai and CB Motorsports,” said Estep. “The Hyundai Veloster N TCR has proven itself time and time again in the last two years of the Michelin Pilot Challenge. We have a good opportunity to fight for podiums. I know my co-driver Mark Kvamme well and we work well together. I’m excited to be alongside him and to start working with Caleb (Bacon). Mark (Kvamme) has become a mentor of mine on and off the track and our journey in Michelin Pilot Challenge is a new chapter for us both. 2021 will be a fun year for the three of us in the No. 81 Hyundai.”
CB Motorsports will field a single entry at Daytona in January, and is building operations in preparation for expansion to a two-car team with a second Hyundai Veloster N TCR car starting in Sebring. The team is based in Mooresville, N.C., and anticipates the completion of its new 9,000 square-foot shop in the spring.