MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Jr III Racing will field a second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP3 entry next weekend as the series returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since 2014.
Guilherme de Oliveira will join Jr III Racing’s Bijoy Garg, who is currently battling for the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge championship in the LMP3 category. The duo will share the driving duties on board the No. 29 Wing S2 Cyber Ligier JS P320 for the two-hour, 40-minute race that marks the penultimate round of the IMSA season.
Oliveira, who hails from Portugal, started racing go karts before moving up to compete in the F4 Spanish Championship in 2021. That same year, Oliveira made his LMP3 debut during the European Le Mans Series season finale, the 4 Hours of Portimão.
The 18-year-old went on to race a full season in both the European Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series on board an LMP3. Oliveira and his co-drivers finished second in the European Le Mans Series after winning three races in 2022.
Oliveira started the season making his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona with MRS GT-Racing in LMP3 competition. Since then, he has competed in the World Endurance Championship rounds at Monza and Portimão behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 scoring a high finish of sixth.
“It’s a huge honor to be joining Jr III, I know it’s a very competitive team with many achievements in sports car racing, I’m very much looking forward to working with all of them,” said Oliveira. “I met Bijoy in the Rolex 24, I know he is fast, and I’ve been watching his success in the last races of the VP championship. I’m pretty sure we will make a good team.
“My first IMSA race was the Rolex 24, it was an amazing experience, some reliability issues didn’t let us finish the race, but driving Daytona was memorable. For sure one of the most enjoyable races I’ve ever competed in.”
Oliveira will be making his debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a history-making race.
“We are excited to have Guilherme join the team with us at Indy,” said Billy Glavin, owner of Jr III Racing. “He has competed against Garett (Grist) in ELMS and has really shown well in an LMP3. Guilherme and Bijoy will make a great team, especially since Bijoy has raced at Indy before in an open wheel car. It should be a great experience for the entire team.”