INDIANAPOLIS – DragonSpeed has announced plans to to field an LMP2 program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Henrik Hedman and the team’s NTT IndyCar Series driver, Ben Hanley, are the first two drivers named to the program that will include six LMP2 events in addition to the Rolex 24 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
The team’s regular third driver in IMSA and fourth pilot for the Rolex 24 will be announced at a later date.
Running from the same Indianapolis base as its NTT IndyCar Series squad, the 10Star DragonSpeed machine will run alongside a new ORECA O7-Gibson LMP2 entry from Kyle Tilley’s Era Motorsport. DragonSpeed’s European operation will continue to be based at its shop in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France as the team targets a fourth consecutive invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“IMSA’s changes to the LMP2 class rules and schedule have put it on a par with the ELMS in terms of gentleman driver appeal, and we are responding enthusiastically to that,” said DragonSpeed team principal Elton Julian.
”We had decided to add the four Michelin Endurance Cup races to my European schedule, but with IMSA requiring a Bronze driver in LMP2 now, I couldn’t pass up the chance of racing again at some of my favorite tracks – such as Road America and Laguna Seca – by doing the full season,” Hedman said.