But, as I always caution JG, it never hurts to wander the Rolex paddock with your helmet. Never know who might need one more driver.
Photograph Courtesy IMSA
Even though the Rolex 24 at Daytona is now less than 20 days away, IMSA recently confirmed some late additions to the following GTD, LMP2 and LMP3 teams:
[Grassroots Motorsports Experience at the Rolex 24 at Daytona]
The complete list of confirmed teams and drivers, then, for the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona is as follows:
Grand Touring Prototype (GTP)
- No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande for the full season, with Scott Dixon for the Rolex 24.
- No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: A Rolex 24-only entry with Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook.
- No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy for the full season, Dane Cameron for the Rolex 24.
- No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr for the full season, Michael Christensen for the Rolex 24.
- No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06: Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor for the full season, Louis Deletraz for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) rounds and Brendon Hartley for the Rolex 24.
- Nos. 24 and 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8s: Specific assignments are to be set but full-season drivers are Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly piloting one car and Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus paired up in the other. They will be joined at the Rolex 24 by Colton Herta, with Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann on board for Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
- No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims for the full season, with Jack Aitken for the Rolex 24.
- No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun for the full season, Helio Castroneves for the IMEC rounds and Simon Pagenaud for the Rolex 24.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)
- No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07: Entered for IMEC rounds only with Ben Hanley, George Kurtz and Matt McMurry, along with Esteban Gutierrez for the Rolex 24.
- No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07: Entered for the Rolex 24 only with John Farano, Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden and Kyffin Simpson.
- No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07: Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas for the full season, Scott Huffaker for the IMEC rounds and Rinus VeeKay for the Rolex 24.
- No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 07: Dennis Anderson and Ed Jones for the full season, Anders Fjordbach for the IMEC rounds and Raffaele Marciello for the Rolex 24.
- No. 35 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07: Francois Heriau and Giedo van der Garde for the full season, Josh Pierson for the IMEC rounds and Job van Uitert for the Rolex 24.
- No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07: Entered for the IMEC races with Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin and Alex Quinn, with Nicolas Lapierre for the Rolex 24.
Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3)
- No. 13 AWA Duqueine D08: Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Moritz Kranz for the Rolex 24.
- No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08: Wayne Boyd, Anthony Mantella, Thomas Merrill and Nicolas Varrone for the Rolex 24.
- No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P320: Joao Barbosa and Lance Willsey for the full season.
- No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320: Christopher Allen, Connor Bloum, John DeAngelis and Cameron Shields for the Rolex 24.
GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO)
- No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD: Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor for the full season with Tommy Milner for the IMEC rounds.
- No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet for the full season with Laurens Vanthoor for the IMEC rounds.
- No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth for the full season.
- No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas for the full season with David Pittard for the Rolex 24.
- No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2: Entering the IMEC rounds with Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti.
- No. 64 TGM/TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Ted Giovanis, Hugh Plumb, Matt Plumb and Owen Trinkler for the Rolex 24.
- No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella for the full season, Maro Engel for the IMEC rounds and Cooper MacNeil for the Rolex 24.
GT Daytona (GTD)
- No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz for the full season, with Parker Thompson for the IMEC rounds and Kyle Kirkwood for the Rolex 24.
- No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and Zacharie Robichon for the IMEC rounds, with Dennis Olsen joining for the Rolex 24.
- No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2: The car will compete in the Rolex 24 with drivers to be named.
- No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3: Andrea Bertolini, Alessio Rovera, Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi for the IMEC rounds.
- No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen for the full season with Ian James and Darren Turner joining for the Rolex 24.
- No. 44 Magnus Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3: Andy Lally, John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly for the IMEC rounds.
- No. 53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): Mark Kvamme and Jan Magnussen for the IMEC rounds, with Kevin Magnussen joining for the Rolex 24.
- No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Philip Ellis and Russell Ward for the full season, with Indy Dontje for the IMEC rounds and Lucas Auer for the Rolex 24.
- No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3: Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk for the full season, with Mario Farnbacher and Marc Miller joining for the Rolex 24.
- No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3: Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff for the full season, Ollie Millroy for the IMEC rounds and Marvin Kirchhofer for the Rolex 24.
- No. 77 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman for the full season, Max Root for the IMEC rounds and Kevin Estre for the Rolex 24.
- No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): PJ Hyett and Seb Priaulx for the full season, Gunnar Jeannette for the IMEC rounds and Harry Tincknell for the Rolex 24.
- No. 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2: The car will compete in the IMEC rounds with drivers to be named.
- No. 91 Kelly-Moss with Riley Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): A full-season entry with drivers to be announced.
- No. 92 Kelly-Moss with Riley Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (type 992): Competing in the IMEC rounds only with Jeroen Bleekemolen, David Brule, Andrew Davis and Alec Udell.
- No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Acura NSX GT3: Danny Formal, Ashton Harrison and Kyle Marcelli for the IMEC rounds, joined by Ryan Briscoe for the Rolex 24.
But, as I always caution JG, it never hurts to wander the Rolex paddock with your helmet. Never know who might need one more driver.
Cool to see Legge back, I think the Acura is a well suited for her strengths.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I can't remember the full story, but I do recall a similar situation happening at least once to twice back in the '60s or '70s.
I'll see if I can track down more info.
Colin Wood said:In reply to David S. Wallens :
I can't remember the full story, but I do recall a similar situation happening at least once to twice back in the '60s or '70s.
I'll see if I can track down more info.
The best one is when Jackie Stewart went to ascot park one time with Chris economacki. Aj Watson had a sprint car there and says to Jackie my driver hasn't shown up would you like to drive a sprint car. Jackie replies I forgot me helmet. Aj says I have a helmet you can use. Jackie then says forget me balls too.
Twenty or so years ago, seems we'd see/hear of people walking around Daytona before the Rolex looking for rides. Today, I think it's a bit more formal.
Still, don't forget your helmet....
In reply to Colin Wood :
John Morton drove at Sebring for the first time with a borrowed helmet and got his FIA license by Ken Miles scribbling "John Morton is qualified" on a notepad. He came with Shelby American to drive the truck.
In reply to j_tso :
Never really knew much about him until I listened to the Dinner with Racers podcast.
Aaron_King said:In reply to j_tso :
Never really knew much about him until I listened to the Dinner with Racers podcast.
John Morton is cool (and very nice). We have a few pieces about him over at the Classic Motorsports site:
Hey I showed up to crew for a Champcar race at Road Atlanta one time. Ended up driving two stints in another teams car because a driver got sick and didn't pay a dime. Not a pro race but as the saying goes....Don't forget your helmet
In reply to DirtyBird222 :
Somewhere out there is a motto along those lines–be prepared or something like that, right?
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