IMSA has revealed a 61 car entry for the Roar before the 24 test weekend at Daytona International Speedway with 7 Dpi, 10, LMP2, 10 LMP3, 13 GTD Pro and 22 GTC cars listed.
In addition to the cars noted on DSC’s recent run up of declared entries there are the Risi Competizione GTD Pro Ferrari entry announced today together with additional GTD class entries from SunEnergy1 (#75 Mercedes AMG for Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz, Raffaele Marciello and Fabian Schiller) and GMG Racing (#34 Porsche for Kyle Washington, James Sofronas, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Klaus Bachler)with an additional LMP3 entry from Forty7 Motorsports, the #7 Duqueine for Mark Kvamme, Austin McCusker, Trenton Estep and a fourth driver to be confirmed.
Other significant drivers to be added include the completion of the #98 NorthWest AMR GTD crew with Paul Dalla Lana joined by Nicki Thiim, Charles Eastwood and David Pittard.
Additional notes:
Daytona Prototype international (DPi): Seven cars, the same number as in 2021, are in the DPi field this year, in what is the final season for the class before it switches to the LMDh platform in 2023. The #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 claimed the class and overall Rolex 24 victory a year ago and three of its drivers – Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi – are back along with newcomer Will Stevens.
The #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R won the qualifying race during the Roar last year, what proved an important step on the Action Express Racing entry’s route to the season title. Pipo Derani and Mike Conway are back in the #31, with Tristan Nunez replacing Felipe Nasr as Derani’s new full-season teammate.
Other DPi entries of note include Chip Ganassi Racing expanding to a two-car Cadillac effort and the #48 Ally Cadillac that includes seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and two-time Rolex 24 winner Kamui Kobayashi returning for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2): The LMP2 field remains the same, 10 cars, as it was a year ago. The #18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 that won the 2021 Rolex 24 returns fully intact with Dwight Merriman, Kyle Tilley, Ryan Dalziel and Paul-Loup Chatin, as does the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA lineup of Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen, Scott Huffaker and Nicolas Lapierre that won the qualifying race on its way to the LMP2 championship.
DragonSpeed USA dipped into the IndyCar field for drivers Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta and Devlin DeFrancesco to team with Eric Lux. International flavour is added by entries from teams including G-Drive Racing by APR, High Class Racing, Racing Team Nederland and United Autosports.
Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3): The number of entries grows from six to 10 this year as the LMP3 class embarks on its second season of WeatherTech Championship competition. The #74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 won last year’s Rolex 24 and went on to win the season title for the team and driver Gar Robinson. He’s back to defend and will team with Felipe Fraga, Kay van Berlo and Michael Cooper at the Roar and Rolex 24.
Muehlner Motorsports America is back with a pair of Duqueine D08s, including the #6 headed by driver Moritz Kranz that won the 2021 qualifying race. Other LMP3 teams and names to watch include newcomer AWA with the #13 Duqueine for drivers Orey Fidani, Kumo Wittmer, Lars Kern and Matthew Bell, the #54 CORE autosport Ligier with Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, George Kurtz and Nic Jonsson aboard and four-time Rolex 24 winner Joao Barbosa in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier.
GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO): The new class that replaces GT Le Mans (GTLM) has 13 entries and eight manufacturers. Corvette Racing bears watching as always, but in particular, as it shifts from the GTLM platform to the GT3 specification the GTD PRO falls under. The #3 Corvette won last year’s Rolex 24 and the driver trio returns with Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg. #4 Corvette won the 2021 qualifying race and is back on a one-off for the Rolex 24 before taking on a full season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
BMW Team RLL was the 2019 and 2020 GTLM winner at the Rolex 24 and brings back two entries with the new BMW M4 GT3. WeatherTech Racing has three entries using two manufacturers (Porsche and Mercedes-AMG) – Oe is entered under the Proton USA banner. Pfaff Motorsports moves to GTD PRO with the plaid #9 Porsche 911 GT3R after claiming last year’s GT Daytona (GTD) championship.
Other manufacturers for the debut of this highly anticipated class include Aston Martin, Ferrari Lamborghini and Lexus.
GT Daytona (GTD): Now running under the same specs as GTD PRO but with the requirement of having Bronze- or Silver-rated drivers as part of the lineup, the GTD class has 22 entries – up three from a year ago despite several cars that ran in the class last year moving up to GTD Pro.
Mercedes-AMG finished 1-2 in last year’s Rolex 24 and both teams are back, the winning #57 Winward Racing with half the drivers (Russell Ward and Philip Ellis) returning and runner-up #75 Sun Energy 1 bringing back three (Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz and Raffaele Marciello).
With nine manufacturers entered in GTD, the competition is wide open as usual. Never overlook all-time leading IMSA winner Bill Auberlen and Turner Motorsport co-drivers Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Jens Klingmann. The #96 won last year’s qualifying race and, like BMW Team RLL in GTD PRO, will race a new BMW M4 GT3 this season.
The Heart of Racing Team finished third in the 2021 GTD championship, won the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup and finished fifth in the Rolex 24. Drivers Roman De Angelis, Ian James and Darren Turner are back for the Rolex 24, with Tom Gamble filling the roster. With the semi-retirement of longtime Porsche driver Patrick Long, the #16 Wright Motorsports entry takes on a slightly different look this year with drivers Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen, Zach Robichon and Porsche works driver Richard Lietz.
Andy Lally has the most Rolex 24 wins of any driver entered (five). His #44 Magnus Racing team bears watching with its switch to the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 this year. Others to watch include Crucial Motorsports and inception racing, which both bring the McLaren 720S GT3 back to the Roar and Rolex 24.
The Roar schedule calls for two test sessions Friday, Jan. 21 and a third on Saturday, Jan. 22 ahead of qualifying for the 100-minute qualifying race later that afternoon. The qualifying race starts at 2:05 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23.
