The #55 Proton Competition Oreca 07 will contest just one IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship race here at Daytona before the car is returned to Europe.
The German team acquired the ex-Algarve Pro Racing car as part of their effort to ramp up the team’s capabilities ahead of the introduction of the pair of Porsche 963 cars set to be entered, one apiece, in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship GTP class and the FIA WEC’s HyperCar class.
Decisions about where and when those cars will first race will be taken when there is more certainty about the delivery dates for the cars and spares required, though DSC believes there will, in 2023 at least, be a high degree of commonality in the driver squads between the two Championships where possible.
“There’s not much point in saying what we might or might not do at present, It’s going to be a series of decisions taken around getting the best start possible with programmes that are very important to get right, and we don’t yet have the answers to those questions,” said team co-owner Christian Ried.
As for the Oreca, its 2023 race programme beyond Daytona is already clear: “The car is a full season ELMS entry in LMP2,” said Ried.
One driver seems set to be a confirmed full-season presence too, beyond the likely involvement of Gianmaria Bruni in both the IMSA and WEC Porsche programmes.
The hugely experienced Italian looks set to play a significant part in the LMP2 effort too, alongside Jonas Ried, a third generation Ried racer after Christian and brother Michael’s father Gerold.
The soon to be 16-year-old German, son of Christian, will make his LMP race debut in the Asian Le Mans Series in a Rinaldi Racing entered Duqueine before graduating to the Oreca in the ELMS.
The Proton entry looks set to join a full-season ELMS LMP2 entry closing in on 20 cars with at least two two-car teams and a third looking set to confirm a three-car class entry!
Tuesday saw Proton confirm that Bruni and Ried will be joined by Giorgio Roda.
