With the opening round of the 2024 Pilot Challenge season at Daytona fast approaching, there’s been a smattering of announcements from teams set to compete during this upcoming season over the past week.
Last night Canadian McLaren customer team Motorsports In Action formally announced its return for the 2024 season with its #69 Artura GT4.
Team stalwart Jesse Lazare will embark on his fifth season with the team, looking to continue where he left off three months ago winning the 2023 season finale at Road Atlanta. Joining Lazare this year is his previous Rolex 24H of Daytona winning teammate; Michael de Quesada.
“It’s pretty incredible for us to have two winning 24H of Daytona drivers for our upcoming 2024 IMPC effort, but it’s extraordinary that they were actually teammates in their 2017 win,” commented team owner Eric Kerub. “I’m not sure that’s actually happened before on an IMPC GS team, but if it has, it must be rare.”
Lazare said he knew this was going to be a minimum two-year effort with MIA after it took delivery of its Artura. “Eric and I discussed this at length prior to the 2023 season. We’ve been down this road before in 2017 with the 570S GT4 so he asked me to commit to two years so that we could capitalize the following year with everything we learned with the car,” he explained
“I’m really excited to pair up with Michael, and with a few things now sorted with the Artura, I believe we have a real shot to win”.
Elsewhere, just before Christmas Todd Coleman Racing is set to return too after an eight-race campaign in 2023, with an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Todd Coleman and Aaron Telitz.
This season marks a reunion for the pair, whose last collaboration took place during the 2022 SRO America series.
“Last season was a great learning experience for me in Michelin Pilot Challenge,” said Coleman. “Given we are competing against some of the best GT4 drivers in the world, my expectations were fairly measured last year.
“This season, we are committed to raising the bar. Working with an experienced group like Archangel Motorsports, with the leadership of sports car racing veteran Mike Johnson really adds to the strength of the program. Aaron Telitz has been a great friend and coach over the years, and I’m excited to bring him back into the fold. We’ll certainly have some fun this season.”
New to Michelin Pilot Challenge this year is JMF Motorsports, which is entering the GS class with a Mercedes-AMG GT4 as part of an expanded programme for John Farrow’s team based in Ontario, Canada.
The team is calling up its driver combination from SRO GT4 America, Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb. Stephens, the 2021 GT4 America Silver class champion, and Webb, who made his GT4 racing debut last year, combined for three overall wins and five Silver class wins on the way to finishing second in the class standings.
“We are proud to embark on this new chapter of our team,” Farrow said. “It will be a huge challenge, however, it is just the beginning of our continued growth.”
Starting in 2024, JMF Motorsports’ entries in Michelin Pilot Challenge and GT4 America will be independently operated after a three-year affiliation with Conquest Racing. “We appreciate all the successes we have enjoyed because of our partnership with Eric (Bachelart) and Conquest Racing,” Farrow added. “It is now time to execute our vision of creating a standalone Canadian motorsport team to support our Canadian athletes.”
The team recently opened up a new headquarters in Elmira, Ontario which will serve as the base for all of its future operations.
Beyond that, CDR Valkyrie will move to the GS class with a brand new Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO, which will sport a stunning livery. There are no drivers confirmed yet by the Californian team. The team was last seen in SRO GT America, when it competed at Road America with an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 and a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
And finally, Rockwell Autosport Development has confirmed that it will take on a partial-season campaign in TCR with its Gen 1 Audi RS 3 LMS TCR SEQ. Behind the wheel for the first round in Florida is long-time crew chief Doug Oakley, Tom O’Gorman and Eric Rockwell.
The Michelin Pilot Challenge season opens on January 26th with the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.
Images courtesy of MIA and CDR Valkyrie
