Reigning IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class champion team RS1 (Rennsport One) has announced its drivers for its upcoming WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD debut at Daytona.
2022 Rolex 24 At Daytona GTD class winner Jan Heylen, who won last year’s GS (Grand Sport) title for RS1, had already been confirmed in the #28 Porsche 911 GT3 R – alongside IMSA WeatherTech series newcomer Eric Zitza, the son of 2000 Rolex 24 class winner Ron Zitza.
Today, the team from Pompano Beach, Florida announced the remainder of its Daytona driver line-up, confirming that Porsche factory driver Sven Müller and 2017 Michelin Pilot Challenge GS champion Dillon Machavern will pilot the #28 Porsche later this month.
Müller makes his first Rolex 24 start since 2021, when he drove a Rick Ware Racing/Eurasia Motorsport ORECA LMP2. The German driver is coming off a year that saw him win the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup title for Rutronik Racing; Müller and co-drivers Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello finished second in last year’s 24 Hours of Spa, with additional podiums at Paul Ricard and the Nürburgring.
Machavern won the 2017 Pilot Challenge title driving for RS1, before going on to be Turner Motorsport’s Endurance Cup driver for several seasons in the WeatherTech series – claiming victories at Watkins Glen (2018) and Petit Le Mans (2019).
Heylen made his return to the WeatherTech Championship in October at Petit Le Mans when he drove for Magnus Racing; in addition to taking the Michelin Pilot Challenge title alongside co-driver Luca Mars, he also drove for RS1 in GT World Challenge America, finishing third in the Pro class championship alongside GT3 debutant Alex Sedgwick.
RS1 will compete in the five-race Michelin Endurance Cup for the first time, after winning various championships in each of the last four years. The team won the 2022 and 2024 Pirelli GT4 America Silver class championships, and in 2023, won the GT World Challenge America Pro title in its first year of GT3 racing.
Feature image © IMSA
