On Friday, Andretti Autosport announced a new partnership with Vital Speed Motorsports to field an entry into this year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour endurance race.
The newly-formed partnership of IndyCar powerhouse Andretti Autosport and Portland, Oregon based Vital Speed Motorsports will see the two organisations combine their engineering efforts behind their Ferrari 488 GT3.
Driving the Andretti/Vital Speed Ferrari will be Ryan Briscoe, Jeff Westphal, and Jarett Andretti. Jarett is a third-generation driver, the grandson of Aldo Andretti, and son of 1989 24 Hours of Daytona champion John Andretti. He has previously driven in the SRO America system, winning the 2020 GT4 America SprintX Silver Cup championship. Currently, he drives for Andretti Autosport in the LMP3 class of IMSA.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Vital Speed Motorsports, their partners at SiFT Discovery, Ryan and Jeff for the 8 Hour endurance race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Andretti. “IMS is a special place for myself, my family and my team at Andretti Autosport. I am excited to compete there again and hopefully bring the team another win.”
“Joining with Vital Speed and having Jarett behind the wheel for the upcoming 8 Hour race at Indianapolis is a great opportunity for the growth and development of our program,” said Andretti Autosport chairman and CEO Michael Andretti. “Jarett has been doing a great job for us in IMSA, and I have all the confidence in his new effort being a strong contender.”
“The opportunity to partner with Andretti Autosport and bring Jarett Andretti into the driving team for the 8 Hour race is really exciting,” said Rich Baek, the owner of Vital Speed Motorsports. “We have a solid opportunity for success and look forward to the competition ahead.”
Westphal and Briscoe were part of Vital Speed’s most recent entry into the Indianapolis 8 Hour back in 2020.
Briscoe’s decorated CV as a professional racing driver includes pole position at the 2012 Indianapolis 500, overall victory at the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona, and class victories at Daytona and Sebring. He is currently driving for Glickenhaus Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar category.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved here and I’m super proud to be returning with Vital Speed with their new Andretti Autosport partnership,” remarked Briscoe. “Jarett and Jeff are top level drivers and I believe we will have everything we need to succeed!”
Westphal is a past GT4 class winner of the 2017 California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca, a class winner of the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race (2017), and Petit Le Mans at Road America (2020). He also won in IMSA’s most recent visit to Indianapolis, back in 2014 with Scuderia Corsa.
“The partnership [between Andretti Autosport and Vital Speed] should make the on track performance better as the depth of knowledge is integrated into both entities,” said Westphal. “Having Ryan and Jarett alongside me is fantastic as we head into this highly contested, highly competitive, intercontinental GT round with manufacturer based entries from around the sports car world. I will share my expertise with the 488 GT3 Evo to my team mates, the ins and outs of all the electronic and mechanical settings in an effort to make our team as strong as possible.”
Feature Image © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group America
