Meyer Shank Racing returns to Rolex 24 as 61 cars and 235 drivers prep for Daytona endurance race
Meyer Shank Racing returns to Rolex 24 as 61 cars and 235 drivers prep for Daytona endurance race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Meyer Shank Racing opened the 2022 season with a win at the Rolex 24 of Daytona and closed it by winning the IMSA Series championship.
The next year marked back-to-back Rolex wins, but by the end of the season, the team had split with Acura and MSR was out of sports cars for 2024. It was a bitter disappointment to team co-owner Michael Shank, who has clawed his way back into IMSA this year with a two-car effort — reunited with Acura — in the top prototype class.
“I was in timeout for a year,” joked Shank, who was able to retain all but one of his original employees, and, because this is a two-car program, has expanded the operation and now has 108 working on the Acuras.
His driver lineup has changed, with Tom Blomqvist back from a brief stint in IndyCar and teamed with Colin Braun in one car, and Renger van der Zander joining the organization and teamed with Nick Yelloly.
Van der Zander was a longtime Chip Ganassi Racing driver, but Ganassi is sitting out of sports cars this season so the Dutchman made the move to a new team. In the meantime, Shank’s IndyCar program has formed a technical alliance with Ganassi and a perk of that new relationship is that Ganassi loaned him his superstars for the Rolex.
Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and MSR IndyCar driver Felix Rosenqvist are the endurance drivers in the No. 60, while three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou is in the No. 93 along with Honda protege Kaku Ohta.
The Ganassi relationship doesn’t include IMSA, but Shank said Ganassi offered his IndyCar drivers without being asked.
But the new-look Shank team back on the grid is just one of dozens of changes as IMSA heads into the most prestigious endurance race in North America. The Rolex 24 at Daytona begins Saturday and runs around the clock until Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
There are 61 cars entered, which puts IMSA and Daytona at capacity for how many teams it can accommodate. The entries account for 235 drivers representing 31 countries and includes Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, Australian V8 Supercar champions Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen in an entry by NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing, Formula 1 veterans and IndyCar champions.
Only one team in the 61-car field features four drivers all from the same country. Italian drivers Roberto Lacorte, Nicola Lacorte, Lorenzo Patrese and Antonio Fuoco will drive the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Grand Touring Daytona class.
Two-time Rolex winner Kamui Kobayashi is back after a two-year absence required because he competes in a Toyota in the World Endurance Championship and it was a conflict of interest to run in IMSA. But he missed Daytona so much he asked his Japanese bosses for permission to return and will race for Wayne Taylor Racing, which left Acura to become the Cadillac program that Ganassi had previously run.
Over at Porsche Penske Motorsport, where Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron teamed to win the Rolex last year and the IMSA championship, there’s been a lineup change as Cameron was not retained after his banner season. Cameron will compete in the LMP2 class and run the full season in the lower class.
Nasr misses his old teammate.
“I have huge respect for Dane as a driver, as a person, he’s a great friend of mine,” Nasr said. “His skills in the car and his feedback are probably among the best I’ve seen in my career. The bonding we had — it takes a while to build that again.”
There are a total of 18 different manufacturers in Daytona for the Rolex and the support races ahead of it, with 11 manufacturers in the Rolex. BMW has revamped the lineups for its two cars with Kevin Magnussen, fresh off his second stint in F1, part of its Daytona entry.
In fact, every car in the top prototype class has undergone some form of change, either in driver lineup or manufacturer. For Action Express, the car supported by IMSA and NASCAR chairman Jim France, the biggest change is the departure of longtime driver Pipo Derani.
Derani said he went to both Action Express and General Motors and asked to move to WEC because he was ready for a new career challenge. When his request was denied, he signed with the Genesis program that will bring Hyundai to WEC next season and IMSA in 2027.
Derani will relocate to Monaco to help develop the program after he competes this weekend in his final race with General Motors — he’ll race in the GT Daytona class for DXDT Racing. After that, Hyundai won’t permit him to race for other manufacturers.
“I very much enjoyed my time with Cadillac and didn’t want it to come to an end,” Derani said. “But I also was at a point where I needed and wanted a new challenge and this was the time in my career to go for it.”
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
