Multiple LMP2 champion Phil Hanson has secured a GTP drive for JDC Miller MotorSports in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as their Endurance driver.

The British driver is most renowned for his LMP2 sportscar efforts with United Autosports, having claimed an LMP2 Le Mans victory within his 2020 LMP2 World Endurance Championship-winning campaign.

Other previous titles during his rise in sportscar racing includes two Asian Le Mans Series championships and a European Le Mans Series title.

The 24-year-old Briton will take part in the IMSA WeatherTech season in Porsche 963 LMDh machinery for the first time in his career.

Hanson, set to drive the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche, said: “I’m very excited to be joining JDC Miller Motorsport for the 2024 IMSA endurance races.

“After my first taste of IMSA back in 2018, I am thrilled to be back in the IMSA paddock and above all, to be making my debut in the GTP class with JDC’s 963 Porsche.

“I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.”

Hanson’s previous IMSA experience includes two 24 Hours of Daytona entries, the first of which in 2018 saw him debut into the sportscar discipline, alongside taking on the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Six Hours of the Glen.

Next year will host six IMSA Endurance Cup events: The 24 Hours of Daytona in January, 12 Hours of Sebring in March, Six Hours of the Glen in June, Battle on the Bricks (six hours) in September, and Petit Le Mans in October.

Another former United Autosports LMP2 driver Tom Blomqvist was confirmed last week in an Endurance Cup drive with Action Express Racing, which will be followed alongside his Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar duties.

John Church, Managing Partner at JDC-Miller MotorSports, added: “JDC-Miller MotorSports is very pleased to announce Phil Hanson will be driving our Porsche 963 GTP in the 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events.

“We have been following Phil’s career for quite some time and his accomplishments are very impressive.

“He is a proven winner at the top levels of sports car racing and will be a great addition to the team.

“It will be fun to see what Phil can accomplish in a Porsche 963 GTP.

“JDC-Miller MotorSports is excited to take Phil to success at the next level of his already impressive career.”

Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO Porsche Motorsport North America, commented: “We are very proud of what JDC-Miller MotorSports achieved in their first season of racing the Porsche 963.

“They were the first to make the commitment to take on the challenge of customer racing in the GTP class.

“Each week we learned more together, and I see no reason this won’t continue into 2024.

“To attract a driver the calibre of Philip Hanson to the team speaks well of the program that has been built.

“I think we will see the true potential of customer race teams show against the works programs in the class.

“This is like what we saw in the 1980s with the 962 and that speaks well for the future.”

JDC Miller most recently completed their first year in IMSA GTP with their 963, finishing fifth at Petit Le Mans in the hands of Tijmen van der Helm (who will continue in his full-time seat next year), Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button.

WeatherTech Racing acquired their fourth IMSA GTD Pro victory this year, having started with a victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and finished the season with a Petit Le Mans win and the Endurance Cup title.

The Proton-run #79 Mercedes-AMG also claimed the team’s fourth Petit Le Mans win in their history.

Despite not being able to close the gap to the GTD Pro championship winners after the #14 Vasser Sullivan team won at lights out, the #79 charged to the win and claimed the Endurance Cup title on 42 points.

Misfortune for their rivals played a role in the #79’s success, as the #14 Lexus RC F suffered major front-end damage when Ben Barnicoat had a brief off-track excursion at Turn 4.

He hit a sponsor banner held down by sandbags which dropped down a curb and clung off the whole front end of the Lexus.

Meanwhile, the #3 Corvette led in the hands of Tommy Milner before it retired with transmission issues within two hours prior to the chequered flag.

“We came into this race with big hopes… ” Jules Gounon said.

“We started the year with the amazing win at Daytona and then at Sebring we did our best and finished third.

“Petit Le Mans is an amazing race and one that every driver wants on their C.V.

“None of us had won here, and for me it was my first time here and to get a win is just great.

“I want to thank the MacNeil family, David and Cooper for all of the effort to build this project around us.

“To win Daytona, Petit Le Mans and two sprint races was great.

“We are proud of the WeatherTech Racing/Proton team for all their hard work.”

“We had a tough middle of the season, but we had a great car today,” Juncadella added.

“It made my life easy to bring it home for the win in my last stint,” after having to fend off the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3.R of Kevin Estre, before the two caution periods were utilised within the final hour.

“It was great to win the IMEC Championship, Rolex 24 and the two sprint races and then to finish with a big win today is amazing.”

“An amazing end to the season and my first Petit Le Mans win,” Maro Engel said.

“Thanks to David and Cooper [MacNeil] and everyone at WeatherTech for this amazing program.

“It has been an amazing season, first by winning the big one at Daytona and now winning Petit Le Mans. To cap it off getting the IMEC Championship for Dani and Jules is great as well.”

Cooper MacNeil concluded: “Stellar season by the entire WeatherTech Racing/Proton crew.

“Dani and Jules did the heavy lifting this year running in the car for the full season.

“Hats off to them for finishing second in the GTD Pro championship. Four wins on the season and the IMEC win is spectacular.

“The WeatherTech brand has four Petit Le Mans win trophies, and I have three of those as a driver.”

Doriane Pin’s notable qualifying and opening race stint were memorable highlights for the Iron Dames’ first ever Petit Le Mans after contact early on hampered their competitive chances.

The #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 marked the end of their first ever IMSA WeatherTech (Endurance Cup) campaign this year with a difficult outcome.

Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin all drove the #85 GTD entry to finish 14th in a class of 16, three laps down on the winning #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The female-run outfit recognised their highlight qualifying performance in the hands of WEC Prema Racing LMP2 driver Pin, who qualified second in GTD and third in the entire classification of Pros and GTDs, with a 1:23.795 lap time.

After the qualifying results were amended for others’ infractions, Pin started the race and asserted the fastest laps of the category during her opening stint, which saw her fight past the two Vasser Sullivan Lexus’ who she was racing around.

Afterwards, she quickly established a 10-second gap at the front of GTD.

“The Iron Dames put in a very solid weekend for their first Petit Le Mans, which unfortunately was not reflected in the final result due to a contact at the end of the second hour,” said Deborah Mayer, founder of the Iron Dames project.

“Nevertheless, the results of the weekend, and more generally of this first season in the highly competitive IMSA championship, are very encouraging.

“Doriane, Rahel and Michelle showed very strong driving and mental qualities and there is no doubt that they were up there with the best.

“Doriane’s performance in qualifying will remain a highlight, further confirming her speed, determination and high-speed progress.”

Little over two hours in, rear left contact with an LMP3 car damaged the corner on the #85, thus the suspension had to be repaired behind the wall.

Frey said: “It was a pleasure even if it was a hard first one for us. We have finished Road Atlanta with a lot of positive notes.

“We have been fast, all the three of us, throughout the race unfortunately a contact dropped us down eight laps.

“It’s a pity, I am very sorry for the entire team which did [a] great job but it is overall a good finish to the season and something we can build on for next one.”

Gatting added: “Of course, it is a very disappointing result for this race because Doriane did a great qualifying and a great first stint which put us in the lead with a big gap and gave us a lot of confidence.”

Pin said: “The result is not the one we expected after a strong qualifying yesterday and with a very good car we could aim for something great.

“For sure, the unfortunate contact didn’t help us but we tried to push until the end but it was not enough. I really enjoyed driving here.

“Road Atlanta is a fantastic track like most of the American ones and I hope to come back soon.”

Tom Blomqvist has joined the #31 Wehlen Engineering Action Express Racing-run Cadillac driver line-up for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the Endurance driver.

After recently winning the 26th edition of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, Blomqvist will continue racing in IMSA through his drive with the reigning GTP champions for next year’s season.

Jack Aitken will be promoted from his ‘endurance’ role to become a full-season driver, partnering up with Pipo Derani whilst Blomqvist will join Action Express Racing (AXR) as a third driver for the Endurance Cup races.

Blomqvist said: “After another great season with Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, it is an honor to be joining Action Express Racing and Cadillac for the endurance rounds of the 2024 campaign.

“It is a series I love being a part of, and I’m delighted to be returning once again.

“To be able to come back to the series and to try to defend my title at Daytona (aiming to take a third consecutive one) is a huge motivation and I can’t thank Meyer Shank Racing and Honda Performance Development (HPD) enough for allowing me the opportunity.”

Gary Nelson, team manager for AXR, added: “We’re thrilled that Tom is going to join our team for the IMSA endurance events.

“We feel that with his experience and recent successes it’s a natural fit for Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani.

“We’re looking forward to getting in some work this winter so we can hit the ground running when we get to Daytona.”

The son of 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist will run his IMSA Endurance campaign simultaneously alongside his full-time Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar duties next year.

Meanwhile Alexander Sims will remain within the General Motors family, as he will join the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in the IMSA GTD Pro category next year, in a Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

There are six rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech Endurance Cup in 2024, beginning at the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona at the end of January.

The second round follows after with the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, and the 6 Hours of the Glen in June, followed by a six-hour Battle on the Bricks race at Indianapolis in September.

Abiding by tradition, the 10-hour Petit Le Mans race will conclude the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech season on 12 October.

The BMW M Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan GTP entrants reflected on finishing in the last two places in-class after not being able to match their competitors’ pace by the end of a disrupted IMSA Petit Le Mans season finale.

BMW M Team RLL were title contenders with the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, although were not able to showcase competitive pace during the closing stages after finishing in last two places in GTP.

The #24 GTP started third after Augusto Farfus put in a promising qualifying performance, as the #25 started sixth.

Drivers Sheldon van der Linde, Connor De Phillippi, and Nick Yelloly competed in the #25, which showed promising form during most of the race, though finished in seventh at the end.

De Phillippi said: “It was definitely not the result we wanted and not the result we could have gotten.

“We just did not play it aggressive enough at the end when it counted, unfortunately. I feel sorry for the guys.

“Everybody worked so hard all year. We can be proud of the results we achieved this season.

“We will come back next year and fight even harder.”

Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, added: “In the first nine hours, things were looking very promising for us, and at times, we were right up there competing for the lead and a top result.

“Unfortunately, we were set back in the closing stages due to numerous yellow flags, and we couldn’t achieve the positions we had set out for.

“This also means we didn’t end up where we had hoped to be in the championship.

“It was a disappointing conclusion to the season, but we can look ahead positively. In nine races, we made it to the podium five times, which is a great record.

“A big thank you to everyone who made this possible. Now the work continues at home, and we’re hoping for a strong start to the 2024 season in Daytona.”

The 26 edition of Petit Le Mans was characterised by frequent incidents throughout, resulting in an IMSA-joint record 13 caution periods.

De Phillippi was given a drive-through penalty after passing a red light at the end of the pitlane, having to also replace the front end after Alexander Sims did the same and braked, thus forcing the #25 to hit the #31’s rear end.

In the final hour, the BMWs were not able match the pace of the surrounding Porsche 963s, and most crucially were not able to match the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V Series.R, as they continued still after their clash with the #10 Konica Minolta of Filipe Albuquerque.

With the championship at stake, the #25 needed to make up places and overtake the #31. Ultimately, Derani got the better of both BMWs and finished ahead in sixth place, which was enough to win the 2023 GTP title.

The race ended under caution after the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche GTD caught fire, moments only after the track went back to green flag racing, as the stop-start disruptions gave little opportunity for BMW M Team RLL to fight back.

Despite this, team principal Bobby Rahal concluded on a positive note after the completion of their maiden season in GTP.

“Overall, the season was pretty successful. We had five podiums, including the victory at Watkins Glen.

“When we look back where we were a year ago it has been crazy and we reacted well to the challenges we had.

“Like it is in every first year, there was a lot to learn and we learnt a lot.

“Thanks to everyone for their hard work.

“Now we are looking forward to next season and it will be a very exciting year.”

After an eventful IMSA Petit Le Mans season finale, Motorsport Week has selected a series of ‘Winners and Losers’ out of the 10-hour sportscar endurance event.

Chaotic. Caution-ridden. Controversial. These words summarise the action-packed narrative of the 26th Petit Le Mans, with drama right from the beginning and all through to the checkered flag.

It was a memorable IMSA race for a mixture of reasons, inevitably making way for many ‘winners and losers’ from the third-longest race on the 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar.

An IMSA joint-record of 13 caution periods were deployed, as a concerning amount of penalties were awarded throughout the race, as driving standards were also below expectations for a major international sportscar championship event.

Winner – #60 Meyer Shank Racing (GTP): Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves

Unsurprisingly, the overall race winners feature on this list. Meyer Shank took a back-to-back Petit Le Mans win, although their victory was well and truly secured from drama elsewhere in the GTP category once again.

Blomqvist took their final qualifying honours for 2023, as MSR intend to commit more attention on their IndyCar project from 2024.

His fastest lap time of 1:15.847 put him on the second row, in fourth position, after being unable to match the other #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz. The #10 retained their championship lead post-qualifying as the #60 was situated fourth in the standings.

At the race start, the attention was on Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Cadillac V Series.R, and Deletraz. The pole-sitter was unable to stop Bourdais from taking the lead at the first corner, with a move around the outside of Deletraz as the pair gave each other a respective level of space, and Blomqvist took third off Philipp Eng’s #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.

On Lap 9, the Frenchman asserted a fastest race lap of 1:11.31, although the front-runners were close to one another still.

Despite the fact a caution was deployed after just two minutes since the opening green flag, Blomqvist’s pace was encouraging once things got going after the second caution, as he set a 1:11.533 towards the end of the first hour. Whilst he was not able to take on the front-runners, he kept within proximity to them.

Cautions disrupted the race, and the #60 fell back discreetly at the halfway point, after they served a drive-through penalty for working on their car outside the pit box.

Jumping to the penultimate caution period in the final 30 minutes, we were teased with what did not become a battle to the finish.

Despite this, the lead fight was now between the #01 of Renger van der Zande and the #60 of Colin Braun behind him, after the earlier clash between the #10 and the #31.

On the restart, Braun made a cunning move past the #01 on the inside of Turn 1, and held it during the most crucial 52 seconds of the entire race, before it finished under caution owing to drama elsewhere in GTD.

The #60 did not win the championship, and were unlikely to do so with their deducted Daytona points deficit, but earned their final sportscar in their last race before an indefinite hiatus.

Loser – #10 Konica Minolta/Wayne Taylor Racing (GTP): Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz

The #10 expanded their three-point title lead in qualifying, to 11 points, and through a turn of misfortune, they were not able to convert their pole position into a race victory and a GTP title.

One of the main talking points from the race revolved around the clash between the #31 of Derani and the #10 of Albuquerque, and so WTR are a ‘loser’ on this list, however not necessarily for sole responsibility for their incident, as that would be subjective and difficult to call.

The consequences of the incident led the surviving #31 Cadillac to ease themselves through two caution periods – intertwined with the 52-second green flag stretch – to win the championship.

The stewards needed to assert themselves over teams and drivers, though ended up implementing a great number of penalties regardless.

Some may question the decision not to penalise the #31, which aggressively edged the Acura off-track and into the barrier. Others may implement responsibility on Albuquerque, who optimistically kept his foot down on Derani’s tail, which left him only to go off the circuit, where he had already been in an earlier minor altercation with an LMP2 car albeit at a different corner.

Nevertheless, IMSA concluded it as a racing incident, and the #31 simply had to make it through two cautions to win the championship title.

The top-two teams in the championship were ones who had clashed during the final hour, prosing whether either one of them earned the right to be classed as champions after the #60 ran a smoother race. But even this would showcase the flawed penalty of only a ‘points deduction’ from the #60’s Daytona win.

Without any doubt, if the #10 kept running, then it would have secured the championship. Above all, they did not, and lost a second consecutive chance at Petit Le Mans race victory.

Winner – #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (LMP2): Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin, Alex Quinn

Keating and Chatin have ran an exceptional 2023 campaign together, and maintained their consistency right to the season finale.

Their close championship rivals were the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07, whose full-season drivers were Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen.

Virtually speaking, both of these teams were side-by-side in the performance they had put on this year, and a rare mistake from Jensen, who was showing great pace, ended the show, in the seventh hour. He dropped the car into the wall at Turn 5, damaging the front-right suspension in the process.

As mentioned in our preview, the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by Algarve Pro Racing could have made ground if the #11 and #52 faced issues.

Whilst they did win their second race this season, and gave George Kurtz an invitation to next year’s Le Mans, and won the Endurance Cup title in LMP2, they were just 37 points away by the end.

The #52 won the team’s fifth championship, even though Quinn made some mistakes throughout.

At the race start, Thomas took the lead off Keating, who narrowly claimed pole position by two-tenths over the #11, and was soon back in the top spot after jumping the #11 during their pit stops.

Without time to waste, Keating built a comfortable 7-second lead with the soon-to-be troublesome #20 High Class Racing in second, and Thomas in third.

Surpassing the halfway point however, the #11 and the #04 got themselves ahead of the #52 through the various chaotic moments elsewhere which interrupted the race with caution periods.

It was Jensen who built a commanding lead over Nolan Siegel, until his accident ruled out the #11 making it to the end, let alone winning. That said, it was Scott Huffaker who got the fastest LMP2 lap in the #11 with a 1:13.071 on Lap 110.

The #52’s work was not done yet as the #04 proved to be an encouraging rival, and had asserted great pace during the latter part of the race.

By the end, the #04 crew did all they could and won in the LMP2 class, whilst the #52 finished third just over 7 seconds away and secured their title.

PR1 Mathiasen added to their impressive record of IMSA championship titles at Petit Le Mans, and now await their new partnership with Inter Europol Competition next year.

Loser – #83 Iron Dames (GTD): Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin

It was a tough pill to swallow for the resilient all-female Iron Dames team, after a single issue threw ‘a spanner in the works’ for a potential first IMSA win in their maiden (Endurance Cup) season.

Doriane Pin had put on a stunning performance in qualifying their #83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for second in the GTD class, and third in the entire GTD/GTD Pro field, with a 1:23.795.

She started behind the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Ben Barnicoat, and her start showcased her potential to extract the pace out of a car.

Amidst the tightly contested scrap for positions at the front of GTD, she passed both Lexus RC Fs and charged to a 10-second lead, marking a memorable opening stint on a circuit she thoroughly enjoyed driving for the first time.

Caution periods brought down the gap, but her momentum kept going after a prolonged pit stop at the end of the opening hour, which lost them 5-6 positions in the pitlane.

The major moment for them was at the end of the second hour – which was fairly early in a 10-hour race – when an LMP3 car hit their rear-right corner, causing an immediate puncture.

However, when the rear-right wheel refused to go back on, it emerged that suspension damage had been inflicted during the contact, and the Iron Dames mechanics performed a near-10 minute repair job on that corner before heading back out.

They are not a ‘loser’ by the definition of their own doing, especially to persevere and push through the challenges they faced, but rather down to the potential they could have reached in 10-hours.

With the performance the Dames showcased, it may not be too long until we see their pink Lamborghini win in GTD. Unfortunately, that day was never to be on their maiden Petit Le Mans.

Winner – #79 WeatherTech Racing (GTD Pro): Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Maro Engel

Whilst the #14 Vasser Sullivan team dominated the GTD Pro championship standings, the Endurance Cup was still up for the taking at Petit Le Mans.

Juncadella and Gounon found redemption last time out at Indianapolis, after the previous Lime Rock race was compromised by contact with the #9.

This weekend, the trio of drivers for the #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took on both the race win and Endurance Cup title, after their closest rivals – the #3 Corvette and the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus – faced their own calamities which made them score limited ‘endurance’ points at the eight and 10-hour intervals.

Gounon qualified third in the GTD Pro class, but eighth in the entire GTD classification as his lap time was over a second away from the fastest GTD.

Starting and finishing in third (in GTD Pro) was most important for their Endurance Cup title.

After the first two hours, the pit cycles and pass-around procedure during the cautions gave chance for the #79 to lead the GTD field.

By the fourth hour, however, they were sixth in GTD Pro and far down from the front, where the attention was between the #14 and the #3.

So at the first Endurance Cup points interval of four hours, the #14 received 5 points, the #3 with 4 points, and the #79 with 2 points.

Their success was short-lived, when the #14 had run into a sponsor banner and Ben Barnicoat ended up having to park his Lexus on the back-straight.

One hour later, the #3 ground to a halt on track with Tommy Milner behind the wheel as the Corvette C8.R succumbed to transmission issues.

Towards the end, the #79 did receive some pressure from Kevin Estre in the #9 for the GTD Pro win, but Juncadella managed to keep him at bay before building gap through well-executed tyre management, prior to the race ending under caution.

Whilst the #9 did earn some useful Endurance Cup points, they were nowhere near able to challenge the #79 in the Endurance Cup standings.

At the start of the year, the #79 WeatherTech Racing crew grabbed a prestigious win at the Daytona 24 Hours, and finished off the season with a Petit Le Mans victory having survived the chaos and demonstrated good reliability with the Mercedes-AMG.

Loser – #14 Vasser Sullivan (GTD Pro): Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, Kyle Kirkwood

At first glance, it may appear unusual to situate the dominantly-run GTD Pro champions as losers, seeing as they ran a sterling campaign throughout the year so to become champions once the race had begun.

More specifically, their race was undone in the strongest case of misfortune at Petit Le Mans, when an off-track moment for Barnicoat at Turn 4 became a race-ending shocker.

He had run into a sponsorship banner, which was weighed down with sandbags, thus dragging with the front of the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 and clung onto the bodywork after a minor dropped curb, consequently tearing off the whole front end of the car.

A small off-track excursion had unexpected ramifications, costing them out of their GTD Pro race lead which was undoubtedly desired after they won the title.

Barnicoat had little choice but to stop on the back straight, and they did not continue any further.

This moment of misfortune should not overshadow their momentous IMSA campaign this year, and Barnicoat and Hawksworth deserve credit for being able to walk away with the championship in hand at the start of Petit Le Mans, but a potential Petit Le Mans victory left their grasp after their off-track incident.

Ben Hanley will join United Autosports for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech campaign, partnering with teammates Ben Keating and Alex Quinn in one of two Oreca 07s.

The Brit has prior experience with the United Autosports team, after contesting three rounds of the World Endurance Championship in place of Filipe Albuquerque’s IMSA clash and Tom Blomqvist’s IndyCar duties.

At the 6 Hours of Portimao, he finished on the LMP2 podium and also claimed the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, which is awarded to the driver with the quickest lap times over a double stint.

With the two Oreca 07 LMP2 entries for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Hanley is the final announcement as he will join Keating to make up two full-season drivers, as Quinn will take part in the endurance rounds.

Hanley said: “It’s great to be part of United Autosports’ first full season in IMSA next year.

“I had a great feeling with the team in the few races I did this year and I’m really excited to see what we can achieve in 2024.”

United Autosports CEO Richard Dean added: “Ben [Hanley] is a quality professional with a ton of IMSA and LMP experience.

“We have wanted to work with Ben for quite some time now and we have had him in a United car sporadically this year with great success.

“We now have the chance to turn that into a full season working together alongside Ben Keating and Alex Quinn.

“This is a formidable line-up and underlines how seriously we are taking our full-season IMSA programme next year.”

In the sibling Oreca, Dan Goldburg, Marino Sato, and Paul Di Resta were previously announced as United’s IMSA drivers.

While the Anglo-American squad have never raced a full season in IMSA before, United did compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring last year, where they finished in sixth and fifth positions, in classes of 8 and 10 LMP2 cars.

As the 2024 IMSA entries were confirmed last week, United will enter with their #2 and #22 Orecas, against 10 other entries.

Former Formula 1 and Super GT champion Jenson Button “enjoyed” his first IMSA race last weekend at Road Atlanta, which hosted an action-packed 10-hour Petit Le Mans race.

The 43-year-old Briton made his IMSA debut in a Porsche 963 Hybrid LMDh run by the JDC Miller MotorSports customer team.

Competing in the GTP class, he drove the #5 with the two full-time drivers Tijmen van der Helm and now Ford GTD works driver Mike Rockenfeller.

After the team finished in fifth position overall, Button said: “My first IMSA race, my first experience at Road Atlanta and my maiden event in the Porsche 963 – it was huge. I enjoyed every bit of it.

“I drove a great first stint and pushed myself more and more to the limits. There was a lot to learn about lapping traffic.

“The second stint was more difficult because the tyres required so many setting changes.

“Given my three hours of testing in the car, it was a lot of work.

“It was huge fun getting a chance to compete with the greats of the sport.”

Button took over the wheel of the #5 963 shortly after the halfway point, whereby the team were running at the tail end of the GTP field amidst a series of pit stops.

Within the first couple of laps, he had set the fastest race lap in the #5, thus demonstrating quick familiarity with the 963 package as he got up to speed.

Rockenfeller drove the longest over the course of the race with over four hours and 25 minutes in total drive time, whilst IMSA debutant Button drove the least with his 1-hour-and-43-minute double stint.

The 2010 overall Daytona 24 Hours race winner also qualified the car on Friday in ninth out of 10 GTP cars, with a 1:18.204s lap time.

The most prominent focus for all drivers, especially those in the front-running GTPs, was the matter of traffic management with certain parts of Road Atlanta giving a better opportunity to overtake lapped traffic compared to sections such as the ‘esses’.

In particular, Button showed promising pace in the first and third sectors, having set what ended up as the 11th fastest S1 and the eighth fastest S3 times.

Managing the tyres was crucial in his second stint, with the need to make them last longer on track temperatures warmer than they were since free practice and qualifying.

Regarding heavy disruption throughout the 10-hour race, Button drove in a window considered the least eventful compared to the incident-filled opening two hours.

It was Button’s first race in a prototype since 2019 at Le Mans, when he raced the SMP Racing LMP1 and earlier this year at the Centenary edition he, Rockenfeller and seven-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson drove the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro next-gen cup car prepared by Hendrick Motorsports.

He will soon make a decision on whether he wants to take on a more involving IMSA GTP drive next year, as his debut left a positive impression.

The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura team claimed the overall victory and Whelen Engineering AXR were crowned IMSA 2023 GTP champions after an eventful 26th edition of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

The final two hours of racing encapsulated an exciting and incident-filled thriller for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.

Filipe Albuquerque asserted promising pace in his #10 Acura ARX-06, and made an eager pass on Jack Aitken’s #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R.

In the LMP2 lead, the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07 was spun around by Alex Quinn at the chicane after he made contact at the chicane with the #10 Acura, and thus Aitken returned the favour after leaving the chicane underneath the bridge, almost beaching it within the gravel trap but managed to continue.

Harry Tincknell in the #59 Proton Competition Porsche spun after leaving the pit on cold tyres, making brief contact with the wall.

Driver changes were galore into the most crucial period of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans event.

In the #01 Cadillac, Renger van der Zande replaced Sebastien Bourdais in the driver’s seat, as Pipo Derani got into the #31 Cadillac from Aitken.

A 10th caution was deployed after the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3, which won in GTD last year, stopped at the side of the track with Katherine Legge at the wheel.

A tense GTD Pro fight developed, featuring the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Juncadella fending off Kevin Estre in the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3.R.

The same could be said for LMP2, as the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR of Ben Hanley made a charge past Josh Pierson on the restart for second and commenced a chase on Indy NXT Christian Rasmussen in the leading #52.

In GTP, things became dramatic and the brief duel for the title ended in anticlimactic scenes.

Albuquerque chased Derani for second place in the dark, as the #31 found himself held up by traffic for second place between the two GTPs.

Their fight was short-lived after the Portuguese driver closed up on Derani into Turn 1, attempted a move on the outside line, and the #10 Acura was edged off the circuit and into the barrier.

As the caution was deployed, it was certain that the #10 Wayne Taylor-run Acura, which had not secured any race wins this year, were ruled out as champions after they started on pole position. No further action was taken on their incident.

Having not pitted, first to fourth in GTP did not pit during the caution, as van der Zande led over the #60 of Colin Braun, whose Acura was ahead of Tincknell’s #59 Porsche.

Despite this abrupt drama, the GTP and LMP2 title were still up for the taking in the final 30 minutes of green flag racing as the #01 found their closest title contenders out.

Colin Braun had a great restart in his #60 Acura and took the lead from van der Zande on the inside line at Turn 1.

The GTP title fight narrative still ran tightly-contested now on the #25 BMW Team RLL, and the #7 Penske Porsche Motorsport cars.

Although this changed simply with Derani’s comeback pursuit, passing both BMWs as the title fight became on the #7 Porsche and two Cadillacs – one run by Chip Ganassi and the other Whelen Engineering.

The GTD Pro battle from earlier continued as the #9 chased down the tail of the #79 Mercedes-AMG.

Matt Campbell in the #7 asserted pace setting the best laps of the race in the car, although van der Zande’s lap times were into the 1:10s.

A spin for the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca with Rasmussen took place having ran second in LMP2, with rear damage, as the 12th Full Course Yellow was deployed.

This set up an exciting and crucial five minute sprint to the finish, as van der Zande had a strong restart although the #60 Acura managed to retain the lead with its pace.

The #16 Wright Motorsport caught on fire immediately after with contact at the rear-right with the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, subsequently deploying a joint-IMSA record 13th caution period.

The race finished under caution with the Action Express (Wehrlen Engineering) Cadillac #31’s sixth position enough for the GTP Championship win and the Endurance Cup title for Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken.

At the front, Meyer Shank Racing‘s #60 crew of Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves took the win with 397 laps completed for their Acura ARX-06.

Second place went to the #01 Cadillac crew of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon.

Third went to the #59 Proton Competition Porsche crew of Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani and Gianmaria Bruni, having scored their first IMSA podium in their first endurance round.

Meanwhile in LMP2, the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR crew of George Kurtz, Ben Hanley and Nolan Siegel took the class-win and the Endurance Cup title, ahead of John Falb, Guido van der Garde, and Josh Pierson in the #35 TDS Racing entry.

The #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsport crew took their fifth LMP2 Team Championship after finishing third.

The #30 Jr Three Racing took LMP3 victory ahead of the #13 AWA crew, and the final WeatherTech LMP3 championship-winning #74 Riley Ligier JS P320.

GTD Pro (and the Endurance Cup title) was won by the #79 WeatherTech Racing crew of Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Maro Engel, who finished ahead of the #9 Pfaff Motorsports drivers of Klaus Bachler, Patrick Pilet and Kevin Estre.

Third place was taken by the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon.

After having started the race, the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 took the GTD Pro title at the race start.

Finally in GTD, the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini took the win in the hands of Misha Goikhberg, Loris Spinelli, and Patrick Liddy.

In second place was the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Patrick Gallagher, Robby Foley and Michael Dinan, as third was claimed by the #77 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Alan Brynjolfsson, Trent Hindman, and Max Root.

The GTD Endurance Cup champions were the #32 Team Korthoff Mercedes-AMG crew, as the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech season marked its conclusion.

Cadillac’s Sebastien Bourdais leads the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship’s Petit Le Mans with 2 hours to go, with a close battle between all four GTP manufacturers.

Bourdais, in the #01 Cadillac V-Series.R, took over from his teammate, Indycar legend Scott Dixon. The Kiwi led the race for the large part of an hour, before losing it to Louis Deletraz in the pit stop cycle, with the Swiss driver behind the wheel of the #10 Wayne Taylor Acura ARX-06.

The two dueled for the lead amongst high levels of traffic, but Deletraz used the slower cars to his advantage to grow a lead of a couple of seconds. A full course yellow and subsequent safety car, for Laurens Vanthoor crashing the struggling #6 Porsche 963, and also the #11 TDS Oreca 07-Gibson of Mikkel Jensen — which means, due to the car’s later retirement, Jensen and co-driver Steven Thomas lose the championship — put pause on the GTP lead duel, and Deletraz lost the lead to Dixon in the ensuing pit stops.

Dixon then led the race but pitted and swapped with Bourdais. Jack Aitken, in the #31 Action Express Cadillac, sat second, with #60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06’s Tom Blomqvist third, before Deletraz took the position to move back into the podium positions.

The most recent yellow was called for Andy Lally’s stricken #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with Lally beaching the car and needing to be pulled out by the marshals. However, Bourdais was able to retain the lead at the subsequent pit stops and restart, and has pulled out a lead of around 4 seconds over Aitken, giving Cadillac a 1-2 with 2 hours remaining.

Deletraz’s teammate Filipe Albuquerque is third in the #10 Acura, just a few tenths behind Aitken.

In LMP2, Alex Quinn leads the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07-Gibson, with Nolan Siegel second in the #04 Crowdstrike by APR Oreca. Third is Josh Pierson, on board the #35 TDS Oreca. The #11 TDS’s retirement means Quinn’s teammates, Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin, are on course to win the LMP2 IMSA championship.

Garett Grist leads LMP3 in the #30 Jr III Ligier JS P320-Nissan, with Felipe Fraga second, at the wheel of the #74 Riley Ligier. Third is the first of the Duqueines, the #13 AWA Duqueine D08-Nissan of Lars Kern.

Jordan Pepper is leading the GTD Pro class and the two classes GT overall, in the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. Behind him is the leading GTD car, Mike Skeen in the #32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Alex Riberas the next GTD Pro, driving the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Second in GTD and fourth GT overall is Thomas Merrill, in the #97 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. Third in GTD Pro is #9 Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R’s Patrick Pilet. And third in GTD is Gunnar Jeannette in the #80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.