The British racing team TF Sport will field an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the start of the American IMSA series. Racing Team Nederland is also present in Florida and brings an Oreca LMP2.
The next good news for the IMSA series: The field for the season opener of the American sports car championship continues to fill up. The European teams TF Sport and Racing Team Nederland have now announced that they want to start at the 24-hour race in Daytona (30/31 January). The classic in Florida in 2021 is particularly attractive for racing teams from the Sports Car World Championship, as the FIA WEC will hold its own season opener (according to the current plan) in Sebring (also Florida) in mid-March. This means that large parts of the technical material can linger on the other side of the Atlantic.
It is the first ever IMSA mission for TF Sport. Unlike in the FIA WEC, however, the Aston Martin Vantage in Daytona will appear in the GT3 specification. (A conversion between GTE and GT3 is relatively quick with the Aston Martin.) At the wheel of the British car in Daytona, Ben Keating, Charlie Eastwood, Richard Westbrook and youngster Maxwell Root will alternate. However, Keating also plans to start in another vehicle in Daytona. TF Sport also sees the appearance in Daytona as a kind of test balloon for potential further IMSA missions in the future.
Racing Team Nederland enters the LMP2 class
The LMP2 class is also growing in Daytona. This is how Racing Team Nederland starts at the classic. Here an Oreca 07 is deployed for the pilots Frits van Eerd, Job van Uitert, Giedo van der Garde and Charles Milesi. “It’s more than just a race for us,” says van Eerd, looking at Daytona and other outings in North America. “It’s also an important test ahead of the World Cup and also a great opportunity to take a first step towards IMSA.”
Racing Team Nederland will meet other European LMP2 racing teams in Daytona. Inter Europol Competition, High Class Racing and Cetilar Racing also want to contest the race. In addition, other teams are currently considering a Daytona mission.
The technical support for the Oreca 07 of Racing Team Nederland will continue to be provided by TDS Racing from France. This collaboration, which has existed since 2019, has now been extended for another two years. The Dutch-French combination will also be part of the FIA WEC in 2021. Van Eerd then shares the steering wheel with van Uitert and van der Garde.
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