DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – DragonSpeed announced Tuesday that it will return to defend its Rolex 24 At Daytona victory in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) with a driver lineup anchored by reigning winner Ben Hanley. DragonSpeed plans to compete in all four rounds of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup in 2021.
The No. 81 DragonSpeed ORECA LMP2 07 will be driven in the endurance events by European Le Mans Series pilots Rob Hodes and Garett Grist. Rinus Veekay, the 2020 rookie of the year in the IndyCar Series, joins the team for the Rolex 24 along with Hanley.
“We are very pleased to welcome Rob and Garett to the DragonSpeed family,” said team principal Elton Julian, whose team also won the Rolex 24 LMP2 class in 2019 with the No. 18 entry. “They have both impressed us on track in the ELMS, and we look forward to helping them make the transition to LMP2, aided by the extra seat time offered by the Michelin Endurance Cup. Our target is to chase podiums and score enough points to be in the hunt for the title at the end.
“The competition in IMSA’s LMP2 category is stronger than ever, so we are delighted to add the talents of Rinus Veekay and Ben Hanley as co-drivers at Daytona.”
Bronze driver Hodes rose through the Ferrari and Lamborghini single-make ranks before moving up to Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) competition in 2018 and claiming a podium on his LMP2 debut at Motul Petit Le Mans this year.
“I am super thrilled to be entering my first 24-hour race with an outstanding team like DragonSpeed,” Hodes said. “My teammates couldn’t be better – it’s an honor to go racing with drivers of the caliber of my LMP3 partner Garett, Rinus and Ben.”
A regular race winner on the Road to Indy ladder early in his career, the Silver-rated Grist made the switch to sports cars in 2017 and quickly demonstrated pace and consistency. He raced an LMP2 this year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“It’s great to be joining DragonSpeed for Daytona and the full Michelin Endurance Cup,” Grist said. “I learned a lot about LMP2 at Le Mans this year and look forward to bringing those lessons to our IMSA campaign. We should have one of the strongest lineups with two IndyCar drivers and Rob Hodes, who has come on incredibly strong the last few seasons, combined with the team that has won the last two Rolex 24s in LMP2.”
Hanley brings the experience of a pair of podium finishes at the Rolex 24 to the team.
“It’s great to be heading back to Daytona in the (No.) 81 car to go for another win in LMP2 with such an impressive group of new teammates, along with our incredibly dedicated and loyal crew,” Hanley said. “We’re all hoping for the pandemic to ease off a bit in time for the Roar Before the 24 test starting on January 22nd. I’m looking forward to the new format for the Roar as well as my fourth Rolex 24.”
Risi Competizione Ferrari Taking Another Crack at Rolex 24
Familiar faces will be behind the wheel of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari when it returns to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Davide Rigon were three of the co-drivers when the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTE made its lone 2020 series start and finished sixth in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class at the Rolex 24. The trio will be joined in 2021 by Jules Gounon, who’ll be making his Daytona International Speedway debut but has raced with the team twice at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Rolex 24 entry next month will be the 20th for Risi Competizione dating to its initial appearance in 1998. Guided by team principal Giuseppe Risi, the Houston-based operation was a class winner in the 2002 Rolex 24 and has accumulated four additional podium finishes – the most recent a second-place GTLM result in 2019.
Calado, Pier Guidi and Rigon were all part of that runner-up finish in 2019. Pier Guidi, who’ll be making his eighth Rolex 24 start, has one Rolex win to his credit, in 2014 co-driving the Level 5 Ferrari 458 Italia in the GT Daytona (GTD) class. Rigon will also be making his eighth Rolex appearance and sixth with Risi. Calado will make his sixth Rolex 24 start, five of those coming with Risi.
The Roar Before the Rolex 24 starts WeatherTech Championship action at Daytona, with three days of testing on the road course from Jan. 22-24 that includes the inaugural Motul Pole Award 100, a qualifying race to set the starting grid for the main event the following week. Rolex 24 At Daytona on-track activities begin Jan. 27. The twice-around-the-clock event is set to take the green flag at 3:40 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 30.