Juan Pablo Montoya Teaming with Henrik Hedman for 2022 LMP2 Season; Sebastian Montoya Joins for Sebring
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Juan Pablo Montoya is back in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for 2022 and will bring along 16-year-old son Sebastian for part of the ride.
DragonSpeed announced Wednesday that the elder Montoya, the 2019 WeatherTech Championship champion in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class, will drive the team’s Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) entry along with Henrik Hedman in every 2022 race except the Rolex 24 At Daytona which doesn’t pay points toward the LMP2 championship. Instead, the No. 81 10Star ORECA LMP2 07 will make its season debut in March at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, where Sebastian Montoya will join his father and Hedman behind the wheel.
“I’m really happy to be back with DragonSpeed next season,” said Juan Pablo Montoya, who drove a DragonSpeed LMP2 this year in FIA Endurance Trophy events in addition to three WeatherTech Championship endurance races for Meyer Shank Racing and a pair of IndyCar Series races for Arrow McLaren SP. “It’ll be a new adventure as we’ll be doing IMSA this time, where I’m really familiar with the tracks and race strategies, so it should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to team up with Henrik again, and I’m even more excited to share a car with Sebastian for the first time.”
DragonSpeed, which won the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 in both 2019 and 2020, will enter a car for the 60th running of the 24-hour race on Jan. 29-30 with a driver lineup to be announced. Hedman was part of the Rolex 24 winning team in 2019 and added an LMP2 ProAm class win at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in a lineup that also included 2020 Rolex 24 LMP2 winner Ben Hanley.
“It’s a great feeling to come back to IMSA with Henrik in 2022 after achieving our goal together at Le Mans,” said DragonSpeed team principal Elton Julian. “He’s looking for a few more notches on his racing belt with our help, and I want to thank him once again for his confidence in DragonSpeed. Working with Juan Pablo has been one of the highlights of my racing career, and there’s much more to come from the relationship, not least the opportunity to help Sebastian establish himself as a star in the making.”
Sebastian Montoya rose from karting to formula cars in 2021, competing in the European F4 competition. He also impressed with his performance at an FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain in October.
“This is a huge opportunity for me, and I’m so grateful for the chance DragonSpeed and Henrik have given me,” he said. “Racing with Dad is a dream come true as he’s been my idol growing up and being able to share a car with him is a dream come true. The Bahrain test was a great experience and the team helped me so much to improve in our short time together. I look forward to working with DragonSpeed again and making more progress.”
Hedman is looking forward to driving with the Montoya duo but expressed his appreciation over sharing a car with Hanley over the years
“With me refocusing on racing in the U.S. and Ben Hanley – my pro teammate since 2016 – deserving bigger opportunities in Europe, I want to thank Ben for a phenomenal run of success and his friendship over the last six years,” Hedman said. “Along with DragonSpeed’s incredible support, I simply could not have won at Daytona and Le Mans, scored three more victories in the ELMS (European Le Mans Series) and IMSA, plus another 10 podiums without Ben by my side.
“Looking ahead, it’s a pleasure to continue with Juan Pablo for another season, and having Sebastian in the car with his dad at Sebring will be a very special moment. It’s going to be a great year.”