Bob Akin Award Winner Passed up Chance in 2021; Jim Trueman Award Winner John Farano Steps Aside for Steven Thomas
By Jeff Olson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two years ago, Ryan Hardwick took an unusual chance. He skipped the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the middle of the pandemic, with the race delayed two months and restrictions implemented on competitors and fans, Hardwick decided to forego the iconic event with the hope that someday he’d be able to compete.
That someday has arrived.
Hardwick, as winner of the Bob Akin Award for the top-finishing Bronze-rated driver in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2022, has joined Proton Competition in the GTE AM category for the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans this week.
While Hardwick was debating his 2021 decision after winning the 2020 Akin award, friend and former teammate Patrick Long had a premonition that Hardwick would win the award again.
“He said, ‘Dude, you’re going to earn it again,’” Hardwick recalled. “I had made my own decision and decided to forego it, and I’m glad I did. My first time at Le Mans will also be the 100th anniversary (of the race).”
Hardwick decided to share the spoils of his award with the Wright Motorsports co-drivers who helped him earn it. Jan Heylen, who partnered with Hardwick for the full 2022 WeatherTech Championship season when they won twice and finished second in GTD points, and Zacharie Robichon, who joined them for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races including a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, will also be in the No. 16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19. Heylen qualified the car 17th among the 21 GTE AM entries on Wednesday.
“With me winning the entry, I could really name the drivers, so I’m bringing the three guys who won the (2022) Rolex 24 together,” Hardwick said. “It’s really important for me on this first try that I’m giving it my absolute best shot. I feel like I’ve got the two best teammates.”
Calling Robichon “one of the best Silvers in the world” and saying Heylen “is up there with some of the greatest drivers in the world, period,” Hardwick said the No. 16 Proton group has one goal: winning.
“We aren’t going there to participate,” he said. “We’re going to try to win.”
Hardwick is also joined on the trip by John Wright, owner of Ohio-based Wright Motorsports which fields the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for Hardwick, Heylen and Robichon in the WeatherTech Championship, and Hardwick’s race engineer at Wright, Bobby Viglione.
“I’m bringing my full Wright Motorsports/IMSA nucleus,” Hardwick said. “It’s a big thing for John personally. He’s never had a car at Le Mans that was his own team. This is as close as he’s ever been. He’s got his three drivers. While his name won’t be on the car, he’s very much a part of it.”
Looking back on his difficult decision in 2021 to bypass the event, Hardwick knew it could’ve been his only chance to compete at Le Mans. He also knew it probably wouldn’t be.
“I took a risk,” he said. “But It worked out.”
Tower Motorsports Carries on in LMP2, with Thomas Replacing Farano
While Hardwick is preparing for his first run at Le Mans, the prize for winning the 2022 Jim Trueman Award and representing IMSA as the top Bronze-rated driver in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class has been transferred from John Farano to Steven Thomas. Farano earned the Trueman Award and Le Mans invitation on his way to collecting the WeatherTech Championship LMP2 season title last year.
But the 63-year-old Canadian and Tower Motorsports team owner is still recovering from a crash during the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N on May 14 and stepped out of the car for Le Mans as a precautionary measure. Thomas, who finished third in both the Trueman and LMP2 season standings last year, is filling in.
Farano assured that the team will uphold the significance of the Trueman Award, even if he’s not driving.
“It is a great honor to have won this award and to carry on Jim Trueman’s legacy,” Farano said. “Everyone at Tower Motorsports has worked so hard and I have immense pride in this team and their endless dedication in the pursuit of winning championships. It is a rare and very special thing to be a part of, and being able to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an exceptional highlight in this team’s history. This is a race that all drivers dream of racing in, especially for the centenary.
“I’d like to thank IMSA and John Doonan for their support and the platform they provide for Bronze drivers. It means a great deal to us all.”
Unfortunately, Thomas was involved in an incident Wednesday in Free Practice 1 when he ran into a stricken Aston Martin on track. Thomas was uninjured but the car sustained significant damage and was unable to participate in the qualifying session later in the day.
The Tower team scrambled to prepare a replacement chassis overnight. Thomas and co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Rene Rast were on track Thursday for final practice 3 and will start last in the LMP2 class, though the team will also have to serve a stop-and-hold penalty of three minutes for Thomas failing to “slow sufficiently” before the crash.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans starts at 10 a.m. ET Saturday.
(Main photo credit: Porsche)