LMP2 sees a big boost in numbers for 2024’s Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, with 13 cars up from 2023’s nine. Even more impressive, 11 of the cars are full-season entries – up from just seven in 2023.
Like GTP, there will be a new winner in the class this year. The entry has expanded thanks to LMP3 refugees and the addition of a two-car United Autosports effort, a returning DragonSpeed ORECA and the arrival of the Le Mans-winning Inter Europol squad, collaborating with serial title winners PR1 Mathiasen.
All bar one of the cars in the field are ORECA 07s, with Sean Creech Motorsports opting for the now-left-field Ligier JS P217 option.
Whilst somewhat overshadowed by GTP and GTD Pro, LMP2 last year provided the finish of the season – when James Allen and Proton Competition won by 0.016 seconds over Ben Hanley and CrowdStrike Racing by APR. Traditionally the racing in LMP2 is extremely close, so it would come as no surprise to see similar headlines written again.
Crowdstrike Racing by APR
#04 – George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Toby Sowery, Malthe Jakobsen – ORECA 07 Gibson
The second-year collaboration of CrowdStrike Racing and Algarve Pro Racing is one to watch in this field and for several reasons. First, the team came a close second in the Championship last season but took the Michelin Endurance Cup in LMP2 en route. Second, they finished a very close second at the 2023 Rolex 24 Hours, and will have forgotten nothing of that experience!
George Kurtz, the reigning Jim Trueman Award winner, is rapidly becoming one of the most competent Bronze-ranked drivers in the sport. He has pace, and he is increasingly finding the consistency to go with it.
The team has had a driver squad shake-up this year, but it’s allowed them to bring two of the quickest drivers in the entire field! 2023 Daytona overall winner Colin Braun joins his long-time friend Kurtz for the season. Both are teamed at Daytona with one of the hottest young prospects in the sport, Peugeot Hypercar development driver Malthe Jakobsen.
The presence of Braun and Jakobsen alone should tip the scales in CrowdStrike/APR’s favour. Brit Toby Sowery completes the Daytona quartet after impressing in his first outings for APR in the Asian Le Mans Series round at Sepang last month – which, by the way, was won by his three co-drivers.
United Autosports USA
#2 – Ben Keating, Ben Hanley, Nico Pino, Pato O’Ward – ORECA 07 Gibson
#22 – Dan Goldburg, Paul di Resta, Bijoy Garg, Felix Rosenqvist – ORECA 07 Gibson
The arrival of United Autosports for a two-car full-season LMP2 effort is a significant one for the class in IMSA – a high-achieving team targeting success. They are supported in the background by key personnel from Jr III Racing, one of the top teams in LMP3 last year.
That is underlined with the crew selection, the team’s purple #2 car fielding reigning (and final) WEC GTE Am Champion and reigning IMSA LMP2 Champion, Ben Keating. Keating has now won the LMP2 pole position at Daytona five years in a row. He has a huge reputation for pace and consistency, making him the yardstick for any gentleman driver! On top of that, Keating is pulling double duty in the JDC-Miller Porsche 963 during the race.
They are joined by Ben Hanley, a winner here in 2020 with Dragonspeed, but a heartbreaking runner-up here last year. He’ll want to put that memory behind him in the best possible way. Young Chilean driver Nico Pino, the Michelin Endurance Cup driver, is finding pace all the time and has every prospect of moving up the ladder.
McLaren IndyCar star Pato O’Ward has two Rolex 24 class wins, in LMPC and in LMP2 from 2022, and is set for another star-making run.
The sister #22, clad in traditional United blue and red, fields ex-LMP3 racer Dan Goldburg as the Bronze for the season, paired with the super-experienced, and very rapid Peugeot factory Hypercar driver Paul di Resta.
Bijoy Garg, who beat Goldburg to the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge LMP3 title in 2023, joins for the Michelin Endurance Cup races and has continuity with this outfit by way of Jr III Racing. The trio is made a quartet for Daytona with the addition of Felix Rosenqvist, another IndyCar race winner who’s driven this event before.
Tower Motorsports
#8 – John Farano, Michael Dinan, Scott McLaughlin, Ferdinand Habsburg – ORECA 07 Gibson
After a season that didn’t go to plan in 2023 after injury for Team Owner John Farano kept him out of the cockpit for much of the year, Tower Motorsport has hit the reset button intending to get back to its winning ways in 2024.
Canadian businessman Farano is back for the season, for the first time since his accident at Laguna Seca in May. Charlie Eastwood has a full-season deal with Tower – but he won’t be available at Daytona, as he’ll be driving the AWA Chevrolet Corvette in GTD.
There are then a pair of full Pro drivers currently slated to do Daytona only – and they’re quite the pairing: 2022 ELMS Champion and Alpine Hypercar driver Ferdinand Habsburg, and Australian Supercars champion-turned-IndyCar Series winner Scott McLaughlin. Expect no shortage of speed from either.
The squad is completed by Silver-rated Michael Dinan, who has been prepping for a Michelin Endurance Cup season in LMP2 with testing and an Asian Le Mans Series effort with TF Sport.
TDS Racing
#11 – Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea, Charles Milesi – ORECA 07 Gibson
TDS Racing fields a single Oreca in 2024 in IMSA after running two cars in 2023.
Steven Thomas stays with the team after contending for the series championship last year. The feisty and fast Bronze is set to be supported this season by the mercurial Peugeot factory driver Mikkel Jensen, in much demand from LMP2 teams but opting to stay with the TDS squad that raced to third in the standings in 2023.
The five endurance rounds will see the pair joined by 2023 Indy NXT runner-up, Kiwi Hunter McElrea, whilst a second WEC Hypercar factory man, Alpine’s Charles Milesi competes the quartet for Daytona.
Era Motorsport
#18 – Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, Christian Rasmussen, Connor Zilisch – ORECA 07 Gibson
The Era Motorsport squad will be looking for its second LMP2 win at Daytona in four years. In search of that, they field two returning regulars, a repeat Silver, and a brand new talent.
Dwight Merriman returns as the team’s bronze driver, again accompanied by Ryan Dalziel for the full season. Both men formed part of the 2021 winning squad and Dalziel is one of the most experienced drivers in the field.
Returning for a second year for Daytona is newly crowned Indy NXT Champion Christian Rasmussen, one of a gaggle drivers competing in the class that will meet again throughout the 2024 IndyCar season!
Completing the quartet, and joining Era for the Michelin Endurance Cup, is 17-year-old Connor Zilisch. A Rolex 24 and LMP2 debutant, he was part of a stellar season finale in the MX-5 Cup in 2022, just missing out on the title. Zilisch has attracted the attention of luminaries in NASCAR with a contract to race in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series this year for Trackhouse Racing.
MDK by High Class Racing
#20 – Dennis Andersen, Seth Lucas, Laurents Hörr, Scott Huffaker – ORECA 07 Gibson
It’s the start of a partnership between Barcelona-based, Danish-owned and flagged High Class Racing and Mark Kvamme’s MDK Motorsport in 2024.
This effort still has a familiar feel to it though with the team’s regular LMP2 gentleman driver Dennis Anderson back for another crack at it. He’s joined by young Seth Lucas, who’s stepping into an LMP2 car for the first time after a handful of LMP3 outings across America and Asia last year.
The hotshoe of the quartet is set to be Laurents Hörr, the German racer who turned heads in the ELMS last season and is capable of race-leading pace here. Huffaker adds yet another quick young driver with IMSA experience for Daytona.
Sean Creech Motorsports
#33 – Lance Willsey, João Barbosa, Jonny Edgar, Nolan Siegel – Ligier JS P217 Gibson
The one Ligier in the pack comes from one of the teams stepping up from LMP3, as Sean Creech Motorsport takes the plunge.
It’s a steep hill to climb for any team. But let’s look at the positives – the JS P217, in its day, was a quick LMP2. But it suffered from issues with its gearbox and ultimately fell behind in the numbers battle on tyre development, then fell out of favour with customers. Just bringing the Ligier back to IMSA, however, should attract fans hungry for variance in the LMP2 ranks.
João Barbosa will start his 21st Rolex 24 Hours and has three overall wins and a class win to his credit. He may be one of the more mature Pros in the field – but the fire still burns and he is super motivated by this project.
Nolan Siegel is an exciting prospect, super-quick and with LMP2 race-winning experience in both Asia and IMSA. He was part of SCM’s Daytona effort in LMP3 last year, jumped to CrowdStrike by APR and won two endurance races in LMP2, all while challenging for the Indy NXT title, absolutely one to watch.
So too is Jonny Edgar, who has been taking a look at Sportscar racing for a while and takes the plunge at Daytona. It’s a big stage for his LMP2 debut, but he’s an accomplished formula racer, with wins and championships to his name.
Dr. Lance Willsey is the Bronze here, super chilled, motivated and a true team player, the true definition of a gentleman driver. Much will depend on him being fault-free in his step up to LMP2 in the Ligier.
Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports
#52 – Nick Boulle, Jakub Śmiechowski, Tom Dillmann, Clément Novalak – ORECA 07 Gibson
2023 Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 Champions Inter Europol Competition, the “Racing Bakers” from Poland, have joined forces with multiple IMSA Champions PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports to field a full-season effort in 2024.
Inter Europol co-owner Jakub ‘Kuba’ Śmiechowski was part of the Le Mans-winning crew and he’ll be aboard for a full-season US campaign this year. Nick Boulle is the team’s essential Bronze driver, while new to LMP2 he’s shown in testing and qualifying that he is capable of matching the best of the Bronzes.
Completing the Daytona quartet is ex-Vanwall hypercar racer, the ‘quicker than the car’ Tom Dillmann and ex-FIA Formula 2 racer Clement Novalak, who both add some punch to the effort for the enduro races.
Riley
#74 – Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon, Felipe Massa – ORECA 07 Gibson
Bill Riley’s team steps up to LMP2 as the final champion of the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship’s LMP3 class. Riley dominated the class throughout the year but suffered a disaster at Daytona with engine fill which kept them from a perfect record at the Rolex 24. Now it’s taken delivery of a new ORECA 07.
Champion and second-generation sportscar racer Gar Robinson is the team’s full-season Bronze, supported by a couple of other Riley regulars in Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon, the former the full-season driver, the latter on board for the enduros. Robinson has shown no signs of struggling to adapt to the faster car, and Fraga and Burdon’s qualities are well-established in multiple categories.
The quartet is completed with a sprinkling of stardust by none other than Felipe Massa, the ex-Ferrari and Williams Formula One driver and multiple Grand Prix winner. He still has the speed and competitive fire.
DragonSpeed
#81 – Eric Lux, James Allen, Kyffin Simpson, Sebastian Alvarez – ORECA 07 Gibson
A late addition to the grid, but one of high quality from DragonSpeed who won in their last Rolex 24 appearance in 2022.
Adorned in its Rothmans-inspired livery, the #81 features the hero LMP2 from 2023, Australian James Allen. With Proton Competition, Allen pipped the Crowdstrike/APR car to the win on the final lap. He then repaid the favour to the team that he defeated at Daytona, by winning the ELMS LMP2 title with Algarve Pro Racing.
Kyffin Simpson shared the ELMS title win with Allen and is another driver to watch as he prepares for a full season in IndyCar in 2024. The Caymanian has buckets of pace with the maturity it takes to win at this level. This is a high-quality pairing before considering the supporting cast.
Sebastian Alvarez is another ELMS title winner from 2023, this time in LMP3, and he launches into a packed 2024 season with drives in LMP2 in the Asian and European Le Mans Series and a Hypercar drive in WEC with Isotta Fraschini. He has talent, he has pace, but we’ll see how quickly he adapts to the challenge.
New Yorker Eric Lux is the Bronze in the line-up and he too has winning form here, as part of DragonSpeed’s 2022 class-winning effort.
Richard Mille AF Corse
#88 – Luis Perez Companc, Nicklas Nielsen, Lilou Wadoux, Matthieu Vaxivière – ORECA 07 Gibson
It’s a different look and feel for the AF Corse LMP2 effort this season, the car fielded as a Richard Mille AF Corse entry with no François Perrodo. Instead, ex-WEC GTE Am pairing Luis Perez Companc and Lilou Wadoux anchor the effort.
The Argentinian has plenty of endurance racing experience but hasn’t driven in LMP2s since the days of the open-top era.
Wadoux was mighty in 2023, helping the effort to win in the WEC in GTE Am, and becoming the first woman to take a race win in the WEC. She has LMP2 experience courtesy of a season with Richard Mille Racing in the WEC in 2022, but returns to these ranks as a much stronger driver.
Nicklas Nielsen is part of Ferrari’s Hypercar squad, full of Prancing Horse class, and he’ll be joined on the grid this season by Matthieu Vaxivière who is part of the new Alpine Endurance effort after years of applying his craft in LMP2.
AO Racing
#99 – PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin, Matthew Brabham, Alex Quinn – ORECA 07 Gibson
AO Racing are a new full-season addition to the LMP2 class, moving over from GTD with their ‘Rexy’ liveried Porsche forming a parallel programme in GTD Pro.
For LMP2 though there’s a new name in town – Spike, the LMP2 Dragon. Spike will be accompanied through the season by AO Racing co-founder PJ Hyett. The Bronze-rated racer had his first taste of racing in the Oreca in Sepang last month and acquitted himself very well indeed.
He’s joined for the season by Alpine Hypercar driver and reigning IMSA LMP2 Champion, Paul-Loup Chatin – with third-generation racer Matt Brabham and fellow LMP2 title winner Alex Quinn adding more speed and youthful enthusiasm to an already pretty motivated squad at the Rolex 24 Hours.
AO Racing’s off-track efforts have made them crowd favourites, in 2024 the racing ambitions have moved up a gear or two – what dramas await in Spike’s debut season?
Images © Jake Galstad, Richard Dole, Michael L. Levitt / IMSA
