After buttoning up its rookie season with a season-finale win at Road Atlanta last year, Motorsports In Action returns to the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge with a nearly identical look for its second year.
The Canada-based team is back with two McLaren GT4s, the Nos. 68 and 69, with three of four drivers returning – Jesse Lazare, Kenny Wilden and Rod Randall. It was Lazare, with then-co-driver Chris Green, who brought home the team’s first win in October.
“Obviously, we worked really hard last year, so when we won Road Atlanta, it was a real relief and very satisfying and rewarding,” said Lazare. “Going into this year, we knew we had to make it happen again, and that was the goal. Whatever it took. We’re going to make sure MIA has two really fast drivers that come in and really have a chance to win this championship.”
The team’s only change for 2018 is Lazare’s new co-driver, Corey Fergus, who returns to the series for the first time since 2014.
“I’m very excited to return to IMSA and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge,” said Fergus. “It’s been four years since I’ve been here, so it’s good to be back. I think it’s an incredible opportunity that I have here to drive with Jesse and Motorsports In Action and this McLaren. I think it’s going to be good. It’s a good combo, and hopefully, it can yield some good results for us this season. I think we’re all, as a team, extremely excited for this season.”
There’s reason to believe this new duo will click quickly. Fergus is fresh off a one-year stint in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, finishing runner-up in the point standings after scoring three wins. The year prior, the championship was claimed by Lazare.
And while their paths have never crossed as competitors, Lazare admitted to being impressed with Fergus’ performance in his former series.
“Corey is incredible, and we’re really, really lucky to have him,” said Lazare. “That’s why we’re very confident going into this thing. I’m a fan of racing, and I followed the GT3 Cup series last year and was really impressed with how fast he was. As soon as I got the news, I was really thrilled.”
A Columbus, Ohio-resident, Fergus competed for three consecutive seasons in the Continental Tire Challenge in a handful of cars – BMW 328i, Honda Civic Si, MINI Cooper S and Porsche Cayman – an encouraging fact for someone about to hop in the seat of a McLaren GT4.
“It’s a little different from a GT3 Cup car,” Fergus said. “With ABS and stability control and there’s no clutch pedal, it’s very different, but it’s a good different. It’s fun, it’s fast. We’ve learned a lot, and we’re coming a long way just with handling and the car feels very good. I think there are more good things to come.”
As for Lazare, who also begins his sophomore season in the Continental Tire Challenge, he sees the same path.
“Now, I have a year under my belt, so I really believe we have something to prove now,” Lazare said. “We’re both accomplished, we’ve learned what we’ve had to learn to compete in the Conti series in two-hour, four-hour races. As long as we stick to our game plan and learn from our mistakes in the past, I really think he and I are going to be really successful together.”
The Continental Tire Challenge begins its season with the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, January 26. Tickets for the event are available at www.imsa.com/tickets.
Source :https://www.imsa.com
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