After finishing out the 2022 IMSA season with a Championship in hand and a dramatic Petit Le Mans victory earlier this month, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) has kept up the pace ahead of the 2023 season to prepare for the debut of the all-new IMSA GTP class.
The Ohio-based team is excited to announce the return of Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud to the team’s endurance lineup.
Having kicked off the 2022 IMSA season with a monumental win at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona – 10 years following MSR’s first overall Rolex 24 win – Castroneves and Pagenaud are eager to repeat history, but this time onboard the all-new Acura ARX-06 LMDh.
MSR is coming off of a championship winning season having swept the Petit Le Mans weekend earlier this month – capturing pole on the way to closing out the DPi era with a victory at the tenth hour of racing.
The 2023 IMSA season will see a shift to hybrid technology with the return of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) category. The new-for-2023 class pays homage to the “Golden Era” of IMSA competition of Prototype machinery which tested all-new technologies from 1981-1993. The LMDh era of competition will be a new challenge for the entire field of IMSA Prototype competition with all manufacturers debuting new cars at the start of the season.
Castroneves and Pagenaud will join full-season MSR driver Tom Blomqvist for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona at the end of January. With testing already having begun, Castroneves is looking forward to seeing what the Acura LMDh can do.
“I’m super excited to come back to MSR and IMSA for the three long distance races,” said Castroneves. “I’m especially looking forward to driving the new Acura ARX-06, I know that the team has been working super hard to learn and understand a completely new machine. I’m hoping for much success just like the previous Acura!”
With a long history of success with Honda and Acura in IMSA competition, Pagenaud is excited to defend the 2022 Rolex 24 win as the GTP era launches next January.
“I am extremely delighted to be part of the roster with MSR and Acura in this new era of sportscar racing,” said Pagenaud. “My career took off worldwide because of the opportunity I got with Acura to race the LMP2 car back in 2008. A lot of miles have been driven since and many trophies on the way! More recently winning the Rolex 24 as one of the world’s crown jewel in racing with my MSR Acura team was exceptional. I cannot wait for the future and I want to thank both MSR and Acura for having me join them in the opportunity to drive and help develop this new Acura LMDh.”
More news regarding MSR’s full-season IMSA lineup will be confirmed in the near future.
Source. Sunday Group
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