There will be big changes in the IMSA programme for Michael Shank Racing, when the new season starts in one months time at Daytona.
Two Axura NSX GT3 was run in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GTD category, but that will be reduced to one full-season entry, with an extra car for the Tequila Patron North American European Cup (TPNAEC).
Car #93 consists of Justin Marks and Lawson Aschenbach as full season drivers, while Mario Farnbacher will join in at all TPNAEC rounds. AJ Allmendinger will be the fourth driver in the car at Daytona 24 Hours only.
Justin Marks won the Daytona GT category at the 2009 edition of the Daytona 24 Hours race, and he has since then raced various NASCAR series.
Lawson Aschenbach was driving for Stevenson Motorsport in the GTD category in IMSA, but the team ended their programme halfway through the 2017 season. Prior to that, he won four titles in the World Challenge series.
Car #86 will only enter the TPNAEC races. It will be piloted by Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente along with two further not yet named drivers.
The main reason for scaling back the programme is that Acura is cutting back on the economical support compared to 2017. The car was launched and four very fast drivers were put in the cars, for Acura being able to promote it as much as possible. IMSA had already notified them that they were only allowed to do that one season, since the GTD category is for privateers and not for works teams.
The first round of the IMSA 2018 will be run at Daytona, Florida on 27.-28. January.
