Few changes at Mazda in 2020

There will only be minor changes at Mazda Team Joest in the 2020 season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The #55 RT24-P will once again be shared by Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell for the full season, while Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez will share #77 throughout the season.

Olivier Pla will help in #77 during the four endurance rounds. Pla was the endurance driver in #55 during the 2019 season and was part of the winning crew at 6 Hours at The Glen, which was the first victory for the car. Pla will replace Timo Bernhard, who has ended his professional career.

Mazda Team Joest #55
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galstad

With Pla moving over to the other car, there will be room for Ryan Hunter-Reay to race in #55 during the longer races. Hunter-Reay is a former Indycar Championship and Indy 500 winner, plus winner at Petit Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He shared the car with Bomarito at Mid-Ohio in 2019, since Tincknell had a date clash with the FIA WEC.

While #55 keeps the Soul Red Crystal colours, #77 has switched to all white, with black and red markings. That makes it a lot easier to differentiate the two cars compared to 2019, where only black or chrome rear fin and sun strip would tell the difference. Other than the race numbers of course.

Mazda Team Joest #77
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Richard Dole

There are a few minor adjustments outside the cars. The team is still named Mazda Team Joest, bu the Joest influence is getting less and less. The car is built by Multimatic, and the Canadian company are taking over more and more of the tasks of running the cars. There have been rumours about the Team Joest name no longer bring present in 2020, but it continues to be associated with the cars – at least at the season opener.

Dave Wilcock will continue as race engineer on #55, while Leena Gade once again will do the strategy for #77.

The team is currently testing at the Daytona International Speedway, during the mandatory ROAR Before The 24, which is the first official test ahead of the season opener in three weeks time, at the same circuit.

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