Meyer Shank Racing has signed two new drivers for their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship programme in 2022.
The sportscar team with the very recognizable pink colours, has got hold of two fast Brits for the Acura ARX-05 DPi car.
Oliver Jarvis makes his way from Mazda Motorsports, who has shut its programme after the 2021 season. Jarvis has always been lightning fast, no matter if it was in an Audi R8 LMS GT3, Audi R15 LMP1 racer, or Mazda DPi cars throughout the latter years.
Tom Blomqvist will be new to DPi. He has previously competed in IMSA for BMW in 2019, so he knows all the circuits already. He has most recently been doing Formula E and FIA WEC , where he was part of the title fight, right until the chequered flag for JOTA #28 in the latter.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Richard Dole
Meyer Shank Racing moved into the DPi category in 2021, after having raced as Acura works team in GTD. But there was already strong ties prior to that between Michael Shank and Honda/Acura. They were partners in LMP2, plus they currently utilize the Japanese brand in their parallel Indycar programme as well.
The team hasn’t announced their endurance drivers yet – but Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves are already part of the fold on the Indycar side. The problem is, that Sebring clashes with the Indycar round at Texas in March. But there is a paddock full of FIA WEC people on that weekend too, so it won’t be too difficult to find a substitute third driver for that race, if they choose to go for Pagenaud/Castroneves for the other Endurance rounds.
The team had Olivier Pla and Dane Cameron under contract throughout most of the 2021 season. The collaboration with Pla ended prior to the season finale, with Cameron being paired up with Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves. Cameron is heading for another team for 2022, but that announcement isn’t made just yet.
Update
Helio Castroneves has been announced as third driver at the Michelin Endurance Cup races – but without mentioning the Sebring issue in the press release.
Latest update
Simon Pagenaud will be the fourth driver at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
