G-Drive Racing by Algarve Pro Racing will be going big at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2022.
The team plans to use the 60th edition of the race as a warm-up for their 2022 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where the team is rumoured to run two cars – one under their own name, and as a service provider for another team
Car #68 at Daytona will be piloted by Rene Rast, Francois Heriau, Ed Jones, and Oliver Rasmussen. Rast is three times DTM Champion, and has previously raced for G-Drive Racing in 2016 in the FIA WEC,, and was involved in the Audi Sport LMP1 programme too, and most recently in their Formula E programme. Heriau has raced for both Ultimate and SRT41 in the LMP2 category, and is one of the French talents on the rise in sportscar racing.
Ed Jones only has limited experience with sportscar racing, but has raced several seasons in the NTT IndyCar Series, and shown good pace, when everything went perfect for him. Danish racer Rasmussen has only raced single-seaters so far, but actually never in his home country, since the family is based in France.
Car #69 will see the return of John Falb once again. Falb won the ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am title in 2021 with the outfit, and has slowly but surely developed the speed and consistency, to become one of the fastest real Bronze rated drivers in the sport. Falb will be joined by rapid James Allen. Allen has raced for several LMP2 teams throughout the previous seasons – including DragonSpeed and Graff, claiming several top results.
Photo: JJ Media
Luca Ghiotto is new in sportscar racing, after having raced several years in single-seaters. The Italian has given up the road to Formula 1, which was the ultimate goal. But that can still lead to a successful career in sportscar racing. The last driver in the car will be Tijman van der Helm, who is just 17 years old. The Dutchman will turn 18 during the race weekend, and carries race experience from the FIA Formula 3 Championship as the highest-ranked series so far, during the 2021 season.
G-Drive Racing and Algarve Pro Racing are well known for evaluating drivers throughout the winter. They have previously done so in the Asian Le Mans, but since that one is too close to the FIA WEC and European Le Mans Series opening rounds in 2022, the Daytona race is the clear chance for them.
Both the cars will carry the ORECA 07 Gibson title in the USA. They have run the Aurus 01 name in the ELMS and at Le Mans throughout the past years, but it is exactly the same as an ORECA – just with the Russian limousine manufacturer as naming sponsor. Had they chosen to run the name in the IMSA races, there would have been all kinds of extra expenses for the team, only to do one race with that name.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona will be run during the final weekend of January, but the ROAR Before the 24 test will run one week earlier at the same Daytona International Speedway.
