DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – DragonSpeed, winners of the LMP2 Pro-Am class at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, will return to the United States for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship to compete in the LMP2 class next season.
Team stalwart Henrik Hedman, starting his ninth season with DragonSpeed, will occupy the class-mandated Bronze seat alongside two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya.
The pair will be joined at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring in March by Montoya’s 16-year-old son, Sebastian, following his stellar performance at the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain at the end of October and an impressive first year of car racing in European F4 competition.
“With me refocusing on racing in the U.S. and Ben Hanley – my pro teammate since 2016 – deserving bigger opportunities in Europe, I want to thank Ben for a phenomenal run of success and his friendship over the last six years,” said Hedman. “Along with DragonSpeed’s incredible support, I simply could not have won at Daytona and Le Mans, scored three more victories in the ELMS and IMSA plus another 10 podiums without Ben by my side. I’m also proud to have played a part in his two awesome underdog performances in the Indy 500. Looking ahead, it’s a pleasure to continue with Juan Pablo for another season, and having Sebastian in the car with his dad at Sebring will be a very special moment. It’s going to be a great year.”
DragonSpeed will join a burgeoning IMSA LMP2 field, with North America’s premier sports car series having attracted several of its WEC rivals, including Racing Team Nederland, United Autosports and High Class Racing. The No. 81 stars-and-stripes 10Star-backed car will forego the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which does not count for LMP2 championship points. However, the team which took LMP2 honors at Daytona in 2019 and 2020 will be represented at the Daytona classic by an entry that will be announced at a later date.
“I’m really happy to be back with DragonSpeed next season,” said Juan Pablo Montoya. “It’ll be new adventure as we’ll be doing IMSA this time where I’m really familiar with the tracks and race strategies, so it should be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to team up with with Henrik again and I’m even more excited to share a car with Sebastian for the first time.”
“This is a huge opportunity for me and I’m so grateful for the chance DragonSpeed and Henrik have given me,” said Sebastian Montoya. “Racing with dad is a dream come true as he’s been my idol growing up and being able to share a car with him is a dream come true. The Bahrain test was a great experience and the team helped me so much to improve in our short time together. I look forward to working with DragonSpeed again and making more progress.”
“It’s a great feeling to come back to IMSA with Henrik in 2022 after achieving our goal together at Le Mans,” said DragonSpeed Team Principal Elton Julian. “He’s looking for a few more notches on his racing belt with our help, and I want to thank him once again for his confidence in DragonSpeed. Working with Juan Pablo has been one of the highlights of my racing career, and there’s much more to come from the relationship, not least the opportunity to help Sebastian establish himself as a star in the making.”