Before commencing his sixth consecutive NTT IndyCar Series season, Felix Rosenqvist will make his United Autosports debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Jan. 25-28.
In addition, two-time Daytona 24 Hour race winner Pato O’Ward is set for his fourth appearance at the iconic American endurance race next January — signing with United for a one-off IMSA appearance in 2024.
Rosenqvist will share the No. 22 ORECA 07 with Daniel Goldburg, Paul di Resta and another yet-to-be-announced driver in the annual Floridian race that will kickstart United’s first full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
“Felix Rosenqvist is a winner,” said Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO. “He has won races across an impressive range of series through his racing career and, over the past five years, has made a real name for himself in IndyCar. We are really excited to see Felix in the United Autosports car this January and feel very proud to partner with him in his quest for success at Daytona.”
The 32-year-old current IndyCar driver is predominantly associated with single-seaters but will in fact be making his third Daytona appearance having contested the 24-hour race in 2016, claiming seventh in the PC class, and 2018 when Felix finished just outside the Prototype top-10 in an LMP2 ORECA 07.
“I’m super excited to be back in sports car racing,” said Rosenqvist. “It’s been five years since I did a sports car race … I used to do it a lot back in the day. But it’s been put on pause recently because I’ve been focussing on my IndyCar career. It’s something I love doing and to be racing with United Autosports is really cool.
“This team has won a lot of LMP2 races before, so they’re coming in with the expectation to do well — which matches my goals.”
Rosenqvist won numerous Formula Renault titles before taking the European Formula 3 Championship title in 2016. He also raced Indy Lights, Formula E and Super Formula prior to entering IndyCar in 2019.
With five IndyCar seasons under his belt so far, Rosenqvist has clocked up almost 80 races, one victory, six podiums, 15 top-five finishes and 35 top-10 finishes.
Aside from single-seaters, the versatile Scandinavian has competed in GT3, DTM and Super GT as well as making his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut in 2017 with a 12th place LMP2 finish.
“I think we have a strong team with Daniel Goldburg and Paul di Resta,” Rosenqvist said. “I’ve worked with Paul before, so it will be good to get back together after many years. I’m super pumped — can’t wait to get going at the Roar.”
Meanwhile, O’Ward will kick off his racing season in Florida before embarking on his seventh consecutive NTT IndyCar Series season — his fifth with Arrow McLaren — with an impressive running total of four race wins and 21 podiums to date.
“I’m really happy to get a deal done with Zak [Brown] and Richard [Dean],” O’Ward said. “It’s something I’ve been bugging them about for a while, so Daytona 2024 was a complete no brainer.”
In IMSA, O’Ward’s track record is equally as strong.
In 2017 — his one and only full season — he set records as the youngest driver to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring at just 17 years old, going on to claim the Prototype Challenge Championship after a phenomenal run of seven victories and one third place in the eight-race season.
On his most recent Daytona appearance in 2022, he celebrated another victory, taking first place in the LMP2 class.
“We have been trying to get Pato in a United Autosports car for a while now,” Dean said. “After a few false starts, finally we have our man. Pato brings experience as a Daytona race winner and is just plain fast in everything he drives. I would like to thank everyone at the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team for helping make this happen.”
O’Ward will join Ben Keating, Ben Hanley and Nico Pino in the No. 2 United Autosports LMP2 ORECA 07 — with Mission Foods as the headline sponsor for that car throughout the Daytona event.