IMSA: Oak Racing pondering 2015 options

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France's Oak Racing has brought speed, character, and success to the inaugural season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, but team manager Philippe Dumas says a return engagement for the Prototype effort cannot be guaranteed.

Onroak Automotive, Oak Racing's parent company, manufactures a pair of winning P2 cars with the proven open-top Morgan and the new Ligier JS coupe, and according to Dumas, the factory team would step away from competing in the TUDOR Championship if they are faced with racing against customer cars.

"It all depends on how many cars we sell [in the U.S.] next year," Dumas told RACER. "As a car manufacturer, if we have customers racing in this championship, we cannot race against them as the factory. It was very good to be here this year and to show the Morgan car to people, to show the level of performance, but if we have customers involved, we can't fight against them. It's not like in the ELMS or the WEC."

The team chose to campaign a factory P2 program in America to showcase its product in front of new buyers, and with Oak's experience, the has been the fastest P2 car in the Prototype category at almost every round. But Dumas and Onroak's owners are concerned about creating a dynamic where its customers have to beat all comers in Prototype and the company that builds their car.

Oak fields the G-Drive WEC P2 effort this year, and its Morgan chassis is one of the most popular among P2 entrants, yet with at least one Ligier JS coupe likely headed for action in the TUDOR Championship in 2015, a factory-run program could stifle interest with potential customers. Provided more Ligiers are sold, Dumas also envisions the possible closure of Oak Racing altogether.

"It's a little bit strange because on my side, I love racing, I want to do this championship with Oak, but it's a big question mark at the moment," he added. "If we have cars all over the world with Ligier customers, it may be the end of the Oak Racing team."

Oak's TUDOR Championship program has been a bit of a hybrid effort with Dumas, the factory crew, and factory driver Olivier Pla at the heart of the No. 42 Morgan-Nissan entry, yet they've taken on a customer in Colombia's Gustavo Yacaman. Asked if Oak would consider staying in North America to run a pure customer program—akin to when DP constructor Riley Technologies ran Wayne Taylor's Riley DP Grand-Am program, Dumas said it is an option the team is willing to consider.

"Of course we try to think a bit like this – like this season with the G-Drive team we run, but it's a good idea and it's a way to keep the team alive for the future," he continued. "It's an option, but it's really important to take care of our customers. Maybe the best way to do this [customer program] is in the U.S."

After this weekend's TUDOR Championship race at Road America, the series moves onto a double-header with the WEC at COTA and ends its season at Petit Le Mans. COTA will be an especially busy weekend for Dumas and the Oak team as they'll have entries in both championships. And with the addition of a second Prototype entry in the works for COTA and PLM, the team will be working overtime.

"The G-Drive car will be a Ligier-Nissan for the last five WEC races; it's the No. 35 car we used at Le Mans (that nearly won in the hands of Alex Brundle, Jann Mardenborough, Mark Shulzhitskiy), and for the TUDOR Championship, Gustavo will keep the Morgan-Nissan until the end of the season," he explained.

"The Ligier-HPD left the workshop this week, headed for COTA, and we need to find a final solution financially to race the car next to Gustavo's car. But it will be there and the plan is to enter it in COTA and Petit Le Mans. The TUDOR Championship will see both Morgan and Ligier cars and I think it will be good for them to make a decision if the Ligier is something to buy for next season. I think they will be impressed."​