IMSA: Yacaman considering options for 2015

After an admittedly rough transition from the Mazda Road To Indy open-wheel ladder to sports cars in 2013, Colombia's Gustavo Yacaman has established himself as one of the bright young talents in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

The 23-year-old has thrived this season driving for the French Oak Racing team in the Prototype class where he earned a win with teammate Olivier Pla at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and currently stands as the top P2 driver in the championship.

"I'm very happy with Oak and everything we've done so far," said Yacaman (LEFT). "Everyone from [Oak Racing owner] Jacques Nicolet to the truck driver has been amazing, I'm really happy with them, and for next year, I'm talking with them and they're happy with me and know I have what it takes to keep driving for them.

"But the problem is they're really focused on selling the new Ligier. If there's one or two of them racing here, they won't run a factory team, so that has me looking at other options."

Continuing in the Prototype interests Yacaman, but a move to the World Endurance Championship in some capacity with the Oak team is also under consideration.

"I like where IMSA has progressed this season, so staying here interests me, but I'm looking at the WEC, and it's also mega-expensive, but as a factory team, Ligier needs to keep developing the car so there's some interesting possibilities that we're talking about," Yacaman explained. "For example, we were just at Road Atlanta testing a new brake manufacturer on the car, and there's value in Oak Racing working on things like this to benefit their customers.

"So I've spoken to Jacques about this and there's many options right now on the table for me, but there's nothing confirmed yet. I want to work with them, the chances of Oak Racing continuing here are slim, so we'll have to see how this plays out."

In addition to finishing the TUDOR Championship season, Yacaman will race for Oak at the Fuji WEC round, and is even looking at a different form of racing next season with one of his sponsors, Red Bull.

"Fuji is going to be fun, and whenever an opportunity arises, I get the call from Oak, and I've been reaching out to other teams, but they all want money, they all want a check," he said. "All of the conversations I've had with Oak for the future involves no money, which is exactly what I've been working toward.

"The other thing I'm working is Global RallyCross to do something with Red Bull. It's a championship that's growing a lot – it has the young demographic, so I'm in conversations there as well. There's nothing confirmed and it's the tough time of the year where you're talking to 20 different people but we're not at the stage where anything is done and signed." ​