WEC: Tequila Patron ESM committed to series return

Tequila Patron ESM co-owner/driver Scott Sharp and fellow owner Ed Brown have thoroughly enjoyed their first season of racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and as Sharp tells RACER, the international sports car series can expect to have their pair of Ligier JS P2s on the grid in 2016.

"We're definitely committed to the WEC next year," said Sharp. "We're really enjoying our time over there. I think it's working really well with Patron because the brand is hitting markets that they are pretty new to everyone. And the markets aren't just great; Germany is the number two tequila market in the world. You wouldn't think it is, but it is, and that's where we're racing next. And being able to go to Le Mans and some of these other events is pretty mega for us right now."

Tequila Patron ESM has been through a tumultuous season where abandoning its first chassis solution was required after the opening TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event at Daytona. Another modification to their plans came when the team opted to cancel their participation in the remaining endurance races on IMSA's calendar, and Sharp says they will spend some time looking into a possible return for some of the Patron-sponsored events next year.

"Honestly, I think it's all up in the air," he remarked. "I think we are keeping an open eye to all that. We are enjoying ourselves immensely in the WEC, but we are a U.S.-based team, and certainly miss running more races over here. We won't run Petit coming up; it is just too tight with a WEC race the next weekend.

"Further down the road [in 2017], we're excited that everyone is going to a uniform set of P2 rules in IMSA and WEC. That opens up the doors and that's pretty critical. At the same time, we will wait to see the last few pieces of the puzzle and how that all plays out, the engines and, what really happens chassis wise with IMSA going forward."