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M-Sport set for partial IMSA program in LMP2 this season
British outfit M-Sport, the ex-Bentley factory GT and Ford WRC team, are set to confirm a three-race IMSA LMP2 program in the 2022 season.
Using an Era Motorsport-owned chassis and operating out of the Indianapolis-based team’s shop, M-Sport is expected at the Watkins Glen and Road America rounds, along with Petit Le Mans. The driver line-up will be confirmed at a later date.
M-Sport’s Matt Wilson, at Daytona in part for the Ford Mustang GTD announcement, for which M-Sport will act as engine developer and builder, confirmed the existence to Daily Sportscar's Graham Goodwin this afternoon adding that the effort would be staffed with a full M-Sport technical and driver crew.
“We are about to confirm the program and are talking to a number of interested parties on the driver front,” Wilson said. “As always, though, we’d be delighted to hear from anyone wanting to be involved for 2022, and for discussions about the future.”
As for why the interest in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2, Wilson had no comment, but M-Sport are known to have invested in a significant new facility at their English base with their WRC development program also displaying significant in-house expertise in hybrid technology.
With the cessation of their Bentley GT race program, M-Sport is left with underused manpower and facilities and the ability to mount an international racing effort, with clear opportunities to add another significant program to their current Bentley GT customer support role.
“We are always looking for opportunities for high level programs and we’ve shown, repeatedly, that we are able to produce results for motorsports programs both on track and on the stages. We have nothing to announce on that front right now but we are, of course, in active pursuit of the next opportunity for M-Sport and our partners.”
Richard S. James
Richard James is motorsports journalist living in Orange County, Calif, who has been involved in the sport to some degree for three decades. He covers primarily sports car racing as a writer and photographer, with occasional forays into off-road and other forms of racing. A former editor of the SCCA’s publication, SportsCar, he has a special love for the grass-roots side of the sport and participates as a driver in amateur road racing.
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