Team Hardpoint will be contesting the remainder of the 2020 IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship in the GT Daytona category, entering an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo for team founder Rob Ferriol and Spencer Pumpelly.
The team will be doubling its commitments for the 2020 IMSA season, as Ferriol and Pumpelly also compete in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving an Audi R8 GT4 in the championship’s GS category.
“The WeatherTech Championship has been a stretch goal of ours since we started Team Hardpoint late last year,” Ferriol said. “We initially eyed 2021 to make the jump into GTD, but as with most things in racing, timing is everything.
“The temporary pause in the 2020 season, while difficult, has allowed us to continue refining our team, but also put us in a position to react when the door opened to expanding our partnership with Audi.”
“We have a lot to learn, but I’m excited to be able to move into yet another car with Spencer as co-driver, continue growing our relationship with Audi, and see our team rise to the challenge. It’s a challenge that we’ve thought a lot about and are all looking forward to.”
Team Hardpoint was founded by Ferriol in 2018. The team has recently also set up the Hardpoint Paddock Foundation,a charitable foundation to support out of work paddock workers through the COVID-19 shutdown.
“We’re very proud to represent Audi as we take another step forward at Team Hardpoint,” Ferriol continued. “Across the Hardpoint ecosystem, our goal is to bring greater value to new and existing professional racing drivers, while increasing awareness and accessibility of the sport, and that starts right here at Team Hardpoint with our racing program.”
“What better team to partner with, than Audi Sport customer racing and their family of IMSA-ready cars across TCR, GT4, and GT3. From the Hardpoint Paddock Foundation that we started to assist crew workers during the COVID-19 economic downturn, to campaigning a brand-new car in GTD, we really have set a goal to lean in and help bring some resiliency to this sport.”
We plan to be involved for a long time, and we’re thankful we’re in a position to enter the WeatherTech Championship even sooner than we had originally planned.”
“I’m pleased to be headed back to the Weathertech Championship full time for the first time since 2016 and even more excited to be doing it with Hardpoint and Audi,” Pumpelly added. “The GTD class features some of the toughest racing anywhere but with the Hardpoint team behind us we will have great cars and all the tools at hand to get Rob acclimated to the series.
I’ve watched Rob since he first entered IMSA in the GT3 Cup series and I’ve had the pleasure of watching him grow as a driver and tackle new challenges. Seeing him in the GTD class will be a natural next step in his racing career.”
The 2020 IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship resumes with the Weathertech 240 at Daytona on July 3-4.
