Meyer Shank Racing has signed experienced sportscar racer Olivier Pla to be part of the full time line-up for its Acura DPi programme.
Pla will drive the #60 Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship starting in 2021, joining AJ Allmendinger as the second driver to be confirmed by the Ohio-based outfit.
The Frenchman last raced for the team in 2016, when he notably took the overall victory at Petit Le Mans alongside Oswaldo Negri and John Pew. Since then, he raced for Ford in GTLM and competed with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Extreme Speed Motorsports before settling into a role as the endurance driver in Mazda’s DPi efforts.
Since 2017, he has joined Mazda in the Endurance Cup rounds, where he notably helped take Mazda’s first win in IMSA competition during the 2019 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. He also secured a second place finish for the team in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“It’s a special weekend to be able to announce that I will be back racing with Meyer Shank Racing next year with the Acura ARX-05,” said Pla. “I still remember the four races that I did with MSR back in 2016 like it was yesterday, especially our win at Petit – we had such good performance.
Since that moment I always wished to have the opportunity to drive for Mike (Shank) again and today is the day we can finally announce that. It will be a very exciting time for MSR and I’m ready for the challenge. Next year can’t come soon enough and I’m ready to get things started.”
“I’m really excited to have Olivier back onboard with us for the full 2021 season,” added team owner Michael Shank. “He really impressed me in 2016 and performed above and beyond my expectations.
We’ve stayed in touch and he’s continued to deliver results both in Europe and in the US since he raced with us in 2016. He’s always someone that I’ve had my eye on and I’m glad that he will be rejoining us for 2021.”
Meyer Shank Racing will announce the remaining two drivers in the coming weeks. Dane Cameron, who currently drives for Acura Team Penske and remains linked to Honda Performance Development, is believed to likely be partnering Pla aboard the #60 Acura DPi.
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