Mazda Team Joest has confirmed six drivers for its IMSA Sportscar Championship assault in 2018 with the RT24-P prototype.
Le Mans class winners Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell will join Mazda factory assets Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez in the two-car full-season lineup.
DTM champion Rene Rast and IndyCar racer Spencer Pigot will join the respective pairings, which are yet to be confirmed, at the four endurance rounds including the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Jarvis and Rast come in with connections to the Joest operation, having raced with the German outfit when it ran Audi's Le Mans programme up to the end of 2016.
Tincknell, meanwhile, will balance the prototype role with his existing factory commitments in the World Endurance Championship with Ford.
Both Jarvis and Tincknell are previous winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the Jota Sport squad, with Jarvis claiming LMP2 honours this year and Tincknell winning the same category in 2014.
Bomarito and Nunez have been retained from Mazda's 2017 IMSA driver lineup, while Tom Long and Joel Miller have left the programme.
"Working with Joest, we were also able to secure fast, winning drivers from their recent history, which makes Jarvis and Rast a good fit, as is Tincknell, who has been successful in both GT and Prototype cars,” said Mazda Motorsports USA director John Doonan.
“We ask a lot of our drivers outside the car as well, so it’s great to add drivers who will fit the chemistry of what we hope to achieve as a team.”
“Mazda has had a driver development program since 2007, so it’s a big part of our Mazda Prototype program to feature drivers that have come up through the Mazda ranks, whether that’s in sports cars like Tristan Nuñez, or the open-wheel side of things with Bomarito and Pigot."
"We’re thrilled that those superb young men are back with us again in 2018."
