Williams Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll has been confirmed to race in next year's Rolex 24 at Daytona with the Le Mans-winning Jackie Chan DC Racing squad.
Stroll, 19, will co-drive an all-star ORECA 07-Gibson with Formula E race winner Felix Rosenqvist, Mercedes factory driver Daniel Juncadella, and 2017 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup champion Robin Frijns.
The Canadian becomes the second active F1 driver to be confirmed for January's IMSA sportscar series opener, after Fernando Alonso joined the United Autosports squad last month.
Both drivers will compete for overall honours in the Prototype category, which pits global-spec LMP2 cars like the ORECA against manufacturer-backed DPi cars from Acura, Nissan, Mazda and Cadillac.
"We are going to Daytona to enjoy, compete and of course try and win," said Strolll.
"I always want to be best and most competitive I can be. We are the four young guns so it will be great fun I’m sure because we go way back together. A big part of Daytona is who you share the car with so I’m really looking forward to it."
“There won’t be any fuel or tyre management to worry about, and it will be racing hard and racing in traffic which I will enjoy. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Jackie Chan DCR Jota team so I can’t wait to be a part of it."
“I am really grateful to Williams Martini Racing for realising I want to keep my racing sharpness through the winter and letting me race at Daytona.”
Stroll's last appearance at the Rolex 24 came in 2016, when he made his sportscar racing debut with Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Ford-Riley prototype he co-drove with Brendon Hartley, Andy Priaulx and Alexander Wurz finished fifth overall.
Rosenqvist is the only other driver with experience at the Daytona speedway, having raced in the secondary Prototype Challenge category last year.
The 26-year-old Swede was a team-mate to Stroll during the 2015 European F3 season, with Rosenqvist ending that year as champion.
Juncadella and Frijns, meanwhile, race against each other in the Blancpain GT Series with Mercedes and Audi respectively.
“The collection of talent that we have been able to secure for the Rolex 24 at Daytona is very exciting," said David Clark, director of Jota Group.
"As a team this shows the trust in quality that the Jackie Chan DCR Jota team can bring to the best endurance races in the world."
“Lance, Felix, Daniel and Robin are a collection of some of the finest young talents to emerge in recent years. To have them all in the same car for such an important race like the Rolex 24 at Daytona is an important milestone in JOTA’s history."
Discussion about this post