Ex-F1 driver Pastor Maldonado to make Daytona 24 Hours debut
Formula 1 race winner Pastor Maldonado will make his Daytona 24 Hours debut next month as part of an expanded two-car assault from the DragonSpeed team

The Venezuelan will race the ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2 car in which he is contesting the the 2018/19 World Endurance Championship in the IMSA SportsCar Championship opener on January 26-27.
Maldonado will share the car with his regular WEC partner Roberto Gonzalez and a further pair of yet-to-be-determined drivers.
Team boss Elton Julian told Autosport: "Roberto has been talking about doing Daytona for a while and then decided to go ahead after the positive [second place] result at the Shanghai WEC round last month."
Julian revealed that he had wanted to run team regular Anthony Davidson in the car as well, but was precluded by the rules for what is now a pro-am category after the P2s were put in a separate class to the Daytona Prototype international machinery for 2019.
"The LMP2 rules say you can't have two platinum-graded drivers, so rules are rules and we can't do it," Julian said.

The WEC car is due to arrive in the US from Shanghai on January 1, but Julian is hopeful of being able to make the second and third days of the pre-event 'Roar' test at Daytona on January 4-6.
DragonSpeed has posted a Daytona entry for its WEC ORECA alongside the car it runs in the European Le Mans Series.
This car will be raced by Nicolas Lapierre, Ben Hanley, Henrik Hedman and James Allen.
Allen who raced DragonSpeed's LMP1 BR Engineering chassis at the Fuji and Shanghai WEC rounds, is joining the team in what is being billed as a development deal for the 22-year-old.
He will also contest next year's ELMS with the team alongside Hanley and Hedman and has been pencilled in for some IndyCar testing should DragonSpeed's plans for a part season in the US single-seater series come together.

Previous article
CORE changes 2019 IMSA plans to run Nissan DPi rather than ORECA LMP2
Next article
Barrichello to enter 2019 Daytona 24 with JDC-Miller Motorsports

About this article
Series | IMSA |
Author | Gary Watkins |
Ex-F1 driver Pastor Maldonado to make Daytona 24 Hours debut
Trending
Why IMSA glory for Mazda would be a bittersweet ending
Mazda believes it has never had a better chance of clinching the title in IMSA's Prototype division. Achieving this goal would be the bittersweet culmination of an achingly hard struggle, after which the brand has decided to quit
The groundbreaking new boss leading GM's sportscar assault
After taking over Corvette Racing from long-time custodian Doug Fehan, 34-year-old Laura Wontrop Klauser is leading General Motors through a transitional phase in sportscar racing. Here’s how she got into her dream role and what she plans to do with it
Nine things to look out for at the 2021 Daytona 24 Hours
After a 100-minute sprint race to whet the appetite, the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship gets underway properly this weekend. With plenty of significant changes during the winter, here are the key points you need to keep an eye on
Why Magnussen is relishing a fresh start in sportscars
Having gone over seven years without a race win through spells with McLaren, Renault and Haas, Kevin Magnussen's departure from Formula 1 for IMSA with big-hitter Chip Ganassi Racing could give him what he craves most - a chance of success
Oliver Gavin's Corvette Racing highlights
Oliver Gavin has stepped down from the full-time Corvette Racing line-up after a stellar career with the team spanning nearly 20 years. He looks back on a stint that encompassed, among other successes, five Le Mans 24 Hours victories
The 12 greatest Sebring 12 Hours ranked
The 2020 edition of the Florida sportscar classic is finally taking place this weekend, eight months after its traditional date in March. That meant there was plenty of time for Autosport to pour over its previous 67 races and select the best
When Porsche became a giant-killer
In the first of a new series celebrating underdog achievements from the annals of motorsport history, we revisit the 2015 Petit Le Mans - where a tyre advantage in appallingly wet conditions helped the GT cars overcome the prototypes
Why one car was "too fast for everyone" at Daytona
Cadillac's 100% streak of Daytona 24 Hours DPi-based victories was extended last weekend, with the Wayne Taylor Racing squad triumphant. But the manner of that victory was the real story of the first major sportscar race of 2020