Racing Team Nederland: "No decision on IMSA future"
Dutch LMP2 team Racing Team Nederland says it remains interested in a future presence in the IMSA Sportscar Championship but has denied reports an American campaign is a done deal.
RTN, the team led by Jumbo supermarket CEO Frits van Eerd, is a regular on the European racing scene and stepped up to the World Endurance Championship in 2018, with van Eerd taking a first win in Fuji in 2019 alongside Giedo van der Garde and Nyck de Vries.
The Dutch outfit, which enters a TDS Racing-run ORECA 07, has also competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours for the past four years and made its IMSA debut in January's Daytona 24 Hours where it finished 11th overall and fourth in class.
RTN has since confirmed its interest in racing in IMSA's LMP2 class full-time but says recent reports that its American switch is a done deal are wide of the mark.
"We never made a secret of the fact that we would love to do more IMSA races in the future," team manager Mark Koense told Autosport.
"We raced in ELMS and now we're competing in the world championship, so IMSA could be a logical future ambition, especially given Frits' love for America, which is where he studied and attended races. It has always been on his bucket list.
"That's also what we communicated in Daytona, which was a fantastic experience. Right now, though, we are fully focused on the WEC.
"IMSA has captured our interest and we think it would be great to race there in the future, but we haven't decided anything."
#29 Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07 - Gibson: Frits Van Eerd, Giedo Van Der Garde, Job Van Uitert
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The team confirms that a double programme would be too time consuming for Van Eerd given his business commitments in the Netherlands.
"Doing WEC and IMSA would be quite impossible because of Frits' business commitments, so we would never target racing in two championships at the highest level," Koense explained.
"This year, we raced in Daytona due to COVID-19 preventing us from testing almost anywhere in Europe.
"For us it was a great way to both get a taste of IMSA and get the mileage in, and it was a lot of fun.
"What the future will bring, however, is not something we will decide now. All focus is on the WEC and we remain open-minded on what is beyond."
Related video
Marco Andretti to make IMSA debut with family team
Veach to miss IMSA Detroit race after testing positive for COVID
Porsche completes two-car LMDh test at Monza as US-bound chassis debuts
Porsche Penske Motorsport has begun testing a second example of the 963 LMDh contender as it ramps up preparation for its twin programmes in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2023.
IMSA Road America: Albuquerque/Taylor win, title rival Jarvis crashes
Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor won Sunday’s rain-impacted IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America, as title rival Oliver Jarvis crashed in the closing laps.
IMSA Road America: Albuquerque on pole, Bourdais crashes
Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque took pole position for Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America for Acura in a qualifying that was red-flagged when Sebastien Bourdais crashed out.
Calendar revealed for 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship has revealed an 11-race schedule for 2023, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course coming in at the expense of Mid-Ohio and Detroit.
The British pair at the heart of Lexus's IMSA push
Have you heard the one about two northerners driving for a Japanese manufacturer in America’s top sportscar series? Time to sit down and talk with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat about racing across the pond… and your accent being mistaken for Australian
Why Peugeot couldn't afford to take a Le Mans gamble in 2022
Ahead of the much-anticipated arrival of its new 9X8 Hypercar, Peugeot revealed that it would not be entering this year's Le Mans 24 Hours with its incoming machinery. Although development restrictions for homologated cars are partially responsible, the French marque can draw on its own lessons from its history in sportscars
Why two names for the same thing could cloud sportscar racing's new golden era
OPINION: The adoption by IMSA of the GTP name for its forthcoming LMDh versus Le Mans Hypercar era in 2023 appeals to fans of nostalgia - but it undermines the commonality achieved by bringing its rulebook into line with the World Endurance Championship. GTP or Hypercar, both sides should settle on a single name
Celebrating the weird and wonderful monsters of sportscar racing
Few disciplines of motorsport offer better possibilities to build a colossus of the track than sportscars. For Autosport's recent Monsters of Motorsport special issue, we picked out some of the finest (and not so fine) that have graced sportscar classics including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring
How Castroneves and Meyer Shank conquered another US classic
Helio Castroneves continued his fine start to life with Meyer Shank Racing that netted the 2021 Indianapolis 500 victory by prevailing in last weekend's Daytona 24 Hours together with team-mates Tom Blomqvist, Oliver Jarvis and Simon Pagenaud. As Cadillac fell by the wayside, the Brazilian veteran won out in an all-Acura duel to the finish
The British sportscar aces readying for a new golden era in IMSA
With the arrival of LMDh looming in 2023, top sportscar drivers are flocking to IMSA for the last hurrah of the DPi cars, starting with this weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours. Seven of the championship's leading British aces explain its appeal and share their hopes of winning a sought-after new watch...
How Derani's long road to title success exorcised painful memories
It took Pipo Derani no time at all to establish himself as a winner in IMSA, winning the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours on his first two starts in 2016. But it took until the final corner of the 2021 season before he could become its champion, the culmination of a journey that he believes has made him a better driver
How the next step in the IMSA and WEC convergence can reunite multiple fronts
OPINION: Following the latest convergence connection permitting Le Mans Hypercars from the World Endurance Championship to compete against LMDh entries in the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023, it could open up enticing options not only to manufacturers but also for the calendar and race formats