Kiwis Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin and Tom Blomqvist are included in the entry list for this weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Georgia.
A capacity grid of 54 entries has been confirmed for the 10-hour race, split across five classes for the final round of the 2023 IMSA Sportscar Championship. A total of 10 hypercars will compete in the Grand Touring Prototype class.
Dixon will line up for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Team Cadillac entry, partnering Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande in the number 1 Cadillac V-Series R Grand Touring Prototype.
It will be Dixon’s third time competing alongside the duo this season, with the team finishing third in the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona and failing to finish the 12 Hours of Sebring after the car caught fire in the pit lane. They had led 120 laps before that point.
Full-time drivers Bourdais and van der Zande sit sixth overall in the fight for the 2023 GTP title.
Tom Blomqvist, meanwhile, joins Colin Braun and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves for Meyer Shank Racing. The trio and Simon Pagenaud were winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona and finished 24th in the 12 Hours of Sebring, having a rear wheel detach during the race.
Blomqvist and Braun compete full-time in the series and claimed honours in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at the Canadian Tires Motorsport Park in Ontario in July. They also finished second at the IMSA Sportscar weekend at Road America and third in the Six Hours of The Glen.
Blomqvist, Braun and Castroneves will drive the number 60 Acura ARX-06 hypercar, competing in the Grand Touring Prototype class.
McLaughlin will be the sole New Zealander driving in the LMP2 class when he joins Kyffin Simpson and Ari Balogh in Tower Motorsports’ ORECA LMP2 07.
Simpson will join Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing in IndyCar next season, having recently concluded the 2023 Indy NXT season in tenth. Balogh is a long-time LMP3 racer and will be making his LMP2 debut at Petit Le Mans.
McLaughlin and Simpson have had success together this year, with the duo joining John Farano for the 12 Hours of Sebring. Despite Simpson hitting the wall in the second half of a chaotic race, the team came home first in class and third overall, topping six hypercars.
A water bottle leak in the 24 Hours of Daytona caused an electrical failure for the team, putting them 11 laps behind early in the race. They regained nine of those to finish fifth in class and eleventh overall.
New Zealand’s Bailey Cruse will also be competing at Road Atlanta, racing in the final round of the IMSA MX5 Cup in support of the event, concluding his 2023 campaign in the United States.
Friday morning’s Motorsport Diary will feature session times and information on how the races can be watched.
Header Image: Chip Ganassi Racing
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