Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron will share the driving duties for one of the two Acura DPi’s that will compete in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under the Team Penske banner, it was announced on Tuesday.
Colombian Montoya, who has been a part of Roger Penske’s Verizon IndyCar Series line-up for the past four seasons and is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, will make his full-time switch to sportscar racing, and the former Formula 1 racer said it was an easy decision to join Penske’s IMSA squad for next season.
“I have really enjoyed working with Roger and Team Penske over the last four years,” said Montoya. “When Roger asked if I’d like to be part of starting this new sports car operation with Acura, it was an easy decision.
“I’ve always loved racing sports cars. It’s definitely a challenge and it’s going to be a lot of fun to develop a new car with Acura. I’m excited to start the testing of the ARX-05 next week.
“Team Penske started its winning tradition in sports cars and it’s going to be cool to be a part of a new chapter with the team.”
Cameron currently races in IMSA with Action Express Racing and is the reigning champion in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship alongside Eric Curran, and he currently sits third in the championship this season, and he said it was a ‘dream come true’ to drive for Penske.
“Getting a chance to race for Team Penske is like a dream come true for a driver,” said Cameron. “To see all of the effort and resources that Acura Motorsports is putting into this new program to develop and win with the ARX-05, it’s really impressive.
“I’m so excited for the opportunity to become part of the team and work with a guy who has done all the things Juan has done. It’s going to be an awesome experience to add my name to the list of drivers that have driven for Team Penske.
“I’m looking forward to a busy off season and coming out of the gates strong at Daytona.”
The Acura ARX-05 DPi will be officially unveiled on Friday as part of the Monterey Car Week in California before making its race debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with team owner Roger Penske is delighted to announce two of his four full-time drivers, and two with great experience.
“We worked together with our partners at Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development (HPD) to bring together drivers that we believe will help develop our program and compete for race wins right out of the gate while also serving as great ambassadors for their brands,” said Penske.
“Having Juan and Dane join our program brings together two drivers that have extensive sports car racing experience in the prototype class and have already won at the top levels of the sport. This represents a great beginning to our program for 2018.”
