As his hopes of returning to Formula One in 2018 dwindle, Felipe Nasr has found a way back onto the race track with a seat in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship. He joins the Action Express team next year to race in a Cadillac Daytona Prototype international car.
Nasr had been actively searching for an F1 seat next year, but as next season’s driver market closes up, he was left on the sidelines once again. Conceding that a shortage of F1 teams made returning to the sport difficult, Nasr turned his attention to sportscar racing. He has successfully obtained a seat in the DPi class, replacing Dane Cameron. He had been connected to the team before when he joined them for the 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
In the #31 Action Express vehicle, Nasr will be partnered with Eric Curran for the full 2018 season. They will be teammed up with Toyota Gazoo Racing‘s Mike Conway for the North American Endurance Cup races: 24 hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, as he has done for the team this year.
Former Audi Sport factory driver Filipe Albuquerque will take over from Christian Fittipaldi next season in the sister #5 car alongside this year’s team driver Joao Barbosa. Fitipaldi will return to the #5 for the North American Endurance rounds.
“As a team, the 2017 IMSA season has been a solid one, but we are all working hard to make 2018 an even better year,” said Action Express team manager Gary Nelson to Autosport. “We are happy to have Eric return in the Whelen Engineering [#31] Cadillac and to have Felipe come back to race with us for the full season.
“We have had the same driver line-up for the Mustang Sampling [#5] Cadillac for the last two years, and that consistency will be an advantage. Christian, Filipe and Joao have all been racing with us but we are just changing the roles that each will have next year.”
