After competing with a two-car effort in the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Jackie Chan DC Racing team is evaluating a return to the twice-around-the-clock race in 2019, although it will not he with the LMP2 Oreca’s they utilised previously following the change in regulations within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
IMSA will split the Prototype into two classes at the end of 2018, with the Daytona Prototype international’s (DPi) and LMP2 machines having their own classes. They are also turning LMP2 into a Pro-Am class, and that means the superstar line-up they had in January will not be possible again.
The #78 entry of Alex Brundle, António Félix da Costa, Ferdinand Habsburg and Ho-Pin Tung finished fifth overall in the 2018 event, while the sister #37 of Robin Frijns, Daniel Juncadella, Felix Rosenqvist and Lance Stroll were fifteenth when the chequered flag fell.
Team principal Sam Hignett says the rule changes rules out the possibility of challenging for outright victory at the Daytona International Speedway, but it does not rule out the possibility of the Jota-run squad investing in a programme with a DPi, with a possible lease deal available should they be able to get the programme together.
“Daytona is not something we will be doing with a P2 car again,” said Hignett to Motorsport.com. “The rule change was the final nail in the coffin for any plans that we had to go back with the Orecas. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t looking at doing it in the DPi class.
“We have been told by a couple of manufacturers that there are cars available for lease if we can put a programme together.”
The news is another blow for the LMP2 class after United Autosports also revealed they would not be returning to Daytona with their Ligier LMP2’s, while JDC-Miller Motorsports has already opted to switch from their Oreca LMP2’s to run two Cadillac DPi-V.R’s in 2019.
