Jagonya Ayam Targeting Daytona Entry With Ligier JS P217

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

There could be a second Gibson-powered Ligier JS P217 on the grid in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with an effort underway from the Jagonya Ayam driver scheme to enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.

Sportscar365 has learned that the KFC Indonesia-backed effort, led by GP2 driver Sean Gelael, is working to enter a LMP2 car, likely to be a new 2017-spec Ligier and run by OAK Racing.

“We are looking at doing Daytona,” Gelael told Sportscar365 during last weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship season finale in Bahrain.

“It would be a good ‘winter series’ for us because there’s not a lot of running. It’s 50/50 because we don’t have anything [confirmed] but we’ll see.”

The OAK-supported Extreme Speed Motorsports squad operated the Jagonya Ayam program in its three-race foray into the WEC this year, with ESM’s Ligier JS P2 Nissan that had started the season with Ed Brown, Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.

A number of open-wheel drivers, including Antonio Giovinazzi, Guido Van Der Garde and Tom Blomqvist shared driving duties with the 20-year-old Indonesian in the end-of-year WEC effort.

The car had routinely been one of the quickest in the class, with Gelael, Giovinazzi and Blomqvist scoring a runner-up class finish in the Six Hours of Shanghai.

Gelael said they are working on determining the driver lineup, should the Daytona program get the green light.

The proposed one-off effort from Jagonya Ayam would join the season-long PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team in the competition debut of the Ligier JS P217 Gibson, alongside the expected two Tequila Patron ESM Ligier-Nissan DPis.

Gelael, meanwhile, said they are unlikely to return to WEC competition next year, with his full-season focus to remain in GP2.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John