JOTA Confirms Da Costa, Stevens in Hypercar Lineup

Reigning LMP2 champions Antonio Felix da Costa and Will Stevens will continue with JOTA for the British team’s graduation to the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Hertz Team JOTA on Wednesday confirmed that da Costa and Stevens will share the No. 38 Porsche 963 with Yifei Ye, who was announced as the first signing back in November.

Last year da Costa, Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez secured the WEC LMP2 title in a campaign that included a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Two-thirds of that lineup will now head to Hypercar, where JOTA is due to field one of two customer Porsche LMDh cars on the grid.

Da Costa stated his intentions of racing for JOTA in the top category shortly after he joined Porsche’s factory Formula E team last summer.

Stevens, meanwhile, told Sportscar365 in September that he had secured a top-level prototype seat after leaving Wayne Taylor Racing’s Acura program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“Over the last few years we’ve had great results together so I’m thrilled to be returning to the team,” said da Costa.

“We’re stepping up to Hypercar class with a whole new set of partners backing us and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of our new Hertz Team JOTA car. It’s a big leap forward for motorsport as a whole and will hopefully be a memorable year ahead.”

Stevens added: “As a group, we have a strong foundation working together already for a number of years which shall help with our transition into LMDh.

“Being the reigning LMP2 champions gives us a great platform for the campaign ahead, it will be a special time racing together as the all-new Hertz Team JOTA.”

Da Costa is set for his fourth WEC consecutive season with JOTA, having joined the Kent-based team in 2019-20 after a GTE-Pro campaign with BMW Team MTEK.

McLaren Formula 1 development driver Stevens joined the 2019-20 Formula E champion and Gonzalez in the No. 38 lineup last year following Anthony Davidson’s retirement from racing.

“Our lineup of Antonio, Will and Yifei is a strong mix of speed, experience and youthful exuberance,” commented JOTA co-owners David Clark and Sam Hignett.

“We’ve had success over recent years and as one of the only privateer entries in the Hypercar class we’ll be taking the challenge to our manufacturer counterparts.

“We’re working hard to prepare for the first race of the season and look forward to revealing our first Hertz Team JOTA livery in due course.”