Correa Set for Maiden Car Race on Home Soil

Juan Manuel Correa will embark on his first car race in the U.S. joining United Autosports in this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which the American-Ecuadorian racer hailed as “kind of crazy” after spending the vast majority of his career in Europe.

Correa has been brought in as the mandatory Silver-rated driver aboard the No. 2 Oreca 07 Gibson, teaming up with Nick Boulle and Ben Hanley.

The 25-year-old joins in place of Garnet Patterson, who contested January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona as part of a one-off appearance and has since been confirmed as part of United’s McLaren LMGT3 squad in the European Le Mans Series.

“I got a call about three, four weeks ago,” Correa told Sportscar365.

“The seat was available. I had nothing going on on my racing program. I’ve been working on a few different programs, different projects, but nothing had been confirmed.

“It was a great opportunity for me to do it. I was already looking at making the switch, coming to IMSA.

“I’m looking at IndyCar as well. So I think this is a great opportunity to get started.”

By his own admission, Correa has never raced cars in the U.S. previously, despite holding American citizenship and living in Miami.

Notably, he was part of Prema’s FIA World Endurance Championship lineup when the series last visited Sebring in 2023, but Correa personally missed that event as a result of clashing commitments with the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

“I did karting in the U.S.,” said Correa. “My first single-seater year was 2016 and it was already Formula 4 in Italy and Germany.

“So this is gonna be actually the first ever car race that I do in the U.S. which is kind of crazy because I’ve lived here for the majority of my life, but not racing here.’

When asked about his first impressions of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship paddock, Correa replied:

“It reminds me a little bit to the big karting championships that I did here in the U.S. in terms of the environment [and] how friendly people are.

“In a way, it’s very relaxed but at the same time it’s quite impressive.

“The level of hospitality, the amount of manufacturers you have, the amount of cars that are in the championship is is quite a lot.

“So it’s a good combination and it just looks like a like a fun place to be in.”

Correa added that his maiden Sebring outing is the first part of a larger switch towards American racing, which will mark a previous departure from the several years mainly competing overseas.

“Home for me is Miami, my family is there,” said Correa.

“I’ve been away from home since I was 14 years old, so I felt like it was time for me to to come back and explore the racing opportunities here.

“Have more of a personal life, as well which is something I’ve lacked through the majority of my life.

“So I’m kind of rediscovering myself and seeing what that is. There’s not a better place for me to do it than at the IMSA paddock, I think, at the moment.”

Correa reckons he is in for a weekend of “a lot of learning” in Sebring, having to get to grips with not just the Sebring circuit, but also the intricacies of a WeatherTech Championship weekend.

“I think I’ll just have to build up throughout the weekend,” he said.

“It’s been a while since since I last raced and never here. I know it’s a challenging track to debut at, but I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m just gonna have fun and enjoy being back in the car.

“Also the way it’s structured in an IMSA weekend, it’s new to me where you have three practice sessions on a Thursday then you don’t drive on Friday in my case. And then you race.

“I think Thursday, each practice session will be an opportunity to obviously test some new procedures, make sure I am aware of everything that’s happening in the track.

“But also just keep building my feeling with the car, keep building confidence in the track and then I think even in the race throughout the race I’ll keep building on that and that’s going to be the dynamic of the weekend.”