Starworks Pulls out of Petit Le Mans, Sets Focus on 2014

Photo: John Dagys

After skipping the last round at Virginia International Raceway, Starworks Motorsport has pulled the plug on its Petit Le Mans effort as well, team owner Peter Baron confirmed Monday.

The Florida-based squad, which had debuted in the PC class at Circuit of The Americas, planned to contest the 1,000-mile/10-hour Road Atlanta enduro until funding failed to materialize.

“It’s a shame we are missing the Petit,” Baron said. “We had committed to a lineup that would have put us in contention for a win, but unfortunately the funding did not materialize.

“We thought it better to skip the event than show up with three new drivers in this finale event, with others having championships on the line. It’s better for us to take our time prepping for November tests and begin working on converting our new “P class” cars to the 2014 spec.”

Starworks’ withdrawal, along with the expected single-car effort by TRG, has resulted in a 35-car entry for the ALMS finale.

As for the Starworks’ program for next year, Baron has reaffirmed their commitment for the Prototype and Prototype Challenge categories and is even evaluating efforts in the various IMSA Development series.

“We have received a ton of calls for both the combined LMP2/DP “P Class” and for the LMPC cars,” he said. “At this point, it seems no one is ready to commit until they can see a rules package and we can get some solid budget numbers.

“We are even taking calls for programs to run in the TUDOR support races – the Continental series, IMSA Lites and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.

“The key thing is – with the TUDOR series costs greatly improving – we have to look to find ways to lower the budgets for programs. Last year we ran in three separate series and won championships in two of them, so it’s just a matter of finding the right partners and drivers to join us.”

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