Atlantic Debuts Adess 03; Planning 2019 Program

This weekend’s Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore is a significant one for Atlantic Racing Team.

Not only is the team turning its first laps in a return to IMSA competition, it is doing so in the IMSA debut for an Adess 03 LMP3 car.

A trio of drivers: Robin Shute, Jim Antunes and Tazio Ottis are driving the car this weekend in what the team considers a tune up to a full-time IMSA Prototype Challenge campaign in 2019.

Led by father and son Rolf-Ingo Strackerjan and Franz-Lucas Strackerjan, Atlantic Racing Team returns to IMSA after first competing in 1999.

Since then, the team has competed in various series both domestically and internationally, including most recently in the Asian Le Mans Series.

“We are all very delighted to be back with IMSA,” said Rolf-Ingo Strackerjan. “It’s a really attractive package, you get a lot of exposure which we as a team need in order to attract drivers.

“We sat down last year and we decided, let’s join IMSA again. We are really looking forward to the tracks, they look really good for an LMP3.”

The team has had expected growing pains this weekend at Sebring but expects to be up to speed by the time the IPC season begins in January at Daytona International Speedway.

They will have full support from Adess to do just that, as the constructor joins Norma and Ligier, which both fielded cars full time in 2018.

Adess representatives are onsite this weekend providing support for the team, including CEO Stephane Chosse.

“They give us a hand in setup and so on,” Strackerjan said.

“There are advantages [to being the only Adess], but you also have the disadvantage of nobody to compare with. We’ve decided we’re an underdog so let’s do our best. And here we are.”