Alex Job Targeting Two-Car GTD Program

Photo: John Dagys

While currently having a presence in both the American Le Mans Series’ GT and GTC classes, Alex Job Racing is set to consolidate efforts into the new GT Daytona category for next year’s Tudor United SportsCar Championship.

In speaking with Sportscar365, team owner Alex Job confirmed intentions of fielding up to two full-season entries in 2014, including an already confirmed program for Cooper MacNeil that will see the defending ALMS GTC champion return to the wheel of a WeatherTech-sponsored entry.

“Pretty much that program is set,” Job said. “We now need to get the second car in place. Ideally, I’d like to have a two-car GTD program. It’s time to go back to a single brand.

“Politically, it’s the best thing to do for sure. In my mind, you never get the full blessing of either brand, even though you’re now directly competing against each other in the same class.”

For the past two seasons, AJR has fielded Porsches in the GTC class, while simultaneously campaigning a Lotus Evora GTE in 2012, and most recently, a Ferrari F458 Italia under the West Racing/AJR banner.

Job said they’re likely to go with Porsche’s new 911 GT America, but has yet to make a final decision or announcement.

The veteran team owner, however, doesn’t expect the West program to continue into next year, especially as a Pro-Am driver pairing would not be competitive in the works-backed GT Le Mans category.

One solution would have been to create a GT-Am class, he said, which had allegedly been under consideration for 2014. The category would have run to the same ACO GTE technical regulations seen in GT LM but enforce Pro-Am driver lineups.

A similar concept was proposed in the ALMS last year but was mothballed due to the merger.

“Since it’s unlikely there’s going to be a GT-Am category, only a GT Pro, then for customers, the only option is GTD,” Job said. “GTD makes a lot of sense. It’s going to be the biggest class in the series and it’s going to be really competitive. I’m not scared of competition, I love the competition.”

Job expects to announce the driver lineup for the team’s first GTD entry later this month. While MacNeil will return, his 2013 co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen has already signed with Riley Technologies for its customer SRT Viper GT3-R program.

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