Dillmann: Bronze Driver Talent Boosting LMP2 Competition

Photo: Inter Europol Competition

Tom Dillmann believes the increased caliber of FIA Bronze-rated drivers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 class has brought the level of competition in the class to new levels.

Dillmann, who won the class title in 2024 alongside Nick Boulle, is coming off a hard-fought runner-up finish in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race that was won by the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca 07 Gibson of Alex Quinn, Malthe Jakobsen, Toby Sowery and Bronze-rated George Kurtz.

Both the Algarve Pro Racing and Inter Europol Competition teams, the latter which Dillmann drives for, have been consistent front-runners in LMP2 competition worldwide, alongside United Autosports, which is also represented full-time in the WeatherTech Championship.

Yet they were all eclipsed in WeatherTech Championship competition by AO Racing last year, thanks in part to the rapid rise of PJ Hyett, who has arguably been the most improved Bronze-rated driver from year-to-year.

“It’s certainly fierce, as we have no BoP,” said Dillmann. “All the cars enter the weekend with a chance to win. The teams know the car very well, though, the Oreca 07.

“The Bronzes are getting also very strong now, the level in the Bronze driver is really high.

“In those long races, the Daytona, Sebring, or Petit, it comes more about the end. So, for the Bronze driver, it’s more about bringing the car home without any scratches.”

Dillmann’s Bronze-rated co-driver, Jeremy Clarke (pictured above with Dillmann), claimed class pole for Daytona and heads into this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring seeking a repeat victory in the race, in what came as his WeatherTech Championship debut.

CrowdStrike by APR’s Toby Sowery, who serves as the team’s third driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup races, echoed Dillmann’s sentiments on the importance of the Bronze driver in each lineup.

“George [Kurtz] does a fantastic job of giving us a good car for the rest of the race,” he said. “So, it’s about putting the pieces together and not letting outside elements affect our race too much.

“[If] you’ve got the car, it makes life easy, and I think we have that. It’s about me and Alex doing the job as, as well as the team in the pit stops and strategy, which we’re always pretty good at.”

Sowery added: “I think sometimes P2 is overlooked because there’s not manufacturers involved, and the cars aren’t brand new, so everyone’s kind of really upped their level in terms of the cars that they’re bringing to the events, and like Tom said as well, the drivers are all so close now as well.

“We’re kind of really the top end of the ceiling of what we can do with the car and drivers.

“The racing is always really impressive. The cars are very reliable now these days as well. So to really win and extract everything out to win the race is no small task, and I think it does definitely get overlooked a little bit.”

With the likes of Tower Motorsport, TDS Racing and defending class champions AO routinely in the mix, Dillmann said it’s difficult to predict which teams will be at the top of the pecking order as the season unfolds.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “I don’t really want to discount anyone but I think it’s at the moment, it’s in Inter Europol, APR, United are the one most likely to fight for the championship just because of consistency and experience of the teams on the lineup.

“But on the race-by-race basis, you cannot discount anyone with the strategy and the last few yellows, you never know what can happen.

“For the championship, I think, I would go more for the one with the experience and the one that has already shown they can be at the front consistently.”

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