DragonSpeed to Field Ferrari 296 GT3 at Indianapolis

DragonSpeed will return to its GT racing roots at the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fielding a Ferrari 296 GT3 with Henrik Hedman as the first confirmed driver.

The Swedish Bronze-rated racer will pilot the No. 81 car in the six-hour IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round with two yet-to-be-confirmed co-drivers.

Although the Elton Julian-led squad has been regular in LMP2 racing since 2016, it spent the first few years racing GT machinery in various championships.

DragonSpeed debuted with a Ferrari F430 during the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona and later went on to compete in what is now Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.

There, Hedman raced a Ferrari 458 GT3, although the team went on to win the GTA title a year later with Frankie Montecalvo driving a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3.

An additional season racing Ferrari machinery also followed in 2015, with Hedman and Julian sharing 458 GT3 with the likes of Thomas Kemenater and Ryan Dalziel during a Endurance Cup campaign in Europe.

“I’m so looking forward to this challenge,” Julian said.

“GT3 is something we’ve been aiming for since its establishment as the top GT class, and thanks to Henrik we’ll be joining the fray ahead of schedule.

“No one can underestimate the competition at this level and it will be a steep learning curve.

“Returning to the Ferrari fold fills me with personal nostalgia going back to my days driving the 333 SP in the 1990s, and allows us to align our team with what we see as the category’s best car and greatest brand.”