Eurasia, Rick Ware Team Up for Rolex 24 LMP2 Entry

Eurasia Motorsport has confirmed that it will make its Rolex 24 at Daytona debut in January under a partnership with Rick Ware Racing.

The two teams will join forces to field one of Eurasia’s Ligier JS P217 Gibsons in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener under the RWR Eurasia banner.

The entry, which is operating in collaboration with the BAM Motorsport Management consultancy, marks a partnership between two teams that competed in the most recent Asian Le Mans Series campaign.

Eurasia has bases in the Philippines and at Sepang circuit in Malaysia but will position itself at Rick Ware Racing’s Mooresville, N.C. facility to prepare for its first IMSA outing.

Cody Ware, who drove for his father Rick’s team in the Asian LMS LMP2 Am Trophy category in 2019-20, is the first confirmed driver for the Rolex 24 effort.

More drivers are due to be confirmed in the coming weeks, while the program could be extended after Daytona to become a fixed entry in either the WeatherTech Championship or the Michelin Endurance Cup.

“This is an exciting new venture for us at Eurasia Motorsport,” said team principal Mark Goddard.

“‘We’re currently shipping our two Ligier JS P217s to the factory in readiness for the Rolex 24.

“‘The team will be based at the RWR facility in the U.S and we will be managing the program from there with our own race and data engineers as well as race mechanics.

“We will benefit from logistical and personnel support from RWR and we’re looking forward to this new challenge.”

Eurasia’s 2020 program focused on the 24 Hours of Le Mans where it ran Nick Foster, Roberto Merhi and Nobuya Yamanaka in a Ligier.

Its first confirmed Daytona driver Ware said that he followed the team’s progress at Le Mans and in Asian LMS where Eurasia and RWR fielded different types of Ligier LMP2.

Rick Ware Racing, which partnered with Italian squad Eurointernational for its Asian program, was due to appear at Daytona last year with a Riley Mk. 30 Gibson but withdrew in the days leading up to the event.

“I had the pleasure of meeting with Mark Goddard and [BAM Motorsport Management director] David Madgwick early this year in the Asian Le Mans Series and I was really impressed with their program there,” said Ware.

“The Ligier P2 was fast week in and week out and the team as a whole were so professional. I followed their 24 Hours of Le Mans program with interest too, so naturally I’m excited to be working with Eurasia and the BAM team this year, and really looking forward to heading to Daytona for the Roar and then the Rolex 24.

“With my other race programs, it is going to be a very busy season for me, but between my commitments to NASCAR and the WeatherTech Championship, I think it’s going to be a very cool 2021.”

RWR Eurasia’s entry with the Ligier means that three of the four regulated LMP2 chassis types are set to be represented at Daytona.

A handful of Oreca 07 entries have already been confirmed along with the commitment of Cetilar Racing’s Dallara P217 from the FIA World Endurance Championship. 

It’s understood that Eurasia is still aiming to field an Asian LMS program in February despite its Rolex 24 involvement one week before the 2021 season starts in Abu Dhabi.