Habul, Whincup SunEnergy1 Entry Withdrawn from Laguna

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

SunEnergy1 Racing will not take part in this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca due to an illness for team owner/driver Kenny Habul.

The U.S.-based Australian came down with a stomach virus on Saturday while at the Hungaroring for the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, which forced both he and co-driver Tristan Vautier out of the remainder of the event.

Habul, who was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut upon his return to the U.S., was due to share the wheel of the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Virgin Australia Supercars ace Jamie Whincup.

“I was looking forward to racing at Laguna Seca, but that’s the way things go,” Whincup told SpeedCafe.com. “You know if Kenny pulls out of a race he must be seriously sick because he just loves being out there.

“I am sure there will be more opportunities for us to team up together again.”

SunEnergy1’s withdrawal has resulted in a 13-car field in GT Daytona, which is still bolstered by the addition of a second Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 and return of Park Place Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Track action for the penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship gets underway on Friday.

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