HART Acura Withdrawn From Petit Le Mans

HART has withdrawn its entry from next month’s Motul Petit Le Mans due to “budget situations”.

The Ohio-based GT Daytona class squad initially planned to run the full Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup with its Acura NSX GT3, but a statement released on the team’s Instagram page confirmed its absence from the final round of the season on Oct. 13.

“It was a very tough decision but one that was necessary for us to have a chance at a 2019 season,” the statement read.

“We are working on our plans for 2019 now and will release those once they are solidified. We want to thank everyone for their continued support and we hope you continue to follow us in the future.

“We were really looking forward to attending Petit but unfortunately it did not work out.

“We will never give up and we are working hard to be back on the grid again in 2019.”

Ryan Eversley and Chad Gilsinger drove the HART Acura in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

John Falb and Sean Rayhall were part of the driving crew for the Daytona season-opener where the team finished 16th in class, while Tom Dyer joined for rounds two and three.

Recently crowned Pirelli World Challenge TCR champion Eversley said in a Twitter post that he was “absolutely gutted to be missing my home race”.

The HART team, which is made up of Honda of America staff, joined the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship grid this year after focusing its efforts on assisting the two-car Michael Shank Racing Acura operation in 2017.