Jeff Segal Signs with Level 5 for 2014

Photo: Nick Busato

Following confirmation of its expansion into the GT Daytona class for 2014, Level 5 Motorsports has added further strength to its planned multi-car effort in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with the hiring of Ferrari ace Jeff Segal.

Sportscar365 has learned that the two-time GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series champion will make the switch from AIM Autosport to Level 5 for next year, joining the Scott Tucker-owned squad in a to-be-determined role.

Level 5 plans to field two Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 cars in the GTD category, while also mounting a return to Ferrari Challenge, both platforms which the 28-year-old has achieved previous success with.

“I have known Jeff for several years going back to Ferrari Challenge,” Tucker explained. “He is a great guy and his racing resume with the Ferrari brand is impressive. We’ve worked together on a couple of occasions and I told him I would be calling when the time was right.

“Having worked with Ferrari and Michelotto, he will bring a great depth of knowledge to the team for the Ferrari GTD and Challenge cars. I like working with people I respect. Level 5 races for wins and championships and we only associate our team with people that can achieve our goals. Jeff is certainly one of those people.”

Segal spent the last six seasons in Rolex Series, which included claiming GT championships in 2010 and 2012, the latter in an AIM Autosport Ferrari 458. Prior to that, he became the youngest champion in GRAND-AM history by picking up the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge title in 2007.

“Level 5’s commitment to the Ferrari program in GTD allows me to bring a lot of hands on experience to help jump-start their effort, given my recent involvement with the racing and development of that model in GRAMD-AM since 2011,” Segal said.

“Since Ferrari debuted that project for the 2012, season, we’ve done an incredible amount of development and evolution with the car, which has produced two straight championships in only the first two seasons of the project.

“I have been a part of this entire process with the car, so hopefully I can help Level 5 bypass some of the learning curve, and to extract the best performance from their new cars from the start of the season.

“Certainly the relationships with everyone at Ferrari as well as Michelotto, and the existing knowledge of what the cars need in order to run well will help the program ramp up quickly.”

Level 5 confirmed the driver lineup for its first Ferrari GTD entry last week, which will see Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell share driving duties in the team’s lead Prancing Horse. They’ll be joined by team owner Tucker for the endurance rounds.

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