Koch Joins Performance Tech for Watkins Glen

Photo: IMSA

Kenton Koch will join Performance Tech Motorsports for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the team announced Tuesday.

The 2015 Mazda Prototypes Lites champion will share the wheel of the team’s Oreca FLM09 with full-season drivers Kyle Marcelli and James French.

Koch took part in the opening two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds with JDC-Miller Motorsports, scoring class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona but hasn’t been back to series competition since.

“Everyone worked really hard to put this deal together,” team manager Brent O’Neill said. “I always kept in contact with Kenton and would have loved to have had him for the full season but it just didn’t work out. But we’re very happy to have him with us now.

“It really is exciting to have a talent like him in the car with us, he’ll be an asset to the team. He’ll raise our game and I think he’ll fit right in. The team already likes Kenton and I know he’s talked to James a little. It should be good.”

The 21-year-old claimed his Lites title last year with JDC, a rival team of Performance Tech in the IMSA development series.

“I’m really looking forward to being back in a car,” Koch said. “It’s nice to be given the opportunity and to have the ability to take advantage of it.

“I think we have a solid driver lineup. I know James and Kyle are both quick and consistent. I’m really looking forward to working with the Performance Tech Program.

“I have to thank Mazda who helped me get to where I am and JDC for the experience they’ve given me, I now have a watch on my wrist that I never thought I’d have because of them.”

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