Gustavo Menezes has been confirmed as the fourth and final driver in JDC-Miller Motorsports’ GAINSCO-backed entry for next month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The 2016 FIA WEC LMP2 World Champion joins full-season pilots Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg and the team’s Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup driver, Chris Miller, at the wheel of the No. 99 Oreca 07 Gibson.
It will mark the 23-year-old American’s debut with the Minnesota-based team.
“Gustavo was the driver we wanted to complete the No. 99 driver line-up for Daytona and we super excited that he will come and race with us at Daytona,” said team Principal John Church.
“We first got to know Gustavo when he was competing in the U.S. in the Mazda Road to Indy and have followed his career since he moved to Europe.
“Obviously his success and accomplishments speak for themselves, but for us it was also important that he has raced at Daytona several times and knows the car very well.”
Menezes, who has three previous starts in the race, was recently signed by Rebellion Racing for its return to LMP1 in the WEC next season, following two years of LMP2 competition with Signatech-Alpine.
“Over the last two years I have had a blessed transition into sports car racing, which saw a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the LMP2 World Endurance championship,” Menezes said.
“With that said, I have been to Daytona several times and am still hungry to see what we can do and try to get ourselves on the top of the podium.”
Cindric Expected in Second Entry
Fellow American Austin Cindric is expected to be confirmed in JDC-Miller’s second Oreca LMP2 car for Daytona.
The 19-year-old NASCAR rising star is set to join full-season drivers Simon Trummer and Robert Alon in the newly re-numbered No. 85 car, which will sport the team’s trademark ‘Banana Boat’ yellow livery.
The identity of the team’s fourth driver has not yet been revealed.
Cindric, who has extensive sports car racing experience, was recently announced as part of Multimatic’s lineup for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season-opener in a Ford Mustang GT4 that will be driven by fellow Ford-backed NASCAR drivers.