Minassian Confirmed at Era; Team Commits to Full Season

Photo: MPS Agency

Nicolas Minassian will lead Era Motorsport’s driver lineup for next month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the team having also committed for the full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in LMP2.

The Indianapolis-based team will enter an Oreca 07 Gibson for Minassian and co-drivers Ryan Lewis, Kyle Tilley and Dwight Merriman.

Both team principal Tilley and Merriman are confirmed for the six-round LMP2 season, which excludes the Florida endurance classic in terms of points.

Minassian, who is coming off a championship-winning season in the European Le Mans Series as sporting director for IDEC Sport, will make his first LMP2 start since the 4 Hours of Barcelona in July when filling in for the injured Patrice Lafargue.

“I am very excited to be joining Era Motorsport for the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona,” said Minassian. “It’s such a great race with a rich history, and one of the top endurance events in the world.

“I have a lot of respect for the way the team works and how this wonderful adventure is developing.

“Racing the Oreca chassis is also a joy, and I know that car and it is a great choice by the team. Kyle and Era have put a lot of effort into this program and I am very happy to be part of it.”

Tilley added: “To say I’m excited is an understatement. For myself, to be back in a top level prototype is fantastic, but to do it as a team owner is unbelievable!

“A mountain of work has gone in to get us to this point, and we couldn’t have done it without the crew and especially our recently appointed team manager, Ross Needham.”

While having initially announced a joint effort with DragonSpeed, Era will make the 2020 season a “sole venture” according to the team’s release.

“Advancing up to the IMSA ranks is a big step, and we initially thought it was best to join with a team that has had the success of DragonSpeed,” said Tilley. “However, the more invested we became in this program, we all decided this is really something we wanted to do on our own.”

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