MSR Reveals All-Female Lineup for Rolex 24, GTD Season

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

An all-female driver lineup has been revealed for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and entire IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, with Katherine Legge, Jackie Heinricher, Ana Beatriz and Simona de Silvestro confirmed in a Meyer Shank Racing-run Acura NSX GT3 Evo.

Legge and Heinricher will make a bid for the GT Daytona class championship in the Caterpillar-sponsored Acura and will be joined by former IndyCar driver Beatriz in the four Michelin Endurance Cup races.

Fellow open-wheel driver de Silvestro will complete the lineup in the Florida endurance classic.

It will mark the second all-female lineup to take part in the Rolex 24, following Janet Guthrie, Anita Taylor and Smokey Drolet’s effort in a Ford Mustang in 1967.

Heinricher, who has made starts in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, is set for her WeatherTech Championship debut in the new effort, which will run under the Heinricher Racing banner.

The U.S. Air Force veteran, who put the deal together with CAT, is the founder of biotech company BooShoot.

“I am honored to partner with CAT and to have their support,” Heinricher said.

“My vision has long been to bring together a diverse team of four female drivers, some of the fastest globally, to join forces to compete together, and with the support of CAT, I get to see my long held vision become reality.

“I am excited to be joining Michael Shank and the entire winning MSR team in this amazing partnership and to have the honor to compete with Katherine, Ana, and Simona.”

The team has also named Loni Unser as a development driver. 

“This is truly a groundbreaking effort for next year, not only for us as a team but for the series as well,” Shank said. 

“It’s great to have Katherine back with us, she has been doing great this season as we fight for the championship.

“I also want to thank Jackie for developing the Caterpillar partnership and we are excited to have her on board. Simona and Bia  are also very strong talents, and hopefully with them all joined together we can make a statement next year.”

Shank confirmed they will have a second full-season Acura next year but with details still to be confirmed.

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