Owen: Juncos “More Relaxed” After Solving Daytona Gremlins

Will Owen is confident of Juncos Racing’s chances in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the team having found the problem that plagued its sports car racing debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.

The team showed considerable pace with its Cadillac DPi-V.R in January’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opener, qualifying seventh, but its success unravelled in the race.

Trouble began on the formation lap when the car was forced to pit with a throttle-related issue, which then led to multiple other electrical gremlins throughout the race.

“We found the exact problem when we came [to Sebring] for the test, we found the exact culprit of what broke on the car,” Owen explained to Sportscar365.

“It was an electronic problem, just a bunch of things went wrong and caused a bunch of problems.

“We found out the cause deep down inside that was making things happen and now it’s fixed, 99 percent sure. Hopefully the bumps here don’t jar anything loose.”

Owen, who previously drove for Juncos for two seasons in the Pro Mazda Championship prior to his move to sports car racing, is feeling positive about the team’s chances this weekend.

“Honestly, everybody’s so much more relaxed this time around,” he said. “I’m relaxed, a lot more relaxed. We just feel like we’ve done it all once.

“We had some mistakes and that expected and it’s OK, but now we know each other, how we work and know what to improve.

“The Cadillac’s been awesome here in the past so I’m not too worried about it.”

Teammate for Remainder of Season Still Undecided

Juncos is yet to determine who will join Owen for the remainder of the WeatherTech Championship season, with the decision set to be made following this weekend’s race.

Rene Binder is confirmed as the third driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup races, but the identity Owen’s full-season teammate is still yet to be finalized.

Agustin Canapino received a late call-up to make his second consecutive DPi start, following a recent trip to Argentina for team owner Ricardo Juncos.

“[Agustin] is so good at learning tracks,” Owen said.

“At Daytona, he would just ask so many questions, just getting any information he could about the cold tires, how the car is and everything, just learning about the car and the track.

“It was kind of inspiring how quick he got up to speed.

“As soon as this race is over, we’re going to try and really nail it down. I don’t think there’s any word on what direction we go at this point. I really don’t know, I’d like to know!

“[Ricardo Juncos] has been working super hard traveling around and talking to sponsors, talking to drivers and trying to find the best fit.”

John Dagys contributed to this report