P1 Motorsports Pulls Plug on Mercedes GT3 Programs

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

P1 Motorsports has withdrawn from IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Blancpain GT World Challenge America competition, effective immediately, reportedly due to a back injury for team owner/driver JC Perez.

The Florida-based operation, which had purchased three Mercedes-AMG GT3s for its dual-season campaign, have placed the cars up for sale, according to team manager Paul Mata.

Perez was due to co-drive with Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maxi Buhk in both championships.

“[JC] is still weighing his options [for 2020],” Mata told Sportscar365. “He’s done for this season and he was thinking about switching to another manufacturer.”

Mata said Perez hurt his back after “falling down some stairs” recently.

It comes after a challenging year to the year for the team, which went through significant personnel changes since the WeatherTech Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona that saw both Gary Cummings and Kevin Doran let go.

Veteran Mercedes-AMG engineer Alex Zoechling was brought in for the Blancpain GT America season-opener at Circuit of The Americas but elected not to continue with the team, with other changes in staff having been made since.

Both of the team’s customer programs in IMSA Prototype Challenge and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, however, will continue.

Mata said one of its three Mercedes GT3 cars has already been sold to an undisclosed team. 

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