A brace of Porsche factory drivers, including two of its LMP1 pilots, are set to reinforce lineups in customer Porsche 911 GT America entries for the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The German manufacturer confirmed Friday its works driver allocation for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season-opener, which will also mark the debut of its new GT Daytona class contender, based off of the successful 991 Cup car.
Porsche will be the most-represented manufacturer on the grid, with 12 GT America entries entered for GTD.
Newly signed Porsche 919 Hybrid driver Marc Lieb will join Patrick Dempsey, Andrew Davis and Joe Foster in the No. 27 Dempsey Racing entry. Meanwhile, fellow LMP1 pilot Timo Bernhard has been added to the No. 71 Park Place Motorsports car of Dr. Jim Norman, Craig Stanton and Norbert Siedler.
Marco Holzer will race the Team Seattle-backed No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche with co-drivers Ian James, Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas, while Fred Makowiecki, Porsche’s newest factory driver, joins Henrique Cisneros, Kuba Giermaziak and Christina Nielsen in the No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport car.
With Team Falken Tire skipping Daytona, Wolf Henzler will be with Magnus Racing and full-season co-drivers John Potter and Andy Lally. The fourth seat will be taken by either Brian Wong or Ryan Eversley, with a decision expected to come following this weekend.
Here’s a complete rundown of all the confirmed drivers to date:
Muehlner Motorsports America
No. 18: Earl Bamber/Mark Thomas
No. 19: Randy Pobst/Jim Michaelian
WeatherTech Alex Job Racing
No. 22: Cooper MacNeil/Leh Keen/LP Dumoulin/Shane van Gisbergen
Team Seattle Alex Job Racing
No. 23: Ian James/Mario Farnbacher/Alex Riberas/Marco Holzer
Dempsey Racing
No. 27: Patrick Demsey/Andrew Davis/Marc Lieb/Joe Foster
No. 28: Christian Engelhart/Klaus Bachler/Lance Willsey/Rolf Ineichen/Franz Konrad
NGT Motorsport
No. 30: Henrique Cisneros/Kuba Giermaziak/Christina Nielsen/Fred Makowiecki
Magnus Racing
No. 44: John Potter/Andy Lally/Wolf Henzler/TBD
Snow Racing with Wright Motorsports
No. 58: Madison Snow/Jan Heylen/Marco Siefried
Park Place Motorsports
No. 71: Dr. Jim Norman/Craig Stanton/Norbert Siedler/Timo Bernhard
No. 73: Patrick Lindsey/Kevin Estre/Connor de Phillippi/Jason Hart/Mike Vess
GB Autosport
No. 81: Damien Faulkner/Patrick Huisman/Bob Faieta/Michael Avenatti