Starworks Still Working on LMP2 Entry

Photo: Regis Lefebure/Starworks

Despite not being on the grid at Daytona in the Prototype class, Starworks Motorsport team principal Peter Baron is still working to enter a LMP2 car in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship later this year.

Baron, who announced last spring that he placed a deposit on a Riley Mk. 30 Gibson with the plan of debuting at Daytona, said he’s faced delays with the program but is confident of making the full-time move to the top class by 2018.

“Our intentions were to get there and they still are; we’re working hard on doing it,” Baron told Sportscar365. “We were close to getting it done but some of the teams underestimated the budgets.

“We want to come and do it with proper testing. We’ll get here eventually but we’re not going to take any shortcuts.”

With the Prototype Challenge class in its final year, Baron admitted his Florida-based team’s future is with LMP2 machinery, having ruled out programs in the GT ranks, as well as LMP3, both in the U.S. and in Europe.

He said he currently has three different options on the table for the start date of its LMP2 program, with meetings set for this weekend at Daytona.

“I know this team in the future… In 2018, it will be in P2. We’re not going to pursue anything in the GT world,” Baron said.

“All of our efforts of survival will be in the LMP2 class, beginning at some point this year.”

Baron, meanwhile, has confirmed plans of at least one full-season PC entry, in the team’s defense of the 2016 title, although still with a yet-to-be-finalized driver lineup.

Starworks has two of its Oreca FLM09s set for this weekend’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

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