MacNeil Joins Keating, Bleekemolen for 24H COTA

Image: Black Falcon

Cooper MacNeil will team up with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rivals Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen as well as Felipe Fraga in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in next month’s Hankook 24H COTA.

MacNeil is set for his 24H Series debut at the wheel of the Black Falcon-prepared Mercedes, which will carry WeatherTech colors.

It will mark MacNeil’s first start in Mercedes machinery since the 2017 WeatherTech Championship season when he ran as teammates to Keating and Bleekemolen at Riley Motorsports.

Both Keating and Bleekemolen have contested the two previous editions of the race, finishing second in 2017.

“We have talked about doing the race at COTA the last couple of years and we are finally going to do it together here in two months,” MacNeil said.

“Jeroen has had a lot success with Black Falcon in the Creventic events. Ben likes racing at COTA since it is basically his home track and Felipe has won races in the Mercedes with Ben and Jeroen.

“I have a lot of laps there in IMSA and Ferrari Challenge, so the four of us should be pretty formidable at COTA in the AMG-GT3 car.”

Keating, Bleekemolen and Fraga are coming off winning the Michelin Endurance Cup title in last weekend’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

More than 40 cars are on the provisional entry list for the Nov. 16-17 event, which will close out the 24H Series Continents powered by Hankook schedule.

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