Moran Jr. Added in Second TruSpeed Audi for Long Beach

Photo: Brian Cleary/PWC

Rocky Moran Jr. has been a late addition to this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge round at Long Beach, with the former open-wheel ace confirmed in a second TruSpeed Autosport Audi R8 LMS.

Moran, a five-time Long Beach starter in Atlantic competition, will make his PWC debut in Sunday’s 50-minute Sprint round.

It comes three years after the second-generation driver made a one-off appearance at Long Beach in the Verizon IndyCar Series, although did not race after sustaining an injury in a practice crash.

“The last time I drove a sports car in competition was in 2011 with the Jaguar in the ALMS series,” Moran said.

“I’m looking forward to driving at Long Beach again as well as driving the Audi R8 LMS from TruSpeed. 

“We just tested the car up in Buttonwillow and I have to say that it is one of the nicest race cars I have driven. I’m anxious to get back in the car for Friday’s practice.

“These GT3 cars are very cool to drive.”

The California-based team had been working on fielding its second ex-Stevenson Motorsports Audi for the event, with multiple drivers having reportedly been in discussions.

“It is awesome to bring Rocky back to the Long Beach event with one of our TruSpeed Autosport Audi R8 LMS,” said team owner Tyler Tadevic.

“Rocky has had some strong runs at Long Beach and he did a great job in the recent test.

“We are excited to get him back on the Long Beach track and challenge for a front-running performance. With Parker and Rocky working together, I think we can have a strong showing this weekend.”

Moran joins Parker Chase in the two-car effort, with the 17-year-old undertaking a full-season effort, with Ryan Dalziel as his co-driver in the SprintX races.

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