| With Le Mans Prototype 2 as the Lead Class, Albuquerque, Deletraz, Derani and van der Zande Getting in on the Action July 10, 2024By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service |
 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You won’t see Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars when the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship visits Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this weekend for the Chevrolet Grand Prix. But you will see several of the stars who normally drive them.For a variety of reasons including track length, available pit and paddock space, and competitive balance and safety aspects, not every WeatherTech Championship event can accommodate all four of IMSA’s racing classes – GTP, Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) and GTD PRO. The LMP2 class was not on the bill for the races earlier this year at Long Beach, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit, but it is the top class competing in this weekend’s two-hour, 40-minute competition. The break in the GTP schedule is no vacation for four of the regular class drivers, however. Renger van der Zande, Filipe Albuquerque, Pipo Derani and Louis Deletraz – all of whom have prior LMP2 experience – have been retained to co-drive at CTMP for teams in the heat of the LMP2 championship battle. They’ll be chasing class leaders Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and the No. 74 Riley ORECA LMP2 07, who hold a slim six-point advantage over the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA. LMP2 entries make up 12 of the 35-car field. Deletraz returns to the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA known as “Spike” that he shared with AO Racing team owner PJ Hyett and Alex Quinn at the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they earned a second-place finish in the LMP2 Pro-Am class. The 27-year-old Deletraz has a wealth of LMP2 experience, including a pair of European Le Mans Series championships and the LMP2 title in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, with three wins in seven races. He also shared the winning GTP class Acura ARX-06 at this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac, claiming the honors in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 with Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta. “I’m excited to be at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with AO Racing,” Deletraz stated. “It’s a new track for me, but everyone says good things about it. It’s high-speed and we’ll be the top class there with no GTP running. It will be nice to have the opportunity to win an overall race in LMP2. I’m really looking forward to it after Le Mans and to sharing the car with PJ and all the crew.” United Autosports has fielded LMP2 cars at Le Mans and in European-based championships since 2017. This year, it has added a full-time two-car WeatherTech Championship program under the United Autosports USA banner. Albuquerque was part of United’s initial entry into LMP2 seven years ago, and while his day job now is to co-drive WTRAndretti’s No. 10 GTP class Acura in the WeatherTech Championship, he has continued to compete at Le Mans with United, claiming the LMP2 class win in 2020. This year at Le Mans, United scored the LMP2 win with a car driven by Bijoy Garg, Oliver Jarvis and Nolan Siegel. Albuquerque shared another United entry with Ben Keating and Ben Hanley, who race United’s No. 2 ORECA in the WeatherTech Championship. At CTMP, Deletraz will be in the No. 22 United ORECA with Daniel Goldburg. “I am really looking forward to race in Mosport with United, racing for the overall victory,” Albuquerque said. “I had the chance to meet Daniel already and we had a great feeling. On top of that, I got a nice warmup at Le Mans to get back into the LMP2. We want to fight for the win, for sure.” Derani parlayed his impressive form in LMP2 machinery into a top-flight prototype driving career. He joined the team now known as Whelen Cadillac Racing in 2018 and has since won a pair of top-level IMSA championships, in Daytona Prototype international (DPi) in 2021 and GTP in ’23. He joins Richard Mille AF Corse at CTMP to share the No. 88 ORECA with Luis Perez Companc. Van der Zande has maintained a presence in international LMP2 competition for the last few years to enhance his full-time GTP program in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R in the WeatherTech Championship. He’ll pair with team owner (and 2022 IMSA LMP2 champion) John Farano in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA this weekend in Canada. The Chevrolet Grand Prix airs live on USA Network and Peacock starting at 11 a.m. ET Sunday. International coverage is available on IMSA.tv and youtube.com/IMSAOfficial. |
