The Dawn of a New Era

[Stonewall458]

The Coca-Cola Racers team have confirmed that they are partnering with 2-time American Le Mans Series Champion, Highcroft Racing for the remainder of the International Sports Car Cup season. The team will be running two HPD ARX-01b cars on Michelin rubber. Duncan Dayton, team principal of Highcroft Racing, spoke to the media yesterday to address this partnership.

It is my pleasure to announce that as of today, we are partnering with the Coca-Cola Racers LMP2 team. This decision was quite an easy one for us at Highcroft. It gives us an opportunity to expand our HPD racing program to other areas of the world. We hope this partnership will not only benefit us, but also benefit the Coca-Cola Racers team in helping them achieve the LMP2 championship along with success in other disciplines of motorsport.

Shane Mortimer, team owner/driver of Coca-Cola Racers, was interviewed recently for his perspective on this new deal.

Q: As team owner of Coca-Cola Racers, what were the reasons behind this partnership with Highcroft?

SM: We have always been fans of Highcroft here at Coca-Cola Racers and have the same history as Highcroft in running with Acura's cars. Once the opportunity arose we jumped at it and are pleased to commit the remainder of our ISCC campaign to the Highcroft team.

Q: What benefits do you get because of this partnership?

SM: Following the retirement of Jamie and Chris's change to GT racing, we had two spare P2 cars and both myself and Conner decided to trade in all four Pescarolo-Judd cars and get the best from Highcroft.
With this partnership we get four new Highcroft P2 chassis with 2 serving as backups for the inevitable crashes. Plus, we get tons of racing data to help us for the European leg of the ISCC.

Q: Do you feel any pressure to live up to the Highcroft name?

SM: Well, yes. We have pressure from both the Highcroft brand and our own fellow P2 racers who won the Asian round of the championship.

Q: What are your goals for the European leg of the ISCC?

SM: With more teams signing up for P2 this time around, we are hoping for regular class podiums and hoping for at least 1 win this session.

Conner Johnson, Mortimer's co-driver, briefly spoke to the press after the announcement.

This partnership certainly helps us; we've got 2-time ALMS champions on our side! The technology and racing data they have access to is immense. Those guys are going to be vital in our hunt for the P2 championship.

*Not actual quote from Duncan Dayton.

nice writeup conner. hope to see those highcroft racers whiz by my Audi.

Best of luck gentlemen!