DragonSpeed
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Elton Julian |
| Base | Jupiter, Florida, United States |
| Team principal(s) | Nicolas Minassian |
| Current series | FIA World Endurance Championship European Le Mans Series |
| Former series | American Le Mans Series Pirelli World Challenge Blancpain Endurance Series |
| Teams' Championships | European Le Mans Series: LMP2 2017 |
| Drivers' Championships | Pirelli World Challenge: GTA 2015: Frank Montecalvo European Le Mans Series: LMP2 2017: Memo Rojas, Léo Roussel |
DragonSpeed is an American racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
History
First steps
In 2007, DragonSpeed, were founded by racing driver Elton Julian. Four years later the team made their race debut on Ferrari F430 Challenge in the GT category of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona.[1] They have finished 15th in the category and 29th overall.[2] They missed 2012 racing season, and joined the Prototype Challenge class of the 2013 American Le Mans Series with Oreca FLM09-Chevrolet car. They finished sixth in the season standings, being the only team in the category to participate on the part-time schedule.[3]
Pirelli World Challenge
DragonSpeed switched to the Pirelli World Challenge in 2014 with Henrik Hedman and Mike Hedlund behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT3. Hedman finished ninth in the standings.[4] Hedlund had only three rounds, ending 22nd. For the next year the team switched to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Hedlund was replaced by Frank Montecalvo and Eric Lux. Montecalvo won the GTA category title.[5]
Blancpain Endurance Series
The team moved to Europe to compete in the Pro-Am Cup of the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. They used Ferrari 458 GT3 and fielded Hedman, Julian and Thomas Kemenater.[6]
European Le Mans Series
In 2016, the team purchased Oreca 05-Nissan car to compete in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series with Hedman, Ben Hanley and Nicolas Lapierre.[7] They had four podiums in six races, including win at Spa.[8] This was enough for the fourth place in the LMP2 standings.
For 2017 the team bought two Oreca 07-Gibson cars.[9] The car #21 retained the same Hedman-Hanley-Lapierre line-up, while car #22 was branded as G-Drive Racing with Memo Rojas, Léo Roussel as their full-time drivers. Ryō Hirakawa due to his Toyota commitments was forced to miss Red Bull Ring and Circuit Paul Ricard rounds. He was sustained by Nicolas Minassian.[10] The team had their first double, winning Monza round.[11] G-Drive branded car won the series after their five podiums in six races.[12]
The team will continue to stand out car #21 in the LMP2 category of the 2018 European Le Mans Series with same line-up of drivers (Hedman-Hanley-Lapierre).[13]
FIA World Endurance Championship
DragonSpeed purchased BR Engineering BR1-Gibson car and made their debut in the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2018.[14] Their LMP1 squad featured Hendrik Hedman and Ben Hanley, while Pietro Fittipaldi and Renger van der Zande shared third-driver duties.[15] In addition, the team were represented in LMP2 class by Roberto González, Pastor Maldonado, and Nathanaël Berthon, and Anthony Davidson who replaced Berthon after 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans race.[16]
References
- ^ "Rolex 24 At Daytona Entry List". Grand-Am Road Racing. January 30, 2011. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Daytona 24 Hours". racingsportscars.com. Racing Sport Cars. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "Official 2013 AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES PRESENTED BY TEQUILA PATRÓN CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ "Pirelli World Challenge — GT 2014 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "Pirelli World Challenge — GTA 2015 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "Dragon Speed enters the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series". Blancpain GT Series. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. September 11, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ "4 Hours of Silverstone Free Practice 1 Classification by Class" (PDF). European Le Mans Series. April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
- ^ Fernandez, Mat; Errity, Stephen (September 25, 2016). "Spa, Race, DragonSpeed Sees Off WRT Challenge". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "Léo Roussel Completes G-Drive by DragonSpeed ELMS LMP2 Entry". europeanlemansseries.com. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ "2017 EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES - 4 HOURS OF RED BULL RING — PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST" (PDF). European Le Mans Series. July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ Goodwin, Graham; Kilbey, Stephen (May 14, 2017). "G-Drive Wins, Headlining 1-2 For DragonSpeed In 4H Monza". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ Dagys, John (October 22, 2017). "Graff Wins 4H Portimao; G-Drive Claims ELMS Title". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (February 6, 2018). "DragonSpeed Confirms Unchanged LMP2 Lineup". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Luke (November 17, 2017). "DragonSpeed Confirms BR1 Gibson for WEC". Sportscar365. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (March 5, 2018). "Fittipaldi To Sub For Van Der Zande At DragonSpeed". DailySportscar. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ Goodwin, Graham (April 8, 2018). "Anthony Davidson To Join DragonSpeed LMP2 Effort Post-Le Mans". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
External links
