Hot off of their first-place finish both overall and in the DPi class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Meyer Shank Racing has announced that Stoffel Vandoorne with be racing for them at the 12 Hours of Sebring alongside MSR’s full-season IMSA drivers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis.
Helio Castroneves, who would typically be driving, will instead race at the Texas Motor Speedway for the IndyCar race weekend. Vandoorne, who currently races full time for Mercedes-EQ in Formula E, will be piloting the number 60 Acura ARX-05 for the first time since testing.
The replacement marks several other firsts for the Belgian, including his first-ever IMSA start and his first start at Sebring International Raceway.
Meyer Shank Racing #60 Acura on track Credit: Meyer Shank Racing
Vandoorne does have a good deal of endurance racing experience from his time in the WEC, including with his fellow drivers. He and Blomqvist finished second in LMP2 in 2021 with five podiums. His experience also includes two 24 Hours of Le Mans starts, one of which resulted in a third-place LMP1 finish in 2019.
Vandoorne had this to say about the opportunity, “For me it will be the first time racing in Sebring, and the first time racing in IMSA competition which I am excited for because the racing in America is very close. I feel lucky to also be joining the team that just won the Daytona 24 Hours, so it’s going to be a really great experience.”
MSR co-owner Mike Shank is hopeful for a strong performance for the team, citing how Vandoorne had impressed them during a test session last week. Shank also had a comment about the Vandoorne stand-in, “It was our initial intention to have Helio race in both the IMSA and IndyCar events that weekend, but logistically it became a bit difficult. Tom has said great things about Stoffel from their time racing in WEC together last year, so I think we have another strong lineup heading into the race weekend.”