DragonSpeed

United States 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

A DragonSpeed liveried BR Engineering BR1 LMP1 car, competing at Silverstone in 2018

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

  1. ↑ "Rolex 24 At Daytona Entry List". Grand-Am Road Racing. January 30, 2011. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Daytona 24 Hours". racingsportscars.com. Racing Sport Cars. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "Official 2013 AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES PRESENTED BY TEQUILA PATRÓN CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Pirelli World Challenge — GT 2014 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "Pirelli World Challenge — GTA 2015 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Dragon Speed enters the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series". Blancpain GT Series. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "4 Hours of Silverstone Free Practice 1 Classification by Class" (PDF). European Le Mans Series. April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ Fernandez, Mat; Errity, Stephen (25 September 2016). "Spa, Race, DragonSpeed Sees Off WRT Challenge". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Léo Roussel Completes G-Drive by DragonSpeed ELMS LMP2 Entry". europeanlemansseries.com. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "2017 EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES - 4 HOURS OF RED BULL RING — PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST" (PDF). European Le Mans Series. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Goodwin, Graham; Kilbey, Stephen (14 May 2017). "G-Drive Wins, Headlining 1-2 For DragonSpeed In 4H Monza". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  12. ↑ Dagys, John (22 October 2017). "Graff Wins 4H Portimao; G-Drive Claims ELMS Title". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Kilshaw, Jake (6 February 2018). "DragonSpeed Confirms Unchanged LMP2 Lineup". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  14. ↑ Smith, Luke (17 November 2017). "DragonSpeed Confirms BR1 Gibson for WEC". Sportscar365. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  15. ↑ Kilbey, Stephen (5 March 2018). "Fittipaldi To Sub For Van Der Zande At DragonSpeed". DailySportscar. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  16. ↑ Goodwin, Graham (8 April 2018). "Anthony Davidson To Join DragonSpeed LMP2 Effort Post-Le Mans". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
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