Duval: JDC-Miller struggles down to financial limitations
Loic Duval says JDC-Miller MotorSports doesn’t have the financial muscle to match the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's top teams following a subdued run of results since its victory in Sebring.
Duval, Tristan Vautier and enduro driver Sebastien Bourdais won the Sebring 12 Hours in the #5 Mustang Sampling-sponsored #5 Cadillac DPi-V.R back in March, with Bourdais fending off the factory #5 Mazda RT24-P of Harry Tincknell for the team's second overall win in IMSA.
However, full-season drivers Duval and Vautier have struggled to replicate that form since then, bagging only a single podium at the most recent race in Long Beach.
This has put them outside championship contention heading into this weekend’s Petit Le Mans finale, as they trail Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in the #10 Wayne Taylor Acura by 408 points.
However, Duval feels JDC managed to maximise its potential in every race bar the Detroit Grand Prix, and feels a difference in budgets is preventing it from regularly challenging for race victories in IMSA’s top class.
“We are in motorsport, we know that budgets have a big impact on everything and we have a really small operation with JDC,” Duval told Motorsport.com. “It's not easy to fight the big guys like Ganassi or [Wayne] Taylor, or Penske used to be [until its exit], or Mazda as a manufacturer.
“For sure we don't have the same budget, [we have a] really small operation. So that's really tough. When we do everything perfectly, we are there to fight with them. When we struggle a little bit more it's difficult for us to catch the best ones.
“I think that's the main limiting factor that we have during the season. If the team does well they do the maximum they can. As drivers we've been doing quite okay.
“In Daytona we had a really good pace, even better than last year, but unfortunately we had a contact during the race with a GT car and we couldn't fight for the win.
“Then in Sebring we didn't have such a good pace but at the end of the race the track [started coming] together to us and the car was much better, we could win that race.
“I have to say that in Detroit for example we didn't finish where we should have been and on the other tracks we didn't have the performance like the others. We didn't optimise Detroit, but then for the rest we more or less ended up where we should have been.”
Peugeot Hypercar 9X8
Photo by: Peugeot Sport
Le Mans 24 Hours winner Duval will rejoin Peugeot next year as part of the French manufacturer’s return to the top echelon of sportscar racing with the radical 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar.
But while fellow Cadillac driver Kevin Magnussen will leave IMSA after just a single season with Chip Ganassi, Duval says Peugeot won’t prevent him from racing in the series for another year with JDC.
“As long as there is no clash with my main contract, which is Peugeot, as I can do anything besides that without interfering with my commitment with Peugeot," he clarified.
Asked if he has a deal in place with JDC for the 2022 IMSA season, which will begin with the traditional Roar Before The 24 test on January 21-23, Duval said: “Not yet, but we are working on it.”
Related video
WEC squad High Class Racing enters full IMSA LMP2 season
BMW drivers aim to send off M8 GTE "in style" at Road Atlanta
How Derani's long road to title success exorcised painful memories
It took Pipo Derani no time at all to establish himself as a winner in IMSA, winning the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours on his first two starts in 2016. But it took until the final corner of the 2021 season before he could become its champion, the culmination of a journey that he believes has made him a better driver.
The significance of the next step in WEC/IMSA convergence
Following the latest convergence connection permitting Le Mans Hypercars from the FIA World Endurance Championship to compete against LMDh entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship from 2023, it could open up enticing options not only to manufacturers but also for the calendar and race formats
Why a Mazda IMSA Prototype title would bring bitter joy
Can Mazda win this year’s IMSA Prototype championship? Undoubtedly. But it will be the culmination of an achingly hard struggle, after which the brand has decided to quit. David Malsher-Lopez tells the story of a bizarre blend of heartache and positivity.
The GTE dilemma that IMSA has created for the WEC
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s decision to scrap its GT Le Mans class for 2022 raises the question of whether the FIA World Endurance Championship should phase out GTE cars. But it's a much harder decision than it appears on the surface.
Nine things to watch at the 2021 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona
After a 100-minute sprint race to whet the appetite, the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship gets underway properly this weekend. With plenty of significant changes during the winter, here are the key points you need to keep an eye on
Why Magnussen is relishing a fresh start in sportscars
Having gone over seven years without a race win through spells with McLaren, Renault and Haas, Kevin Magnussen's departure from Formula 1 for IMSA with big-hitters Chip Ganassi Racing could give him what he craves most - a chance of success
Oliver Gavin's Corvette Racing highlights
Oliver Gavin has stepped down from the full-time Corvette Racing line-up after a stellar career with the team spanning nearly 20 years. He looks back on a stint that encompassed, among other successes, five Le Mans 24 Hours victories.
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends
Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it…