Cameron on Penske in LMP2: We want to learn but also race to win
Team Penske’s LMP2 campaign in the World Endurance Championship is more than just a preparation for running Porsche LMDh cars in 2023, according to driver Dane Cameron.
It was confirmed today that Penske will run the full WEC season in 2022 with an Oreca-Gibson LMP2 car, ahead of the team’s WEC/IMSA efforts with Porsche’s LMDh in ’23.
The drivers will be 2018 and ’21 IMSA Prototype champion Felipe Nasr, 2016 and ’19 IMSA Prototype champion Dane Cameron, and two-time GT champion in WEC Emmanuel Collard.
“We look forward to learning as much as we can about the WEC process in 2022 as most of our competition has competed in this series for many years,” said Team Penske president Tim Cindric. “Much like the approach we took by running Road Atlanta in 2017 when we returned to [IMSA] sportscar racing after an eight-year hiatus, we think the LMP2 class provides us a means of gaining valuable experience as we continue to build our program to compete full-time in the IMSA and WEC LMDh class.”
#6 Penske ORECA LMP2, P: Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Juan Pablo Montoya
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
However, Cameron said the team was also looking to win in LMP2.
“Outside of Sebring and Spa, racing at some of these historic tracks all around the world will be a new experience for both myself and the team,” said Cameron, who raced for Acura Team Penske from 2018 to ’20. “We want to learn, but we also want to be competitive and race for class wins.
“This will also be a great opportunity to build our notebooks to be even better prepared for the future. I’m excited to race at these historic tracks against some great competition in WEC, and it’s going to be incredible to compete for Team Penske at Le Mans.”
Former F1 driver Nasr added: “Joining Team Penske in a great opportunity and I can’t wait to compete in WEC and return to Le Mans this year. I know we’ll learn a lot as a team as we develop our program and gain some great experience.
“I’m really excited to get to work as we begin to build momentum for the future.”
Collard, now 50, is the silver-rated driver in the trio. He has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 24 times and raced the Porsche RS Spyder for Team Penske in six races in the American Le Mans Series between 2006 and ’08. He also raced the same model to P2 victory at Le Mans in 2009, driving for Team Essex, and took a P2 class win at Petit Le Mans in ’06 and overall victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring in ’08.
It will mark the first time that Penske has competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Mark Donohue and David Hobbs drove Penske’s beautiful Ferrari 512M but retired early.
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