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Jarvis: "I haven't turned my back on WEC"

Oliver Jarvis insists he hasn't "turned his back" on the FIA World Endurance Championship even though he is now racing full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis

#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis

Alexander Trienitz

#55 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis
#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez, René Rast
#38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07-Gibson: Ho-Pin Tung, Thomas Laurent, Oliver Jarvis
#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi, P: Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez, René Rast
#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis
#77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez, René Rast
#38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07-Gibson: Ho-Pin Tung, Thomas Laurent, Oliver Jarvis
LMP2 Podium: first place Ho-Pin Tung, Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent, DC Racing
#38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07-Gibson: Ho-Pin Tung, Thomas Laurent, Oliver Jarvis

Ex-Audi LMP1 driver Jarvis made his debut for the Mazda Team Joest squad in last month's IMSA season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, although his race was plagued by mechanical issues.

Jarvis said the burgeoning manufacturer involvement in the DPi class was what attracted him to IMSA, but admitted he was still looking at the prospect of adding a WEC programme to his schedule.

"The ideal would have been to do IMSA and WEC, but it's very difficult to do [both] full time," he told Motorsport.com. "But IMSA for me has just gone from strength to strength with the manufacturer involvement.

"That's the biggest problem I see at the moment for WEC. I'm really pleased with the amount of P1 entries that have come along, but without the manufacturer involvement, for a driver there's that instability.

"P2 is a fantastic category but every year you've got to find the budget to run the team, and the majority of the drivers are obliged to bring money, whereas you come here and you're a professional and you're paid.

"I certainly haven't turned my back on the WEC – I had two amazing years full-time there and I'd like to think there's a chance I might be back.

"I'm just seeing if I can make it work and if it's the right thing for me as well – I don't want to go there and just make up the numbers after such a great year last year.

"I want to go there and be able to fight at the front, whether it be a P1 or a P2."

Along with Ho-Pin Tung and Thomas Laurent, Jarvis finished second in WEC's LMP2 class last season with Jackie Chan DC Racing, only losing out on the title to Rebellion Racing in the Bahrain season finale.

He didn't rule out rejoining the Jota Sport-run team for 2018 when asked, although any deal would be complicated by the fact two of this year's WEC races - Spa and Fuji - fall on the same weekend as IMSA events.

"The relationship's great and they're an awesome team," Jarvis said of Jota. "Many times I've compared them to Joest and I stand by that. So we have a fantastic relationship.

"I'm still talking to David [Cheng] and Sam [Hignett] and those guys, but they've first got to put their programme together and actually see what they're going to do.

"But we can all be very proud of what we achieved together."

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