Ligier will return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 lineup in 2024 with Sean Creech.
Sean Creech Motorsport will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 class with a Ligier JS P217 Gibson following the termination of their LMP3 program.
The Florida-based team, which has since 2017 run Ligier LMP3 cars in various IMSA-approved events, is upgrading to a more potent prototype formula. They will start preparing for the upcoming season this week when the team receives its Ligier LMP2 car from the port of Miami.
At Watkins Glen last month, Sean Creech discussed the possibility of switching his team into LMP2 and said it would be a more practical alternative than competing in GTD.
“We’re happy to have our program set for 2024,” said Creech. “We wanted to stay in the prototype classes and our existing relationship with Ligier opened the door to staying with them.
“It’s the same number of races as LMP3, and the logistics are very similar to the program that we’ve been running the last few years, so it made sense to go with LMP2.”
Since Rick Ware Racing and Eurasia Motorsport teamed up for an entry into the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona, Sean Creech is expected to become the first team to operate a Ligier in the WeatherTech Championship’s LMP2 class. In 2018, when the prototype class featured a mix of DPi and LMP2 cars, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered the last full-time Ligier JS P217 to race.
The Oreca 07, which has taken over as the standard car globally since the current Gibson engine regulations began in 2017, is the only car on the LMP2 field for this season.
The WeatherTech Championship LMP3 teams have adopted various strategies to guarantee their spots on the grid for the upcoming season, with AWA recently announcing its switch to GTD and Riley Motorsports preferring an LMP2 campaign.
“We have a lot of crew members who have worked on the Ligier LMP2 car, so the changeover won’t be difficult at all,” said Creech, whose team joined the WeatherTech Championship LMP3 grid in 2021 and previously raced in IMSA Prototype Challenge.
“Our engineers are working to get all the data we need to start a testing program – the lead time to get a Gibson lease engine is long so hopefully we can get something going before that.
“We’ll look to get as many miles as possible over the winter to get completely up to speed on everything before Daytona [in January].
“We have a long history in prototypes. I started working on them back in the late 80’s on a Porsche 962.
“This is a good fit for us, especially given our relationship with Ligier that dates back to 2017. We look forward to starting our 2024 prep now.”
With three races left, Joao Barbosa and Lance Willsey, who are sixth in the LMP3 drivers’ standings, are driving a Ligier JS P320 Nissan that is currently operated under Sean Creech.
