The Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA Sport FIA WEC squad is utilising engineering resources from the Arden Motorsport team in 2017 through its operational agreement with Jota Sport.
Jota has had a mutual co-operation deal with Arden since 2015 and the recent implementation of Arden Motorsport engineer Ashley Edwards in to the No.37 crew at Monza, for the official prologue test last week, is set to continue a role in the team for at least Silverstone and Spa.
“We are combing Jota and Arden’s capabilities to further accelerate the engineering strength for the WEC programme with Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA Sport this season,” said Jota director Sam Hignett.
“As similar sized and resourced companies we have been co-operating for the last two seasons but this is one of the most visible ways in which we can pool together our knowhow and benefit from extending a strong engineering ethos in our two-car programme in WEC this season,” continued Hignett. “Julian (Rouse) and I share the same principals in meeting very high standards to be top private teams, so it makes sense for us to share and maximise this engineering skill.”
Edwards, who has previous experience in Superleague Formula, F3, V8 World Series and GP3, has some prior experience at Le Mans but has been embedded in the LMP2 WEC team to solidify the already strong technical ability within the two-car Jota run ORECA-Gibson effort in 2017.
“It was interesting to attend the test with the Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA Sport guys last week and although the weather spoilt one of the days it was still very productive,” said Edwards
“The focus is on further understanding the new LMP2 class and how to maximise the average speed across the three drivers which, as always, will be the key this season,” continued Edwards. “I know Tristan (Gommendy) well from my Super league Formula days so it was great to work with him again and to be reminded of what a great professional he is.”
The Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA Sport duo of ORECA-Gibson’s will be in action for the first time this season at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the first round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship next weekend.