The Whelen Racing Team will add a pair of drivers to its lineup for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, Jan. 28-29, 2017.
Joining championship-winning drivers Dane Cameron and Eric Curran behind the steering wheel of the No. 31 Whelen/Team Fox Cadillac DPi-V.R – in the top-level of IMSA competition in the Prototype class – will be veteran Mike Conway and youngster Seb Morris. It will mark Conway’s debut in the 24 hour endurance test at Daytona International Speedway. Morris captured the 2017 Sunoco Whelen Challenge in the British GT3 series to earn the chance to compete at the 3.56-mile Daytona road course.
Conway, who’s from England, competed in Indy cars from 2009 to 2014, picking up four wins in 72 career starts. He captured the checkered flag at the Long Beach, Calif. street circuit (2011 and 2014), the Belle Isle street course in Detroit (2013) and the race through the streets of Toronto (2014). During his Indy car career, he drove for team owners A.J. Foyt, Michael Andretti, Dale Coyne and Ed Carpenter
This past season, Conway finished third in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) driving for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. During the season, he claimed one victory (Six Hours of Fuji), along with three second-place results (Silverstone, Shanghai and Le Mans). In addition to his runner-up result in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, he has also competed in the historic event in 2013 and 2015.
Morris, who finished third in the final British GT3 championship point standings, earned the Sunoco Whelen Challenge title and becomes the eighth annual winner to earn a spot in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. In his recently completed season, the 21-year-old racer drove a Bentley GT-3 for Team Parker Racing and registered one win, four pole positions and one fastest race lap.
“We’re looking forward to having Mike and Seb drive the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Prototype at Daytona,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for the Action Express Racing organization, which will field the No. 31 entry. ”Although we haven’t worked with Mike before, we’re familiar with his background and experience, as well as all his accomplishments. Seb is a talented young driver and we’re excited to have him as part of our program at Daytona.”
Veteran sports car racer Filipe Albuquerque will join full-time drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R at the Rolex 24.
In addition to competing at Daytona with the team one year ago, Albuquerque also drove the Mustang Sampling race car at last year’s IMSA endurance events at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. At Daytona, he joined Barbosa, Fittipaldi and Scott Pruett behind the steering wheel of the No. 5 entry to register a fourth-place finish. The trio also finished third at Sebring and fifth at Road Atlanta.
This year will mark the fifth straight start for Albuquerque in the twice around-the-clock endurance race. He made his debut at the track in 2013, finishing first in the GT class with Alex Job Racing. The following two years he added starts in the GTD class (2014) and the PC class (2015). The native of Portugal has also made three straight starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2014 to 2016).
This past season, Albuquerque finished second in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). He picked up a pair of wins during the just-completed campaign in the Six Hours of Silverstone and the Six Hours of Mexico, as well as four second-place finishes (Nurburgring, Mexico, Circuit of the Americas and Bahrain).
“Filipe was with us last season at Daytona and we’re happy to have him back in 2017,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for the Action Express Racing organization. “We developed a strong relationship with Filipe a year ago, and he was a very good teammate to Joao and Christian. He was an asset to our Daytona program and we expect him to again be an important part of our efforts at Daytona this year.”
All drivers will be testing at Daytona International Speedway this week (Dec. 13-14).