INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (January 18, 2023) – IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team Era Motorsport has unveiled their official 2023 Le Mans Prototype 2 livery ahead of the season-opening Roar Before the 24 this weekend in Daytona, Florida.
Team owner Kyle Tilley is excited to enter the season-opener with new look.
"The Rolex 24 At Daytona is our biggest event of the year and we are excited to unveil our new bold livery crafted by SDL Studio," he said.
"This is an epic event that requires perfection in every area. Drivers and crew face an all out sprint battle for 24 hours, and we are ready to go to war."
The team, which partakes in multiple forms of motorsport, worked with Michal Podsiadlo of SDL Studio to create the livery, which is a big departure from the team's previous LMP2 cars.
Podsiadlo, a Polish designer who is mostly well known for rally liveries, won a contest at the beginning of last year to design the livery for the Ford Fiesta R5 that team owner Kyle Tilley would be competing with in the American Rally Association National Championship.
"I'm happy that they came back to me for the LMP2 design," Podsiadlo said, "Usually I make rally and GT cars, so an LMP2 car was a refreshing challenge for me, with completely different shapes, proportions and body panels to use."
Check out photos of the car this morning in the paddock below!
Era Motorsport Prepares for Daytona
The Era Motorsport team is seeking redemption after a difficult weekend at the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona when an early crash in the race put them 20 laps down. Despite a herculean effort throughout the grueling race, heartbreak struck again in the form of a transmission failure which caused the team to retire a mere half-hour from the race end.
Era is excited to welcome reigning Rolex 24 winner and 2022 IMSA Sportscar DPi championship driver Oliver Jarvis to the team as they aim to repeat their 2021 Rolex 24 win in the LMP2 class. The team arrives this week in Daytona Beach, Flo. where they will stay for two weeks as they conduct test sessions as part of the Roar Before the 24, and, of course, compete in the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona.
In addition to Jarvis, the full-time familiar faces of Dwight Merriman, and Ryan Dalziel will pilot the No. 18 Oreca 07 LMP2, as will Christian Rasmussen who joined the team for the first time at the 2022 Petit Le Mans.
With plans to compete in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda, historic racing in the US and abroad, and anything else that comes their way in the 2023 season, it has been all-hands-on-deck at Era's Indianapolis shop with a short off-season of a few months to prepare for the exciting year before them.
Once again, the IMSA season-opener is at capacity with 61 cars entered in the Roar and the Rolex 24 itself. Nine other cars will be battling with Era for the LMP2 win on the 3.81-mile Daytona Roval course.
IMSA - What You Need to Know
Five different classes will be battling each other on the same track for 24 hours straight. The new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) classification will take over as the fastest cars from last year’s outgoing DPi cars. LMP2 and LMP3 will join them as the three prototype classes, while GTD Pro and GTD will be the two Grand Touring classes.
To win the Rolex 24 teams will not only need the right lineup of drivers, but the right people on crew, and the right strategists coordinating it all. Each pit stop must be perfectly planned out as the teams look to make best use of their tire allocation, and car setup must be adjusted as the race continues to adapt to ever-changing conditions. The endurance format requires mental and physical endurance from the entire team.
The starting order will be decided this week as drivers participate in the Roar Before the 24. The weekend will consist of five test sessions on the 20th and 21st, with a qualifying session on Sunday the 22nd.
How to Watch
The 2023 racing season will be easy to keep up with. IMSA Racing coverage will reside on NBC and the USA Network cable channel, while full-race streaming will be available on Peacock.
International coverage varies from country to country, but most regionals will be able to watch the race live at IMSA.com/TVLive. A full list of international broadcasters can be found here.
Radio coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be available free locally in Daytona, as well as world-wide on XM 207, Sirius 216, or The Sirius XM Web App at 992.
Fans can follow Era Motorsport on Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Instagram for live updates and behind-the-scenes action.
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