Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti has added a Formula One champion and Indianapolis 500 winner to its 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona lineup.
Marcus Ericsson, who will move to Andretti Global in the NTT IndyCar Series next season, will join WTRAndretti’s No. 10 Acura ARX-06 entry for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener Jan. 27-28. The 2022 Indy 500 winner will be teamed with Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, and Brendon Hartley in the premier hybrid prototype category.
Jenson Button, who won the 2009 F1 championship, will join WTRAndretti’s new second car as the No. 40 ARX-06 makes its debut on the Daytona International Speedway road course. Button will be teamed with Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz and IndyCar winner Colton Herta, who was announced last week as WTRAndretti’s third driver in the No. 40 for IMSA endurance races next year.
Ericsson will be making his second Rolex 24 start after making his debut in 2022 with Chip Ganassi Racing, his former IndyCar team.
“I’m very excited and proud to join the WTRAndretti team for the Daytona 24-hour,” Ericsson said in a release. “After getting a taste in 2022, I have been eager to get back on the grid for this legendary race. It feels fantastic to be racing with one of the best and most successful teams in the sport. I’m already counting down the days, and I’m looking forward to working with the team and my new teammates. It is extra special for me to be racing with Acura, HPD and HRC which I know very well from racing my entire INDYCAR career with them.”
WTRAndretti team principal Wayne Taylor hailed Ericsson’s consistency as a good fit.
“Marcus is absolutely the perfect guy for our team because of the way he goes about racing,” Taylor said. “He has really shown loads of interest by meeting with the team already and he is very dedicated and focused. I’m happy to have him, and of course, as he is part of Andretti Global program, so we are lucky to have him.
Button will be making his Rolex 24 at Daytona debut after making his first IMSA GTP start in the 2023 Petit Le Mans season finale. As part of the Garage 56 program in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, he worked closely with new co-driver and teammate Jordan Taylor.
“I am very happy to announce that I’ll be racing with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 with one of my Le Mans teammates and good pal Jordan Taylor, super speedy Louis Delétraz and Colton Herta, whose career in IndyCar I’ve watched with great interest,” Button said. “I had my first taste of IMSA last month at Petit Le Mans and loved it. I couldn’t be happier to race at Daytona with such a prestigious team that has achieved so much in endurance racing and especially at Daytona.”
Button also will be reunited with Honda Racing Corp. after racing with the manufacturer for several seasons during his F1 career. Wayne Taylor, whose sports car team switched to Acura in 2021, said he had been trying to bring Button to Daytona with his team for three years.
“Jenson and I have spoken for quite a few years; we’ve just never been able to make it happen,” Taylor said. “The guy is really fast. He is a Formula One World Champion. We look forward to working with him. He obviously is coming from a different background, but we’ve had Formula One drivers before, and they’ve all done really well. I have no question about his ability to do well.”
