Juan Pablo Montoya will race in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2021, joining DragonSpeed in its return to the WEC in the LMP2 category with co-drivers Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley.
After running full time in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship with Acura Team Penske (and winning the 2019 championship), Montoya will join the 10Star DragonSpeed LMP2 after finishing 49th with the American-based team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in September.
“I’m really excited to be joining DragonSpeed for the full WEC season,” Montoya, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, said in a release. “I had an amazing experience with them this year at Le Mans and I’m looking forward to racing again at so many classic venues with such a great group of people.”
Let’s get it done!!
— Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya) November 17, 2020
Can’t wait for next year https://t.co/xyvvsSm3aP
Montoya is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner (2000, ’15) who also has victories in Formula One and the NASCAR Cup Series. With victories at Indy and the Monaco Grand Prix, Montoya is a 24 Hours of Le Mans victory from completing auto racing’s “Triple Crown” that only Graham Hill has achieved (Fernando Alonso has chased an Indy 500 victory to complete it).
DragonSpeed has class victories in the WEC, European Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team also has run in the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 over the past two years, but the team said in a release that it was “shelving” its IndyCar program to focus fully on LMP2 next year.
In addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the other five races in the WEC schedule, DragonSpeed also will return Jan. 30-31 to the Rolex 24 at Daytona to run for an LMP2 class victory in the race.
The WEC season will begin March 19 at Sebring International Raceway, where Montoya finished second overall with Cameron and Simon Pagenaud in his final Penske race last weekend.
Montoya becomes the third of four Acura Team Penske drivers to confirm their future plans with the team disbanding after the 2020 season. Helio Castroneves (who will run six IndyCar races) and Dane Cameron (who will remain in an Acura DPi in IMSA) are joining Meyer Shank Racing. It’s yet to be made official, but Ricky Taylor is expected to return to Wayne Taylor Racing, which is taking one of Penske’s Acura slots in 2021.
DragonSpeed will be basing its WEC team at a new location in Spain near the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Hedman and Hanley teamed with Rolex 24 winner Renger van der Zande to finish 16th overall in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Said Hedman said: “It’s an honor to welcome Juan to the squad. We have a lot to look forward to having seen his contributions on and off track at Le Mans this year.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to continue with DragonSpeed and return to the WEC in 2021,” said Hanley, who made four IndyCar starts, including two Indy 500s, over the past two years. “It’s great to be able to commit to the program early, which will allow plenty of time to tune ourselves in to next year’s new tires and engine changes. With Juan on board and Henrik’s terrific performances in 2020, everything is in place for a successful season.”
