Mustang Sampling Racing announced Loic Duval, Tristan Vautier and Sebastien Bourdais as the drivers of its Cadillac DPi-V.R for 2021 in partnership with JDC-Miller MotorSports.
Duval and Vautier will run the full season. Bourdais will be the third driver for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds while also running a full schedule with AJ Foyt Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series.
The three French drivers raced together in several events in 2020. The team earned three podium finishes that season, including a third in the Rolex 24 at Daytona when Duval and Bourdais were paired with Joao Barbosa.
“It’s great to have all three of them back for 2021,” said John Church, managing partner of JDC-Miller MotorSports in a release. “We had a little bit of an up and down year in 2020 but I think we showed in the final race of the year at Sebring a lot of momentum and the potential we have as a group and that is what we have to build on for 2021.”
After a strong start of three podiums in the first three races of 2020, Mustang Sampling struggled for consistency, ending the year seventh at Laguna Seca and fifth at Sebring.
“Consistency is always a good thing,” said Ken Thompson, CEO of Mustang Sampling. “Twenty-twenty was a novel year for us with the move to JDC-Miller MotorSports. We spent an interesting year working some kinks out of the system. I believe with a full season under our belt and by keeping together the driver lineup of Sebastian, Loic and Tristan we will find some cohesiveness and momentum in 2021.”
Duval returns to the team after running three endurance races in 2020. In addition to his third-place finish in the Rolex 24, he was fourth at Road Atlanta and fifth at Sebring.
“I am really happy and pleased to be back with Mustang Sampling Racing/JDC-Miller MotorSports for the 2021 season after I joined the team in 2020 for the long endurance races,” Duval said. “Twenty-twenty was a challenging year for a lot of reasons and as a team we for sure had our ups and downs, but we started the season really strong at Daytona and had a lot of momentum towards the end of the season.
“So it’s great to be back with Tristan and Seb in 2021, now as one of the full-season drivers for the team because it for sure gives us consistency and to build on the momentum we had.”
Vautier finished fifth in the 2020 Rolex 24 driving a separate entry for JDC-Miller MotorSports. In nine starts, he failed to stand on the podium, but his best finish of fourth was earned twice while racing in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac.
“I am not going to lie, I wanted to be in this car and this lineup for a long time,” said Vautier. “So when I got the opportunity to do some races with them this season, I did everything to make sure this would carry on to 2021. Now that it is confirmed that I will return to the team in 2021 for the full season, I want to thank John Miller and John Church and the entire JDC-Miller MotorSports team as well as Ken and Brenda (Thompson) from Mustang Sampling, as well as Cadillac Racing for their trust in me and for having me onboard.
“Fighting amongst the best is what pushes me every day, and DPi is the place to be for that right now, with some of the best teams, drivers, and racetracks. With Loic and Seb, we have a great trio, and as a team we finished 2020 building a lot of momentum, so we are very hopeful to carry that into 2021 and fight at the front every weekend.”
