It’s a new season and all systems are go at Multimatic Motorsports as the team prepares for Mazda’s push for the biggest prize on the IMSA calendar, an outright win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The team will run just one Mazda RT24-P throughout the 2021 season, raced by two of the world’s most accomplished sportscar drivers, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis. For the endurance rounds at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta, the massively experienced Jonathan Bomarito will join to significantly strengthen the line-up.
Last time out, the team celebrated the outright win at the 12 Hours of Sebring and they are fully prepared to continue this momentum into Daytona, starting with the Roar Test this coming weekend.
Vice President of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations, Larry Holt said: “There has been very little time to rest since leaving November’s Sebring race – with a great haul of trophies I must add – and our team manager, Charlie Cadieux, has seen to it that nobody has. In addition to building-up a brand new car for the 2021 season, as well as preparing last year’s #77 to use for a Daytona race engine shake down, the team has already spent two days in Sebring undertaking a comprehensive test programme. But there have been no complaints; this team is as motivated as I have ever seen and after the race successes of 2020 they are seriously hunting a championship. We are now running a single car but still deploying the same level of resource to assure that we capitalise on every opportunity to win. As Multimatic Motorsports enters its 29th year of competition I can’t remember being so stoked for an upcoming season.”
As in 2020, the Multimatic Motorsports team has sent only race-essential team members to Daytona, to assure that the organisation’s protective “Covid-secure” bubbles stay in place. IMSA’s strict safety protocols worked incredibly well in 2020 so everyone has high confidence that the show will safely go on despite increasing global restrictions.
The track action gets underway at Daytona on Friday 22 January, and the “Motul Pole Award 100” qualifying race is on Sunday at 14:05 local time.
The 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona will get underway at 15:40 local time on Saturday 30 January. US viewers should head to NBCSN, while international viewers can access the livestream via IMSA.TV.
For updates throughout the race meeting, please follow @multimaticmotorsports on Instagram and Facebook.
HARRY TINCKELL
“Daytona is the biggest race of the year, which is a brutal way to start the season. You have to arrive there bulletproof in terms of car and team preparation. We go into Daytona off the back of one of Multimatic’s biggest ever victories at the Sebring 12 Hour so this has kept everyone in good spirits but under no illusions of what lies ahead.
“Olly and I came out to the US earlier this month to join JB for a two-day test at Sebring and we stayed out here to prepare for Daytona by training twice-a-day so we’re ready for this.
“Daytona is tough. Personally, I have never had a trouble-free run there. The Mazda has always gone well at Daytona so we just need a clean race to capitalize on the pace. We’ve had pole positions and won the sprint race there last year. I’m hopeful that we can go back and do the business. It won’t be easy; the Cadillacs in particular have always been strong at Daytona so they are the ones to beat, but we have the team to do it. We have huge expertise across the organization and to have all of that focused on one car will benefit us. That said, it means we have only one bullet in the gun, so to speak.
“I’m looking forward to driving with Olly. His CV speaks for itself and he has also won the Rolex 24 in the GTD class so he really wants the overall win. It’s great to have JB with us for the endurance races too. He’s the perfect guy for the job. We have a strong line up, a strong team and a strong car so here’s hoping we can pick up exactly where we left off at Sebring.”
OLIVER JARVIS
“It’s great to be heading back to Daytona. The format is different this year, with a qualifying race the weekend before the big race, which will make things interesting.
“Last year we had a very good run and finished second overall so it goes without saying that we want to go one better and take the win this time.
“I have two new team mates in Harry and JB. I’m excited to get the new season started. We have the right package to build on the success of last year but, as we all know, Daytona is a tough race. Like any 24-hour race you need 100% reliability, then you need the performance to stay out of trouble and be there at the end.
“It would be good to kick off with a good result at Daytona to get the championship up and running. I think Harry and I have an amazing opportunity to go out there and fight for the championship win. We have proven that we can win with the #55 finishing third in the championship last year, just a handful of points off the top spot, so we’ve shown we’re capable of challenging for championships. A lot has to go right to challenge for the overall honours but I think we have everything in place to make that possible.”
