With the exception of the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Tower Motorsports owner and 2022 LMP2 champion John Farano will be joined by Charlie Eastwood for the full season of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 competition in the team’s No. 8 ORECA 07. Michael Dinan will drive for the team in all the Michelin Endurance Cup events, while IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin and Ferdinand Habsburg join Farano and Dinan at Daytona.
Irishman Eastwood possesses a great deal of racing experience across a wide variety of championships, including victories in the the 24-hour races at Le Mans and Spa. He has LMP2 titles in the Asian Le Mans Series and European Le Mans Series championships, and a great amount of experience with the LMP2 platform over the last four years.
“I’m super happy to be joining Tower Motorsports and co-driving with John,” said Eastwood. “This is an amazing program and this team has proven time and time again that they have what it takes to win, and we’ll be aiming to do exactly that. I’m really looking forward to what lies ahead for us this season, and I can’t wait to get started. It will also be great to have Michael Dinan joining us for the Endurance Cup rounds, I think the three of us will be able to accomplish a lot of great things together.”
American Dinan’s career has been primarily in GT cars, including podiums in the WeatherTech Championship and victories in GT World Challenge America. He is the 2020 Pirelli GT4 America Pro-Am champion, and raced this past season in WEC GTE-Am with Eastwood with the ORT by TF team, with a best result of a second-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“After driving in the Endurance Cup in the GTD class for the past two seasons, I am very excited and proud to be making the move up to the LMP2 class with Tower Motorsports,” said Dinan. “John and Charlie both bring a wealth of experience in Prototype racing to the table, and I am confident the three of us will be able to compete for race wins throughout the championship.
“For Daytona, Ferdinand and Scott need no introduction, and I am eager to learn as much as possible from the two of them and hopefully win that elusive Rolex we all want. I would like to thank John for entrusting me with this opportunity and to everyone involved for making this possible.”
New Zealander McLaughlin previously competed with the team at select endurance races in the 2023 season, including a victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Habsburg is also a familiar face within Tower Motorsports, making his second Rolex 24 appearance with the team after previously driving in the event in 2022.
“I am very happy to be returning to a full program and can’t wait to be back with the team,” said Farano. “I am excited to welcome both Charlie Eastwood and Michael Dinan to our program, who we know will fit right in immediately. I am also thrilled to have Scott back with us for another run at the Rolex 24, and looking forward to welcoming Ferdinand back, who I am sure will be fighting for the victory after coming so close with our team in 2022.”
“It was great to win at Sebring together in 2023, and it was certainly a big highlight, but I definitely feel like we have unfinished business at Daytona,” said McLaughlin. “We had tremendous pace in the car and an outstanding strategy from the team in 2023 and I have full faith that this will be the case once again in 2024 as we aim to compete for the win. That’s truly what it’s all about; winning one of the biggest sportscar endurance races in the world.”