With Seb Priaulx departing the GTD PRO-championship-leading AO Racing squad, Julien Andlauer will join Laurin Heinrich for the Road America round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Andlauer replaces Priaulx in the drivers‘ seat of the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R. The No. 77 will carry the pink “Roxy” livery at Road America instead of its usual green “Rexy” guise.
“I’m super excited to be back in IMSA, and to join the AO Racing Team which has been very successful so far,” said Andlauer. “I’m really looking forward to jumping in the car and giving the maximum to give my best effort for the team to have a good chance for the championship.
“I don’t know Road America yet, but it looks to be an amazing track, and I hope it can suit our beautiful Roxy. I will fight well and look forward to being there and working with the entire team.”
The French Porsche Driver and former Porsche Junior Driver is a prominent name in the motorsport community, with wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Asian Le Mans Series, and the European Le Mans Series. He is a championship-winning driver in both the Porsche Carrera Cup France (2017) and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany (2019).
“We are excited to welcome Julien to AO Racing for Road America,” said AO Racing Team Principal Gunnar Jeannette. “We’ve raced against him in many championships across the globe and can’t wait to see what he can do with Roxy at our home race.”
AO racing has been leading the GTD PRO championship on the strength of two victories from Heinrich and Priaulx, but increasing commitments from Multimatic Motorsports, for whom Priaulx is a contracted driver, means Priaulx had to step away from the team. Andlauer will join for Road America, but a driver for the remaining rounds at VIR, Indianapolis and Motul petit Le Mans has not been named.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will feature in a 2h40m race at Road America on Aug. 4, the first and only time all four classes are present for a sprint race this season. The race will be streamed live on Peacock beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 4.