Tobias Lütke, currently racing in HSR Prototype Challenge, will run with Era Motorsport for the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in LMP2. While his full-season and Michelin Endurance Cup partners are to be determined, Ryan Dalziel, …
Tobias Lütke, currently racing in HSR Prototype Challenge, will run with Era Motorsport for the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in LMP2. While his full-season and Michelin Endurance Cup partners are to be determined, Ryan Dalziel, Paul-Loup Chatin and David Heinemeier Hansson will be piloting the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA 07 LMP2 for the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“I’m going to be honest … throwing prototypes around storied tracks with David, Era, and team was not on my 2025 bingo card,” said Lütke, the founder and CEO of Shopify. “But, that’s exactly what we are doing! So holy s*** let’s go, can’t wait!”
With experience in the LMP3, Radicals, and TCR cars, Lütke is expected to get up to speed quickly in the highly competitive LMP2 field.
WEC and IMSA champion Dalziel will be sharing the car with three-time ELMS champion Chatin for the first time since the pair stood victorious at the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona alongside Kyle Tilley and Dwight Merriman.
“This will be my fifth Rolex 24 At Daytona with Era,” said Dalziel. “After winning twice during that time we are for sure going in full of confidence. At the same time, LMP2’s depth of talented teams and drivers has grown massively over those years so we know we have to step up from 2024 and keep pushing for that third win together.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Tobi against the other bronzes, and it’s great to be reunited with my old Patron teammate DHH and Paul-Loup, who was part of our 2021 winning line-up. Let’s go!”
Chatin, the 2023 LMP2 champ with Ben Keating, has been part of many winning LMP2 efforts in recent years. He declared his excitement for the opportunity to rejoin Dalziel in the car.
“I am super happy to join back Era Motorsport for my fourth Rolex 24 at Daytona,” he said. “Era achieved some amazing success in the past few years and with my teammates, we will give everything to fight for the top. Thanks to Kyle and all the Era Motorsport team for your trust.”
The final driver joining Era for the Rolex 24 will be 2014 Le Mans GTE Am champion David Heinemeier Hansson.
“Two worlds are merging for me in 2025,” Hansson said. “Driving together with Tobi, whom I’ve known and worked with for 20 years through Ruby on Rails, is going to be a delight.
“Two programmers, one car! This is going to be great. Especially with Era running the show and us teaming up with my old teammate Ryan Dalziel for the Rolex 24. Can’t wait to roll out.”
Team owner Kyle Tilley says he is eager to see what Lütke can do in LMP2, as well as proud of the Rolex 24 line-up in the No. 18 ORECA.
“Next year is shaping up to be a big year for us,” he said. “I’m very excited to see what Tobi can do, we were all blown away by his speed at the test a few weeks ago. Considering it was his first time in an LMP2, it certainly bodes well for the season. We have done a fair bit of restructuring over the winter to manage our multiple programs, and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition.”
2025 marks the sixth year of Era Motorsport competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s LMP2 class. With two Rolex wins and two championship podiums, Era Motorsport looks to continue its impact on the class.
English driver Stuart Wiltshire is joining Era Motorsport for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next weekend when LMP2 becomes the headlining class, as well for the remaining 2024 sprint race at Road America …
English driver Stuart Wiltshire is joining Era Motorsport for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next weekend when LMP2 becomes the headlining class, as well for the remaining 2024 sprint race at Road America in August. Dwight Merriman, who’s driven the car for the past several years and the first three races of the season, is stepping aside to pursue other racing interests.
Wiltshire has experience in Formula 3, and recently started racing prototypes in the growing “modern historic” racing world, including LMP2 prototypes, a Peugeot 90X LMP1 car and, most recently, an Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international car run out of the Era Motorsport US workshop. Wiltshire gained experience in the IMSA-spec Era Motorsport Oreca 07 LMP2 last year at the Historic Sportscar Racing Daytona Classic where he raced alongside Merriman, and tested the No. 18 ORECA at CTMP last week.
“After getting a few years of experience driving prototypes, I’ve gotten quite comfortable behind the wheel, and I can’t wait to see how things stack up once we get on track for FP1,” Wiltshire said. “After the test, I feel great in the car, and I’m confident with the pace I have. The biggest difference for me will be the longer stints in IMSA as opposed to the 45-minute drive times I’m used to in historic racing.”
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Sharing the car with Wiltshire will be Ryan Dalziel, the team’s professional driver since 2021.
Merriman, Dalziel and Connor Zilisch, with Christian Rasmussen joining at Daytona, took victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the season. Contact for Merriman in the first lap of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, however, scuttled hopes for a repeat performance and dropped Era out of the championship lead in LMP2.
With Merriman stepping aside, the team has a Bronze-rated driver opening for the 2025 IMSA season, and with a fleet of ORECA 07 LMP2 machinery the team is capable of re-entering the Asian or European Le Mans Series as well.
“We’re super excited to be opening up the team to more drivers and more opportunities,” said team owner Kyle Tilley. “Our current Bronze, Dwight Merriman, is looking to expand his racing portfolio into a new project which we will be announcing later this year, so that opens up the incredible team we’ve developed over the past five years to new drivers who might be interested in stepping into the world of professional racing, or moving into a new class.”
Interested parties can contact team owner Tilley at kyle@eramotorsport.com.
The 36 Hours of Florida…the doubleheader…doubling down…. However you want to term it, winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac in the same year is no mean feat. Era Motorsport (LMP2) and Winward …
The 36 Hours of Florida…the doubleheader…doubling down…. However you want to term it, winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac in the same year is no mean feat. Era Motorsport (LMP2) and Winward Racing (GTD, pictured above) both achieved the double victory in 2024, and it puts them in some pretty impressive company. Looking back at the list of those who have won both races overall back-to-back reveals some pretty noteworthy names.
Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby were the first to do it in a Shelby American Ford GT40 Mk.II in 1966, the first year of the Daytona 24-hour race. Joe Siffert and Hans Hermann did it two years later in a Porsche 907. That little team from up the road in Jacksonville, Brumos, got the double with Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood in a Porsche Carrera RSR. Another Floridian, Preston Henn, fielded a 962 for A.J. Foyt and Bob Wollek, who took the 36 Hours in 1985.
While Wayne Taylor may not be a native of Florida, he now calls the state home, and joined with Jim Pace to win both Florida races in a Doyle Racing Riley & Scott MkIII Oldsmobile. And before the races were run under two different series with different rules, Mauro Baldi, Gianpiero Moretti and Didier Theys drove a Doran-Moretti Ferrari 333SP to the double victory.
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Since reunification in 2014, the 36 Hours of Florida had been won by seven teams before 2024, and in three years there have been winners in two different classes. Colin Braun, Jon Bennett and James Gue were the first in 2014, winning Prototype Challenge in a CORE Autosport ORECA FLM-09. In 2015, Prototype Challenge winners Mike Guasch, Andrew Palmer and Tom Kimber-Smith were joined by GTLM winners for Corvette Racing, Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe in a C7.R.
Pipo Derani was part of the team that won both in DPi in the first of his four Sebring victories, joining Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek in the Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2-Honda in 2016. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler also doubled up that year in GTLM for Corvette Racing. Finally, the last time the 36 Hours of Florida was achieved was in 2017, again a double — Wayne Taylor Racing in DPi with Ricky and Jordan Taylor in a Cadillac; and James French, Pato O’Ward and Kyle Masson for Performance Tech Motorsport in Prototype Challenge.
Now Era Motorsports’ Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch join them, along with Winward’s Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje. Both teams had won Daytona before, but this was the first Sebring victory for each.
Adding a Sebring 12 Hours trophy to its Rolex 24 triumph in LMP2 was a rare feat for Era Motorsport’s Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
For Dalziel, it’s particularly meaningful. He makes his home in Orlando, two hours away between Sebring and Daytona, plus his wife’s family is from the Sebring area.
“A lot of support I get down here,” he says. “My wife and all her extended family are from here. Many of her family are still here. Many of them were here watching the race. I have posters from her late father from the very first one he went to. He had every poster that he kind of left for me after he passed away.
“It’s special — they both are for me for different reasons. But I think at the same time I don’t think of them as home races. I just think of them as the races that you want to win. This one’s been a tough one for us, for me as well. Daytona, we’ve had a lot of success. Here there’s been a lot of, like … what could have been.”
Like Dalziel, Ward is happy to get that first Sebring win to go with a pair of Daytona victories.
“It feels great. We’ve been chasing this one for a couple of years. It’s really awesome to be able to get it done,” Ward said.
Both teams had to overcome challenges to get their respective victories. Era qualified 10th, and had to go from near the back of the field to the front three times. Ellis put No. 57 Mercedes AMG on the GTD pole, but the team lost its qualifying times due to unapproved sensors on the car and had to start from the rear. By the end of the second hour, Winward was near the front and would stay there for the duration.
“In this series, you need some luck to win it,” said Ward. “It’s not all about outright pace. We’ve got some really, really smart guys on the pit stand making the calls. We capitalized on three yellows that got us up to the lead. We were in the lead by hour two.
“For the endurance races, doesn’t really matter where I start, in my opinion. It’s always nice to start at the front, show the performance of the car, the performance of the team. At the end of the day we’re here to win the race.”
And win they did … again. Now they’re in some pretty stellar company among those who have won the 36 Hours of Florida.
What a difference a year makes. After the two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were nowhere near the podium in their 2023 debut, every Porsche in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including the privateer cars from JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition, …
What a difference a year makes. After the two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were nowhere near the podium in their 2023 debut, every Porsche in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including the privateer cars from JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition, ran near flawlessly. It was the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 squad of Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden that was just a bit more perfect in claiming victory, the first for all of them and the first victory for Penske since 1969. It was the 19th overall victory at the Rolex 24 for Porsche and the first since 2010.
Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist finished second in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, coming short by 2.112s after nearly 24 hours of racing and despite running what Derani described as a flawless race.
Improbably, the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 finished third in the hands of Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta and Jenson Button, holding off the No. 6 PPM Porsche 963 at the end. The No. 40 had rolled to a stop in the middle of the night, but a reset got the car going and strategy put the car in a better position than might have been expected.
From the start, both of the PPM Porsche 963s as well as the two Cadillacs showed similar pace, and it seemed apparent that it would come down to a Porsche vs. Cadillac fight for the victory. In the cooler night, and early morning hours, the Porsches seems to have an edge. But as the day warmed up, the No. 31 Cadillac came on strong. Entering the race’s final two hours, Blomqvist turned up the wick and caught Nasr.
Blomqvist took the No. 31 to the pits earlier than necessary, but well within the window to make it to the end on one more stop. Nasr brought the Porsche in three laps later for full energy and fresh tires, emerging from the pits ahead of Blomqvist. However, with the Cadillac having warm tires and Nasr’s still coming up to temperature, he was able to squeeze by heading into Turn 1.
But after more than four hours of green flag running, a late caution set up a 30m sprint to the finish, and came perfectly timed for the GTPs to make their final stop for a quick fill. The Penske crew got Nasr out first, and that was the the race.
Blomqvist did all he could, including setting the fastest lap of race at 1m35.554s with 23m left, but he couldn’t make a move on Nasr while the Porsche got better breaks in traffic. When the checker fell right after 1:40 p.m., Nasr was the first under it to claim the victory.
“The race only finishes at the checkered flag. There’s no decision until then,” said Nasr. “The race really came down to the wire at the very final stop. You know, it was it pretty much all about the fuel numbers. Each one was the energy numbers we were reaching. And I just have to say that was a great call from the team, from Porsche Penske Motorsport. Just to give me the opportunity to be the in the lead again in that final part of the race and then it was down to me to hit the numbers and keep the No. 31 behind.”
Blomqvist came close a few times as he attacked, but could never put together a move to pass.
“At the end of the race, we had the pace advantage,” Blomqvist said. “It was just so difficult to pass. The Porsche was really strong on the straight, we were really good in the infield, so it was just hard to make anything count. There weren’t many cars there at the end of the race in terms of traffic to to kind of find an opportunity and then Felipe at the end … I needed like one small mistake. He went wide by like a few meters, but other than that there was no opportunity.”
In contrast to the 2023 debut of the LMDh cars in GTP when both Acuras and both Cadillacs ran without major trouble, two key competitors from each fell victim to problems in the race. The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson pulled to a stop after a little more than eight hours with Albuquerque at the wheel, right after he detected a funny smell. The problem was diagnosed as a wiring loom issue, and while it was replaced and the car returned to the track after a long repair, it was eventually retired.
The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R from Chip Ganassi Racing looked to have the pace for victory with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, but went to the garage in the middle of the night withe an undiagnosed mechanical issue and never re-emerged.
Both BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s had difficulties during the night. Both were repaired and returned to the track, but finished 13 (No. 25) and 15 (No. 24) laps down.
LMP2 winners, Era Motorsports. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, Connor Zilisch and Christian Rasmussen took the LMP2 victory after emerging as a contender overnight. The team recovered from an early incident in which Merriman was caught up in other cars having contact and soldiered on, moving steadily up the order to claim the second win for Era and for Dalziel and Merriman together after they won in 2021. It was Dalziel’s third Rolex 24 victory, and the first for Rasmussen and 17-year-old Zilisch.
The No. 18 was hanging with the leaders heading into Saturday evening, but didn’t make a move for the front until the middle of the night.
“In my mind, it’s a 24 hour race … first half of race, a lot of [it] is about risk management, right?” said Merriman. “So you don’t need to be in the lead after eight hours. But the last three hours is a knife fight. And you need to be up. You need to be in the first couple of positions at that point and we were, so I think that’s kind of part of the strategy.”
Fortunately Era had some sharp blades when it came time for the knife fight.
“We kind of gambled … we were probably the most high downforce of the P2s,” said Dalziel. “We were a little bit of sitting ducks when somebody’s drafting us, but when we can kind of break that 1.5-2s – the draft in the P2 car is almost 10 kilometers an hour. So I think, for us, once we were at the front, we can kind of manage a little bit of pace and the field. But it’s just a good day. I think each one I’ve won is more special.
“These two guys … Christian, last year, was a stud for us. Connor, the same. I feel like today Dwight and I just kind of did our job and I actually…gave up my last stint because I felt like these two guys were the strongest guys on the day and wanted to make sure that we put our best feet forward for the last stint.”
Rasmussen had a solid lead erased by the final yellow, but not only managed to stay out front, he stretched it to a 6.8s margin of victory. George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery finished second in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA. Riley Motorsports was third with Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon and Felipe Massa in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA.
Era Motorsport has confirmed Connor Zilisch as the final driver of its No. 18 ORECA 07 LMP2 car for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 17-year-old Zilisch will join team drivers Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman for the Michelin …
Era Motorsport has confirmed Connor Zilisch as the final driver of its No. 18 ORECA 07 LMP2 car for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 17-year-old Zilisch will join team drivers Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman for the Michelin Endurance Cup, as well as Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“I’m super excited to get going in 2024 with Era Motorsport for my first season in endurance racing,” said Zilisch, “but I have a lot to learn as this is a very different style of racing than I’m used to. Thankfully, I have a great team around me and very experienced teammates in Ryan, Dwight, and Christian that I will be able to learn from throughout the season.”
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Zilisch started his driving career at age four behind the wheel of a kart. After moving up through the ranks, he became a karting world champion in 2017 at the Rok International Championship in Italy, and followed it up by becoming the first American to win the FIA Karting Academy Championship in 2020.
In 2021 at the age of 14, Zilisch began his race car career and set seven track records at six different tracks that year, and winning the 2021 MX-5 Cup Scholarship, and took MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year honors the following year.
Signing on as a Chevrolet Junior Development Driver in 2022, Zilisch finished fourth overall in the this season’s Trans Am TA2 class, with five wins during the season.
“I’m super happy to have a promising up-and-comer like Zilisch in the car,” said team owner Kyle Tilley. “Even after just one test it’s clear that he’s going to be one of the best drivers in the field any time he hits the track. I think with him joining our already strong lineup we have great odds at a strong performance not just at Daytona, but for the overall championship”
Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel will be returning to Era Motorsport’s No. 18 ORECA Gibson for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to fight for wins in a growing LMP2 field. Christian Rasmussen, who served as the third driver for the …
Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel will be returning to Era Motorsport’s No. 18 ORECA Gibson for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to fight for wins in a growing LMP2 field. Christian Rasmussen, who served as the third driver for the endurance events in 2023, will come back to join the team for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Era scored a couple of podium finishes in 2023, at Sebring and Watkins Glen. Merriman and Dalziel have been partnering in LMP2 since 2021, finding immediate success with a Daytona win. That year and 2022 saw them with repeat victories at Road America as well.
“It was a no-brainer to come back to Era Motorsport for the 2024 IMSA season,” said Dalziel. “The team they’ve put together and the improvements they’ve made over the past few years have been incredible. I’m always confident in our car and in the crew behind me.”
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2023 IndyNXT champion Rasmussen received an FIA driver rating upgrade from silver to gold at the end of the season, making him ineligible to join Dalziel and Merriman in the 2024 Michelin Endurance Cup. Without a similar restriction in driver rating for the fourth driver, though, the opportunity to have him in the car for Daytona was too good to pass up.
“I’m thrilled to be back in the No. 18 for the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona,” said Rasmussen. “This team had such great pace last season, and after last year’s DNF we’re all after a watch in 2024, and we’ll be pushing hard to get back on top of the podium.”
The team is in the process of signing a silver-rated driver to partner with Merriman and Dalziel for the Michelin Endurance Cup.
Era Motorsport has released the first episode of its 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship documentary series on YouTube. Created by Pindare Films with Era Motorsport, the series is titled “In Pursuit of Perfection.” Era Motorsport competes …
Era Motorsport has released the first episode of its 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship documentary series on YouTube. Created by Pindare Films with Era Motorsport, the series is titled “In Pursuit of Perfection.”
Era Motorsport competes in the WeatherTech Championship’s LMP2 class with regular drivers Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel, and Christian Rasmussen joining in for the endurance races. The trio recently scored a podium finish in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The series is set to release an episode between each round of the 2023 season, documenting and highlighting the efforts, successes, and difficulties faced by the entire Era Motorsport team both on and on track.
The first episode documents the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the three regulars were joined by Oliver Jarvis as the fourth driver for the event. With a new livery and a chip on their shoulder after retiring from the race with just 30 minutes left last year, the team set out for redemption for the start of the 2023 season.
Also in this episode, learn more about the team itself, how Era Motorsport functions, and how the team came to be.
