Yahoo Autos Westbrook to join van der Helm at JDC-Miller
With 2023 driver Mike Rockenfeller headed to race for Multimatic driving the new Ford Mustang GT3 in GTD PRO, JDC-Miller MotorSports has tabbed Richard Westbrook to partner Tijmen van der Helm in the No. 5 Porsche 963 GTP in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
As previously announced, Phil Hanson will join the team for all five Michelin Endurance championship rounds. Ben Keating will once again pull double-duty at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, driving for JDC-Miller in addition to racing LMP2, as he did in 2022.
“We were very pleased with our 2023 season with the Porsche 963 GTP,” said John Church, the team’s managing partner. “Everything was new for all the GTP teams last year and we all gained a huge amount of knowledge. For 2024, we will have a balance of youth and experience, but more importantly, all our drivers will have extensive prototype experience in IMSA. This driver line-up, coupled with the support of Porsche Motorsports North America, will put us in the position to compete for wins in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.”
The Minnesota-based race team will be going with experience in its sophomore season, and its first full year with the Porsche 963 GTP. Van der Helm was with the team for the entire 2023 season and drove the team’s Porsche 963 GTP from the fourth round onward. Westbrook, who has been a factory driver in several programs, drove the team’s Cadillac DPi in 2022. He brings a lot of time with the new hybrid prototypes, having driven the Ganassi-run Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh in the FIA World Endurance Championship this past season.
RACER expects both Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber to return to the Cadillac FIA WEC program in 2024. There is currently no word on who will take over the third seat following Westbrook’s departure, though RACER understands that competing with two drivers for each race other than Le Mans is being considered.
Hanson, meanwhile, has a huge amount of prototype experience in IMSA and WEC, including a 2020 LMP2 class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
JDC-Miller was the first customer team in the WeatherTech Championship for Porsche’s 963 LMDh. Supply chain problems meant it didn’t receive the car until after the season started, and the bright yellow No. 5 made its debut in the fourth round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The team struggled in that first outing, but quickly began to catch up to its competitors.
