Antinucci and Piscopo Complete O’Gara Motorsport Rolex 24 Lineup
The announcement was made Friday by O'Gara Motorsport Team Owner Tom O'Gara who was joined by all four drivers in a press conference at DIS on the opening day of this weekend's annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona test.
O'Gara Motorsport is stepping up to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD competition this season after establishing itself as a premier team in the IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series last year.
In 2015 Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo competition, Antinucci raced an O'Gara entry to the Huracán Pro Driver Championship, O'Gara Motorsport won the Team Championship and O'Gara's Lamborghini Beverly Hills dealership captured the Dealer Championship.
"After a successful season in Lamborghini Super Trofeo we are ready to begin our team's IMSA GTD era in the new WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with our first Rolex 24 At Daytona," O'Gara said. "We are pairing up our championship-winning Super Trofeo team with the reigning GTD driver champions and adding two experienced Lamborghini drivers for the Rolex 24. We look forward to the challenge and can't wait to get started."
In addition to winning last year's GTD title, Sweedler and Bell were among the co-drivers in 2014's Rolex 24-winning GTD entry. The American duo has switched to O'Gara and the GTD-debuting Lamborghini Huracán GT3 for its 2016 title defense.
"With a new team, some very talented people and increased competition, the feeling is we'll need to be even better to pull it off again," Bell said. "We have an incredible group of proven talent on the team so experience and capability will not be our shortcomings. I'm more excited for this season and this team than I can ever remember."
Sweedler is as enthusiastic as anyone on the O'Gara Motorsport team for the 2016 season.
"It's exciting to come into the season as defending champions," Sweedler said. "Clearly, GTD has an incredibly stout driver line up more so than ever, so to defend the championship is going to be exciting this year for sure. The O'Gara team has just done an incredible job getting up to speed, understanding the GTD classification and really preparing itself for endurance racing, all of the testing and all of the preparation. This series is all about preparation, preparation, preparation and then not making mistakes."
Antinucci, who joins fellow Americans Sweedler and Bell on the team, will be making his Rolex 24 At Daytona debut but he did get some valuable laps in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 on the 3.56-mile DIS road course in November.
"I did a quick session last November, which was undoubtedly a nice help, as it's still the only run I've had in the car," Antinucci said. "I liked what I felt and am sure the team has already adapted the setup and improved it further. I have 12 laps under my belt, but I consider them gold right now."
Piscopo, a native of Italy, had never even seen Daytona International Speedway before Thursday when he stepped onto the DIS grounds for the first time.
"This is my first time in Daytona and, honestly, I am super excited," Piscopo said. "I have raced in the Spa 24 hours before, and a couple of six hour races between France and Italy, but this will be the most exciting and fun by far. It's like a dream coming true, especially considering I will represent what I consider the most iconic brand out there, Lamborghini!"
The three-day Roar Before the Rolex 24 will see IMSA WeatherTech teams test Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including a nigh time test session Saturday evening.
Noteworthy
– A larger and likely more competitive GTD field in 2016 doesn't bother Bell in the least. "I love it," Bell said. "So much technical variety and some very strong new teams joining an already strong establishment. Should be some great battles all season."
– In addition to the 2015 GTD title and 2014 Rolex 24 victory, Sweedler ad Bell partnered with Jeff Segal for a third-place GTE-Am-class finish in last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. "Our goal here as a team at Daytona is to come in and do what Townsend and I have done in every endurance race," Sweedler said. "We want to make sure that we can prepare the best we can, help the team prepare the car, help the team prepare all of the drivers and make no mistakes. That's our goal coming in here. We are excited, we've been on the top step of the podium before and we want to do it again."
– Experience in the mid-engine Lamborghini Super Trofeo race car will certainly help Antinucci and Piscopo, but the Huracán GT3 is an entirely different race car. "I can tell you this, it feels completely different to the Super Trofeo car, which is what I am used to," Piscopo said. "Everything is more extreme, it's a true modern race car and has everything it needs to win this championship."
– Antinucci's previous endurance race experience includes a Daytona Prototype start a few years ago in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. "The Rolex 24 will be four times longer than any race I've done before," Antinucci said. "A lot to learn here! I'm looking forward to absorbing all I can from my experiences, teammates and the engineers. It will be a steep learning curve for sure."