MICHAEL SHANK RACING (USA)

 

Owner: Michael Shank

Base: Pataskala (Ohio, USA)

www.michaelshankracing.com

 

2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship:

24 Hours of Daytona: Rtd. Pew/Negri/Allmendinger/Pla (USA/BRA/USA/FRA), Ligier JS P2 - Honda HPD #60 (6th GTD)
12 Hours of Sebring: 7th Pew/Negri/Allmendinger/Pla (USA/BRA/USA/FRA), Ligier JS P2 - Honda HPD #60
Long Beach: 7th Pew/Negri (USA/BRA), Ligier JS P2 - Honda HPD #60
Laguna Seca: 1st Pew/Negri (USA/BRA), Ligier JS P2 - Honda HPD #60
 

     Michael Shank founded his team in 1989 when he embarked on his racing career. Having worked his way to the top in American formula racing, Shank ended his driving career after an Indy Race League (IRL) race in Las Vegas in 1997.

     Michael Shank Racing entered the Champ Car Toyota Atlantic Championship, the feeder series for the Champ Car, which later merged with the Indy Race League and became known as the IndyCar Series. Shank was named team manager of the year twice in four years and in 2004 he took his outfit to the Grand Am Sports Cars Series in the Daytona Prototypes class. From 2004 to 2013, Michael Shank Racing always ranked between 5th and 8th in the championship. However, in 2012, the team won the notoriously taxing 24 Hours of Daytona with AJ Allmendinger, the late Justin Wilson, Oswaldo “Ozz” Negri Jr. and John Pew.

      At the end of the 2013 season, the Grand Am Sports Cars Series and the American Le Mans Series merged to become the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with a prototype class that includes Daytona Prototypes and LM P2s. Michael Shank Racing stayed with a Daytona Prototype in 2014 and became the first team to run with the same Ford Ecoboost engine that the Ford Gts have today. Their best results that season were second at Road America and sixth in the championship. Shank therefore decided on a change of tactic and switched to an LM P2, purchasing a Ligier JS P2 from Onroak Automotive.

     First race: Daytona. Pole position. The team showed good pace all season. They qualified fast but then the Ligier JS P2 ran out of steam every time and finished too few races. Fifth at Daytona, John Pew and Ozz Negri then reaped podium places at Laguna Seca, Detroit and Mosport, which earned them another sixth place in the TUSC championship.

     While the winners of the European Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series are automatically invited to Le Mans 24 Hours, IMSA handpicks two WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams to take part in the French endurance race. Michael Shank made no secret of his desire to race at Le Mans and was selected to represent the American championship at the 24 Hours this year.

     The team revealed its plans for 2016 at the official practice session for Daytona, announcing a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign with Olivier Pla stepping in for the North American Endurance Cup, plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time. At Daytona, Pla started in P3 and banked the best race lap time but retired before the halfway stage with engine failure. At the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Frenchman clinched pole position despite John Pew going off during the night practice session. After a restart with ten minutes to go, a brush with an opponent broke the suspension. The #60 Ligier finished seventh and repeated that performance at Long Beach in the next round. However, at Laguna Seca Michael Shank Racing celebrated a well-deserved victory with a 30 second margin.
The American team had intended to skip the Detroit round, which falls the day before Le Mans test day but has resolved the dilemma by sending Ozz Negri and Katherine Legge while John Pew goes to France. At Le Mans, Pew and Negri will be joined by Laurens Vanthoor whose first 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 2015 in Oak Racing’s Ligier JS P2. The Belgian may not have finished Le Mans last year, but he caught Michael Shank’s eye when he won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In the large LM P2 class at the Circuit de la Sarthe, speed will be important, but the Honda engine will have to last the distance.