While Ganassi has not yet made an official announcement of its 2014 TUSC plans, John Dagys has reported on sportscar365.com that the team will switch to the new Ford EcoBoost V6 next year. Since Dagys' post, several other sources have confirmed that the team will not run BMW power in 2014; indeed, no other sources have said that the team will run a Daytona Prototype at all. While it is likely that Ganassi will run a DP car, teams running in the new TUSC prototype class have an option to switch to a P2 prototype like those run in ALMS competition in 2013.
Ganassi’s departure would leave two teams confirmed to run BMW-powered prototypes in 2014. Team Sahlen has announced that it will run BMW power, and the Highway to Help team, which ran two races in 2013 in a Riley-BMW, is already confirmed for this month’s TUSC Daytona test. Starworks, which ran Riley-BMWs in 2013, has not yet announced its 2014 plans; it has run a P2 car successfully in the ALMS and at LeMans, and may run a P2 car next season.
BMW’s overall presence in the new series will have become clearer by the time of the Sebring and Daytona tests in mid-November. At present scant entry lists for both events have been posted on the new imsa.com site; the lists will fill in before the tests are run.—Brian S. Morgan
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