Capping over a week of speculation, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates confirmed today that Joey Hand will join Scott Pruett in the team’s #01 Ford EcoBoost prototype in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship series in 2015.
Hand replaces Memo Rojas, who is leaving Ganassi after running with the team for eight years. Hand raced with Ganassi at Daytona in 2011, 2012, and 2013, when the team's prototype was powered by a Dinan BMW V8. He was a key part of the team’s Rolex 24 win in 2011, when he shared the car with Pruett, Rojas, and Graham Rahal.
Hand, who has a long history with BMW, is leaving the marque after three years in DTM. Before that he raced in IMSA competition from 2004 to 2011, winning the GT drivers’ championship along with Dirk Müller in a BMW Team RLL M3 in 2011. He ran selected races for Team RLL in 2012 and 2013 when he was racing in DTM.
Hand said, “What an opportunity. To say I’m thrilled to be joining this team would be an understatement. With the successes of Chip’s team in sports car racing, the great history of the No. 01 car and getting to team-up with a legend like Scott Pruett, I think Christmas came a little early for me this season. I had a great experience with the team in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and now here we are back together full-time in the TUDOR Untied SportsCar Championship. Daytona is right around the corner to kick off the season and I can’t wait to start working with Scott and the team. In all honesty, I’ve wanted to drive for this team since I was a little kid. I’m excited about my long-term future here and what we can potentially accomplish together as sports car racing continues to grow.”
Ganassi Racing also announced that Ford and its EcoBoost engine technology will serve as the primary sponsor of the #01 prototype, and that “Both Ford and Hand step into their new roles with the team as part of multi-year deals.”
Ford is slated to announce an expanded road racing program that includes a return to Le Mans in a new GT car. While an official announcement has not yet been made, Hand and Pruett are reportedly slated to drive for Ganassi in a new Ford GT car at Le Mans in 2016 on the 50th anniversary of Ford's first overall win in the race; the latest information on the planned effort appears here. —Brian S. Morgan
