JDC-Miller MotorSports announced Thursday (Aug. 9) that they will field two Cadillac DPi-V.R. chassis full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019. The move was made due to IMSA’s announcement at Road America that they are splitting the Prototype class into DPi and LMP2 classes next season.
“When we first started our IMSA WeatherTech program in 2014 we knew our goal was to work with a brand like Cadillac,” stated John Church, managing partner of JDC-Miller MotorSports. “We feel strongly that we have found the best possible partner and look forward to adding to the incredible success Cadillac has already enjoyed in IMSA.”
The move to DPi will allow the team to continue to compete for overall victories. It is unclear what kind of rule changes will be made to the DPis in the off-season, but it appears that Global LMP2s will no longer be able to compete for overall wins on merit. Also, the LMP2 class will be a Pro-Am class in 2019, further slowing the class as compared to the DPis, but putting in more in line with the LMP2 class in the European Le Mans Series.
JDC-Miller MotorSports also announced that Stephen Simpson will be back with the team full-time in 2019. According to Church, Simpson had an option in his contract and there was no question that it would be picked up based on his performance.
With the current ORECA 07-Gibsons, JDC-Miller MotorSports has had a good amount of success. Simpson gave the team their first overall victory at Watkins Glen in July with this three-wide pass for the lead on a late restart.
Simpson and teammate Misha Goikhberg backed that up with a second-place finish last weekend at Road America that put them fifth in Prototype points, 22 points out of the lead. The No. 85 shared by Robert Alon and Simon Trummer have struggled at times, but Alon scored the overall pole last weekend in Road America. They’re currently 10th in points with a best finish of sixth in class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
JDC-Miller MotorSports will take delivery of their Cadillac DPi-V.R.s in September. From there, the team will embark on a testing program ahead of next season. The remaining three members of the full-time driving lineup, plus endurance drivers for 2019 will be announced at a later date.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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