Sean Creech Motorsports announced Thursday (Jan. 6) that they will return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the full 2022 season. Joao Barbosa and Dr. Lance Willsey will be the full-time drivers in the No. 33 Ligier JS P320-Nissan. They will be joined by Malthe Jakobsen and Sebastian Priaulx at Daytona.
Barbosa is excited with what the team could be capable of in 2022.
“The team did such a good job last year, so I think there’s huge potential for this year,” Barbosa said in a statement. “We finished second last year and we want to do as good or better. With Malthe [Jakobsen] and Sebastian [Priaulx], it’s a young and strong team to face the challenge of the LMP3 class. Malthe knows the car and his experience in Europe really helps. I coached Sebastian in a few races last year and have followed his progress, he did a stellar job last year. He has huge potential as well and this will give him great experience. We’ll get them as many laps as we can at the Roar, but we know they’ll have plenty of time to get ready.
For Priaulx, the Rolex 24 at Daytona will mark his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut. He spent 2021 racing full-time for Kelly-Moss Road & Race in Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Visit Cayman Islands. With backing from Multimatic, Priaulx won six of the 16 races en route to the championship. He has also raced for Multimatic Motorsports in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition previously in Ford Mustang GT4s. He has one career victory there, the 2019 FOX Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with Austin Cindric.
“It’s a dream, to do this race,” Priaulx stated. “I’m very excited, it’s my first 24-hour race, and I’m over the moon to be working with these guys. Joao was my driver coach last year so it will be great working with him at Daytona. Sean has such a great history and it’s a good group of guys, so I’m ready to get going! I’ve watched a lot of 24-hour races and I know how draining it is, mentally and physically, so I’m doing a lot of training to get my endurance levels up, and a lot of sim work. It’s a very different kind of racing compared to a 45-minute sprint race, or the four-hour race I did at Daytona two years ago. It’s one of those tracks that can be easily underestimated, as it looks like a couple of corners and an oval. But it’s actually quite technical, and finding that last bit of speed is difficult, but I’m excited for the effort.
Jakobsen has one previous start in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. That was back in November for Performance Tech Motorsports at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Jakobsen was quick in the No. 38 Ligier, but mechanical issues ended his race early.
Last year, Sean Creech Motorsports announced plans to compete full-time with Barbosa and Willsey driving. The team moved up from IMSA Prototype Challenge, where Willsey had raced solo, in order to do so.
The start was promising with a second-place finish in class in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The team then finished fifth at both Sebring and Mid-Ohio. Afterwards, they quietly disappeared for the remainder of the season.
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.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.