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| Founded | 2007; 18 years ago (2007) |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Elton Julian |
| Base | Jupiter, Florida, U.S. |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Elton Julian |
| Current series | WeatherTech SportsCar Championship FIA World Endurance Championship European Le Mans Series |
| Former series | American Le Mans Series Pirelli World Challenge Blancpain Endurance Series IndyCar Series |
| Teams' Championships | European Le Mans Series: LMP22017 |
| Drivers' Championships | Pirelli World Challenge: GTA2015: Frank Montecalvo European Le Mans Series: LMP22017: Memo Rojas, Léo Roussel |
DragonSpeed Racing is an Americanauto racing team that competes in theEuropean Le Mans Series,FIA World Endurance Championship and the24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2019, the team entered theNTT IndyCar Series with a five race schedule, including the 103rdIndianapolis 500, with car #81 driven byBen Hanley. In the2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, Team DragonSpeed USA won the LMP2 Pro/Am Category, in anOreca 07, car #21, driven by Henrik Hedman, Ben Hanley andJuan Pablo Montoya.
In 2007, DragonSpeed, was founded by racing driverElton Julian. Four years later the team made their race debut onFerrari F430 Challenge in the GT category of the2011 24 Hours of Daytona.[1] They have finished 15th in the category and 29th overall.[2] They missed 2012 racing season, and joined the Prototype Challenge class of the2013 American Le Mans Series withOreca FLM09-Chevrolet car. They finished sixth in the season standings, being the only team in the category to participate on the part-time schedule.[3]
DragonSpeed switched to thePirelli World Challenge in 2014 with Henrik Hedman andMike Hedlund behind the wheel of theFerrari 458 GT3. Hedman finished ninth in the standings.[4] Hedlund had only three rounds, ending 22nd. For the next year, the team switched to theMercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Hedlund was replaced by Frank Montecalvo andEric Lux. Montecalvo won the GTA category title.[5]
The team moved to Europe to compete in the Pro-Am Cup of the2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. They usedFerrari 458 GT3 and fielded Hedman, Julian and Thomas Kemenater.[6]
In2016, the team purchased anOreca 05-Nissan car to compete in the LMP2 class of theEuropean Le Mans Series with Hedman,Ben Hanley andNicolas Lapierre.[7] They had four podiums in six races, including a win atSpa.[8] This was enough for fourth place in the LMP2 standings.
For2017 the team bought twoOreca 07-Gibson cars.[9] The car #21 retained the same Hedman-Hanley-Lapierre line-up, while car #22 was branded asG-Drive Racing withMemo Rojas, Léo Roussel as their full-time drivers.Ryō Hirakawa due to his Toyota commitments was forced to missRed Bull Ring andCircuit Paul Ricard rounds. He was sustained byNicolas Minassian.[10] The team had their first double, winning Monza round.[11] G-Drive branded car won the series after their five podiums in six races.[12]
The team will continue to stand out car #21 in the LMP2 category of the2018 European Le Mans Series with the same line-up of drivers (Hedman-Hanley-Lapierre).[13]
DragonSpeed purchasedBR Engineering BR1-Gibson car and made their debut in the LMP1 class of theFIA World Endurance Championship in2018.[14] Their LMP1 squad featured Hendrik Hedman andBen Hanley, whilePietro Fittipaldi andRenger van der Zande shared third-driver duties.[15] In addition, the team were represented in LMP2 class byRoberto González,Pastor Maldonado,Nathanaël Berthon andAnthony Davidson, who replaced Berthon after the2018 24 Hours of Le Mans race.[16]
On December 17, 2018, DragonSpeed announced they would join theIndyCar Series in 2019 on a 5-race schedule, including the103rd Indianapolis 500. The team's No. 81 entry was powered byChevrolet and driven byBen Hanley. In their first race, the2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Hanley advanced to the second round of qualifying and qualified 12th, and then finished 18th, 2 laps down, in his IndyCar race debut. The team finished 21st at the2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. In qualifying for their third IndyCar race at the103rd Indianapolis 500, the No. 81 struggled for speed early on in the day but finished 27th fastest, confirming DragonSpeed's spot in the field. Hanley would proceed to finish 32nd in the race after a mechanical issue took the team out early. The team was scheduled to participate in 2 further races at Road America and Mid-Ohio, but visa issues prevented the team from getting on track and their inaugural campaign was reduced to 3 races.
In August 2019 team owner Elton Julian stated the team planned on entering ten races in 2020 with Hanley as the driver, with the possibility of additional races. Julian said different drivers could be used if the team were to go beyond the planned ten races, if the right combination of sponsorship and driver talent could be found.[17] In December, an announcement from the team said they had finalized plans to run six races in 2020 – St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Texas, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and the Indy 500,[18] however theCOVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca races, and the team did not field an entry for Texas. On August 8, the team announced that Hanley would drive their entry for the Indianapolis 500, which was held on August 23.[19] With little preparation time, the team had numerous mechanical issues in practice, resulting in qualifying in the 33rd and last position.[20] The car finished the race in 23rd place.
On October 28, 2020, the team shuttered their IndyCar Series program and sold their IndyCar assets toMeyer Shank Racing, citing the team "being taken back two years" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Julian left open the possibility of returning to the series when "the next big thing happens for IndyCar" if the resources were available.[21]
While no one from DragonSpeed was involved, the car that once belonged to the team went on to win the2021 Indianapolis 500, being driven byHélio Castroneves for Meyer Shank Racing.[22]
DragonSpeed returned to IndyCar for the2022 Indianapolis 500, fielding a joint entry withCusick Motorsports for driverStefan Wilson. DragonSpeed leased a chassis fromA. J. Foyt Enterprises for the entry.[23]
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Drivers | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |  DragonSpeed – 10 Star | 21 | Oreca 07-Gibson |  Ben Hanley Henrik HedmanFelix Rosenqvist | LMP2 | 343 | 14th | 12th |
 G-Drive Racing | 22 |  José Gutiérrez Ryō HirakawaMemo Rojas | 327 | 39th | 17th | |||
| 2018 | DragonSpeed | 10 | BR Engineering BR1-Gibson | Ben HanleyHenrik Hedman Renger van der Zande | LMP1 | 244 | DNF | DNF |
| 31 | Oreca 07-Gibson |  Nathanaël BerthonRoberto González Pastor Maldonado | LMP2 | 360 | 9th | 5th | ||
| 2019 | DragonSpeed | 10 | BR Engineering BR1-Gibson | Ben HanleyHenrik HedmanRenger van der Zande | LMP1 | 76 | DNF | DNF |
| 31 | Oreca 07-Gibson | Anthony DavidsonRoberto GonzálezPastor Maldonado | LMP2 | 245 | DNF | DNF | ||
| 2020 | DragonSpeed USA | 21 | Oreca 07-Gibson | Timothé Buret Juan Pablo MontoyaMemo Rojas | LMP2 | 192 | DNF | DNF |
| 27 | Ben HanleyHenrik HedmanRenger van der Zande | 361 | 16th | 12th | ||||
| 2021 | DragonSpeed USA | 21 | Oreca 07-Gibson | Ben HanleyHenrik HedmanJuan Pablo Montoya | LMP2 (Pro-Am) | 356 | 15th | 1st |
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Drivers | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | STP | COA | ALA | LBH | IMS | INDY | DET | TEX | ROA | TOR | IOW | MDO | POC | GAT | POR | LAG | |||||||||
| DallaraDW12 | Chevrolet IndyCarV6t | Ben Hanley(R) | 81 | 18 | 21 | 32 | 30th | 31 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | TEX | IMS | ROA | ROA | IOW | IOW | INDY | GTW | GTW | MDO | MDO | IMS | IMS | STP | |||||||||||
| DallaraDW12 | Chevrolet IndyCarV6t | Ben Hanley R | 81 | 23 | 33rd | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | STP | TXS | LBH | ALA | IGP | INDY | DET | ROA | MDO | TOR | IOW | IOW | IGP | NSH | GAT | POR | LAG | ||||||||
| DallaraDW12 | Chevrolet IndyCarV6t | Stefan Wilson1 R | 25 | 26 | 35th | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
* Season still in progress
1 In conjunction withCusick Motorsports
