GTD is the largest of the four classes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship, with more than 20 entries from eight manufacturers,
including Acura, at this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
After making a mark for himself as a professional racing
driver, Shank ��rst started his race team to compete in the
Formula Atlantic Championship, flourishing with the likes
of Kenny Wilden and Sam Hornish Jr. before switching
the team into sports car racing in 2004. The team flourished
S U P E R S E B R I N G �� 2 0 1 9
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in IMSA Prototype competition, leading and earning
a podium the ��rst race that it entered and scoring its
��rst victory in the Rolex 24 in 2012. The team made its
24 Hours of Le Mans debut in 2016 and saw victory at
the Petit Le Mans in 2016.
Moving out of the Prototype ranks in 2017, MSR served
as a factory team for the inaugural year with the Acura
NSX GT3. Over the course of the next two race seasons,
MSR earned four wins and 11 podiums with the Acura
NSX GT3. MSR also ��rst entered into the Verizon IndyCar
series in 2017 Indianapolis 500 and welcomed Jim Meyer
as new co-owner alongside Mike Shank in 2018 as the
team was rebranded as Meyer Shank Racing.
Legge, a part of the MSR driver lineup since 2017, has
been instrumental in the development of the Acura into
a GTD race winner. Paired with a variety of co-drivers,
Legge has scored a class-high four victories over the last
two seasons for Acura and MSR, and took the 2018 GTD
championship down to the checkered flags at the season
concluding Petit Le Mans race last season.
“I have always wanted to do something like this to show
the appeal of racing to a wider audience,” said Legge.
“Jackie (Heinricher) has done an amazing job to create
this opportunity and develop this partnership. I’m thrilled
to be working with Christina (Nielsen) and Bia (Figueiredo),
and it is exciting to return to Meyer Shank Racing with
the Acura NSX GT3. We’ve had great
success and we are looking forward to
building on that.”
After winning Indy Lights races in both
2008 and ’09, Figueiredo had been a
promising Indy car rookie, but soon
moved to racing in the Stock Car Brazil
series in recent years at the request of
her Brazilian-based sponsor, Ipiranga (a
fuel distribution company).
“I never thought this could happen in my
career, if you were to ask me a few years ago, but it feels
pretty exciting,” said Figueiredo. “I’ve known Katherine
(Legge) for a long time and she has had great success.
The MSR team is always ��ghting for wins and championships
in IMSA and I am sure they will do the best they can
to get this girl power team in high positions. I can’t wait to
be in the car for such important races like Sebring where
I’ve never raced before but I’ve always dreamt about.”
When a back injury kept Heinricher from participating
herself, Christina Nielsen was the perfect choice to step
in at Daytona, and is expected to continue in that role this
weekend at Sebring. Nielsen became the ��rst woman
full-season IMSA champion by winning the GTD class
with Scuderia Corsa in 2016, then again in 2017.
“MSR is known around the paddock for really being a
good team that delivers strong results, and I think last
year especially reflected that when they ��nished second
in the championship in a very close ��ght,” Nielsen said. “I
Rapid pit stops are a hallmark of the Meyer Shank Racing
organization.
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