Story By: SEAN CREECH MOTORSPORT – JUPITER, FL – Sean Creech Motorsport (SCM) will enter the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the LMP2 class, moving from LMP3 competition with a recently-acquired Ligier JS P217.
“We’re happy to have our program set for 2024,” said team principal Sean Creech. “We wanted to stay in the prototype classes and our existing relationship with Ligier opened the door to staying with them. It’s the same number of races as LMP3, and the logistics are very similar to the program that we’ve been running the last few years, so it made sense to go with LMP2.”
SCM will make the switch to LMP2 after a long and successful history with the LMP3 class, which will no longer compete in the WeatherTech series. Since the Ligier LMP3-spec chassis was introduced in 2017, the team has contested each of the IMSA series that utilized the chassis: the WeatherTech series, the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, and the IMSA Prototype Challenge. SCM won the 2018 IPC championship, campaigning a Ligier JS P3 under the Extreme Speed Motorsports banner.
Shipped from Europe, the Ligier arrives at the port of Miami this week, with the crew planning to begin prep immediately. They will also continue work on the No. 33 Focal One Ligier JS P320 that will contest the final three IMSA WeatherTech series races of the season – Road America, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from the late 80’s until the present day, including Group C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. With that diverse background, he anticipates a smooth transition from LMP3 to LMP2, thanks in part to the deep reservoir of experience that the SCM crew has developed through the years.
“We have a lot of crew members who have worked on the Ligier LMP2 car, so the changeover won’t be difficult at all,” anticipates Creech. “Our engineers are working to get all the data we need to start a testing program – the lead time to get a Gibson lease engine is long so hopefully we can get something going before that. We’ll look to get as many miles as possible over the winter to get completely up to speed on everything before Daytona.”
The Ligier JS P217 has previously raced in North America, most recently as the platform for the Nissan DPi, earning pole at Watkins Glen and winning at Road America, Petit Le Mans, Sebring and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Creech looks forward to remaining in the prototype class and continuing the team’s association with Ligier as it opens a new chapter with the LMP2 campaign.
“We have a long history in prototypes,” said Creech. “I started working on them back in the late 80’s on a Porsche 962. This is a good fit for us, especially given our relationship with Ligier that dates back to 2017. We look forward to starting our 2024 prep now.”
Further information about driver lineups will be forthcoming.
SCM thanks partner Focal One for its continued support.