The Two-Time Rolex 24 Overall Winner Will Join Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken in the Action Express Racing Entry
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tom Blomqvist may be heading to a full-season IndyCar drive in 2024 but he’ll still be heavily involved in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 29-year-old Brit was named today to drive in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races for the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R that just won the 2023 season and endurance titles in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.
Blomqvist will team with No. 31 full-season drivers Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken for endurance events starting with the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 27-28. Derani, Alexander Sims and the No. 31 Cadillac wrapped up the season championship in the reborn GTP class with a sixth-place finish at the Motul Petit Le Mans on Saturday. With Aitken as the endurance-race third driver, they also claimed Michelin Endurance Cup honors.
Blomqvist, meanwhile, was driving to the overall victory Saturday in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 with co-drivers Colin Braun and Helio Castroneves, the class-leading third win of the season for the No. 60 Acura. Meyer Shank Racing isn’t returning to IMSA competition in 2024, with the team shifting Blomqvist to its IndyCar Series effort.
Blomqvist is a back-to-back Rolex 24 overall winner in 2022 and ’23, as well as the 2022 champion in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class that preceded GTP.
“We’re thrilled that Tom is going to join our team for the IMSA endurance events,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for Action Express Racing that fields the championship-winning hybrid-electrified No. 31 Cadillac. “We feel that with his experience and recent successes, it’s a natural fit for Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani. We’re looking forward to getting in some work this winter so we can hit the ground running when we get to Daytona.”
Blomqvist, the son of 1984 World Rally champion Stig Blomqvist, has five career WeatherTech Championship wins in 30 starts. He’s eager to take on the endurance driver role with Action Express as Aitken slides into a full-time ride alongside Derani. Sims, meanwhile, is headed to Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in 2024.
“After another great season with Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, it is an honor to be joining Action Express Racing and Cadillac for the endurance rounds of the 2024 campaign,” Blomqvist said. “It is a series I love being a part of, and I’m delighted to be returning once again. To be able to come back to the series and to try to defend my title at Daytona is a huge motivation, and I can’t thank Meyer Shank Racing and Honda Performance Development enough for allowing me the opportunity.”