Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and former Indy 500 winner Will Power will make his debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with fellow American-based Australian Kenny Habul on January 28-29.
The pair will share the now iconic #75 Sun Energy1 Racing Team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 with German ace Fabian Schiller and Zimbabwean Axcil Jeffries in the GT Daytona (GTD) class which now includes 25 entries from nine different manufacturers.
SunEnergy1 became the 61st and final entry for the 24-hour sports car endurance race last week, which also doubles as the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener.
Power is one of the most successful drivers in IndyCar history with 41 wins and 68 poles (one more than the iconic Mario Andretti).
Since joining Team Penske full-time in 2010, Power has only finished outside of the top five in the championship once (9th, 2021).
He won his first IndyCar title in 2014, won the Indy 500 in 2018 and then clinched his second series title in the season closer at Laguna Seca, California, after registering his record-breaking 68th pole positIon.
Born and bred in Toowoomba Queensland, Power learned his craft in Formula Ford in Australia before heading to Europe to expand his open-wheel career.
He eventually found himself in Champ Car with Derrick Walker Racing and Team Australia and won the last ever Champ Car race at Long Beach for KV Racing in 2008.
Power grew up only a couple of hours from Habul’s hometown of Surfers Paradise, Queensland, and the two raced against each other in the National Formula Ford Championship.
While Power will be making his Daytona debut, Habul will be having his sixth start in the American endurance classic, with the solar energy entrepreneur notching his best result of second in the GTD Class in 2021.
That year Habul, who shared his SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Raffaele Marciello, Luca Stolz and Mikael Grenier, actually headed the field during his stint.
Habul had a year to remember in 2022, sealing his third Pro-Am drivers’ title in the Intercontinental GT Challenge finale at the Gulf 12 Hours in December.
His title-winning campaign consisted of outright victory in the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, as well as second-place class finishes in the 24 Hours of Spa and Indianapolis 8 Hour.
The Roar Before the 24 test will take place at Daytona International Speedway on January 20-22.
Following that, the 24 Hours of Daytona will take place at the same venue from January 28-29.
WHAT WILL POWER HAS TO SAY…..
“The Daytona 24 is an iconic event on the bucket list of most drivers and I have to thank Kenny (Habul) for the opportunity,” said Power.
“I am looking forward to driving the heavier GT car and getting experience for, hopefully, a lot more drives like this in the future – including the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12-hour back in Australia.
“It is quite funny when you look back at how Kenny and I raced Formula Ford against each other all those years ago and now we are going to be teammates.
“He chose a business route instead of chasing his racing dream and has obviously been incredibly successful. It has been great to watch him enjoy his racing later in life and actually improve as he gets older.
“Kenny obviously knows what it takes to be successful in business and is applying all those lessons to his racing – his win in the Bathurst 12-hour last year is proof of that.”
WHAT KENNY HABUL HAS TO SAY….
“Will is a monster talent and genuine person and we look forward to him being a valuable contributor to our 24-hour campaign at Daytona,” said Habul.
“He has a reputation of being fast in anything he drives and I am sure he will be up to speed in our gear in no time.
“Will and I have been friends since we raced Formula Ford against each other in the late 90s and it is quite ironic that we now have houses only a few miles apart from each other in North Carolina.
“We stood on the podium together as kids, in the 1999 Formula Ford race at the Gold Coast IndyCar event, dreaming of racing Indy cars someday, Will made that dream happen and then some. I’m so proud of him.
“I think the mixture of myself, Will, Fabian and Axcil will be a competitive one and it would be nice to come away from the weekend with a Rolex watch.”
