Daytona Beach, Florida (Wednesday, December 6, 2023) – After a successful conclusion to the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech GTD season, Forte Racing is excited to announce the return of Petit LeMans GTD winning drivers Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship. The dynamic pair will be joined for the five endurance rounds by former INDYCAR driver Devlin DeFrancesco.
The team is entering their second season in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship after an impressive fifth-place finish in their rookie season. The team finished 2023 with four top-five finishes, two podiums and a win in the final five races of the season. The season was highlighted with the win in the season-finale at Petit LeMans.
Misha Goikhberg has committed to the team for another two seasons, giving the team a much-desired stability through the end of the 2025 season. He and the team are looking forward to the start of the 2024 season beginning with the IMSA sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway this week.
“I’m very excited to start the new season which starts at our first test in Daytona in December,” the Canadian driver said. “It’s very nice to have continuity from 2023, and we are all eager to build on our form from the end of 2023. Thank you to everyone at Forte and Lamborghini.”
Loris Spinelli will also return to the team for the 2024 season. The Italian driver was promoted last month to Lamborghini factory driver status after a shootout against the world’s top Lamborghini drivers following the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals at the Vallelunga Circuit in Italy. Spinelli set a track record while earning the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech GTD pole at Watkins Glen International in addition to helping the team secure a second-place finish at Indianapolis and the win at Petit LeMans.
“2024 is just around the corner and I can’t wait to start it with my boys!” Spinelli said. “The last few rounds for us were very constructive where we learned a lot! I am sure we can do a good job next season!”
Forte Racing is adding former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Devlin DeFrancesco to their lineup for the five 2024 races that make up the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. In addition to his open-wheel experience, DeFrancesco has found success in IMSA. As an LMP2 driver, he was part of the team that won the iconic Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2022. Next month will be DeFrancesco’s first race in the Forte Racing Lamborghini GT3.
“I’m hugely excited for the opportunity to be joining Shane and Lamborghini for the 5 IMSA endurance races!” DeFrancesco said. “Looking forward to fighting for race wins and podiums with this great group of people! Looking forward to working with everyone and getting started in Daytona.”
Forte Racing team owner Shane Seneviratne is thrilled to have both of his 2023 full season drivers back and is excited about the addition of DeFrancesco as the team’s endurance driver. Coming off a successful rookie season in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship, the team feels confident that they can continue to build on the momentum they had at the end of last season. Seneviratne is proud of last year’s success but wants to come back even stronger in 2024 and he feels he has the lineup to accomplish that.
“I am delighted to have Misha and Loris back for another full season in 2024,” Seneviratne said. “We built such great chemistry as a team and look forward to continuing that working relationship which will continue to strengthen the team’s success. We are also welcoming Devlin DeFrancesco, an INDYCAR driver, onto our team for the five endurance races. We look forward to Devlin bringing a high level of experience from the INDYCAR paddock and his contributing to the growth of the team.
“We really appreciate Lamborghini’s commitment to the program and hope to see good results as we proudly represent such an iconic brand,” Seneviratne added. “We will also be proudly continuing our relationship with Eddie Littlefield from Change Racing and Tom O’Gara from O’Gara Coach; they have been such valuable partners to our program. Forte is happy to announce that we will retain Petit LeMans winning driver Patrick Liddy as a test and development driver for the entire Forte racing program. We appreciate his commitment to the program and will be laying down the fundamentals necessary to have him continue with the development of the team.”
Forte Racing partner Eddie Littlefield was ecstatic with the team’s win at Petit LeMans and is looking forward to continued successes in the upcoming 2024 season. “Our team ended the season last year in a big way and 2024 is going to be exciting!”
The team arrived in Daytona today for the IMSA WeatherTech pre-season test. All three drivers will be on track tomorrow and Friday. The team’s final driver for the 24 Hours at Daytona will be announced in the coming weeks.
About Forte Racing (Formerly known as US RaceTronics)
Forte Racing is a Los-Angeles based Motorsport team supported by Lamborghini Squadra Corse and competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.
Founded in 2023 and operated by US RaceTronics, the Italian-American team’s GT Daytona title contender is a Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 GT3 driven by Pro driver Loris Spinelli and Misha Goikhberg. The ream finished the 2023 season with four top-five finishes in the last five races of the season and included a 2nd-place finish at Indianapolis and a win at the season-finale Petit LeMans. The team finished an impressive rookie season fifth in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship.
The team line-up for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship includes the team’s 2023 Petit LeMans winning driver Goikhberg and Spinelli along with NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Devlin DeFrancesco for the five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.
US RaceTronics (USRT) was founded by Shane Seneviratne in 2005 to compete in the Atlantic Championship, a formula race car series. The team finished 5th in points its first year and continued its success during the succeeding years, ultimately amassing a total of 21 podiums, 7 poles, 5 race wins and finishing 3rd in the 2009 Atlantic Championship. USRT was put on hold after series officials announced the Atlantic Series was put on hiatus.
Seneviratne fully returned to racing in 2015 after receiving an invitation to manage the O’Gara Motorsport entries in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North American (LBSTNA) Series. The team won the Team Championship, Dealership Championship, Pro Championship and Amateur Championship that season.
The success of 2015 reignited Seneviratne’s passion for racing and he relaunched US RaceTronics to compete in the 2016 LBSTNA Series. The team has won multiple North American and World Championships and expects to add to their success as they enter their eighth season in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Series. The team also competed in 2023 with one car each in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship and the IMSA VP Challenge and will be expanding their entries in 2024.
For more information on how to become a driver with US RaceTronics, learn more about the Series, or attend a race, visit www.usracetronics.com.
About O’Gara Motorsport
O’Gara Motorsport was founded in 2014 by owner Tom O’Gara and celebrated winning the 2015 North American Lamborghini Super Trofeo driver and team Championships. The team goal is to achieve victories in the Series as well as showcasing the brands of their sponsors both on and off the track. With a vertically integrated platform that starts at the dealership and accelerates to the top levels of professional sports car racing, everyone at O’Gara is dedicated to providing a comprehensive program for anyone, from the casually curious to the dedicated racer.
About Change Racing
Founded by Lamborghini Charlotte CEO and long time real estate developer, John E. Littlefield, Change Racing is the premier championship winning team. Claiming 18 titles in various classes; Change Racing has competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series since its inception in 2013.
Most recently claiming the 2021 Amateur World Championship in Misano, Italy. Change Racing also claimed all SIX 2020 North American Championships, including the Pro, Pro-Am, Am and LB Cup class championships as well as the Team and Owner championships.
