Ben Keating will continue to race with TF Sport for the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship but has said that he will also scale back his racing schedule after an intense 2021 campaign.
The Texan currently competes in his second full season in the FIA WEC, having joined TF Sport’s GTE Am operation. He took a GTE Am class win in last weekend’s Six Hours of Bahrain.
Alongside his WEC programme, he is also part of a full-season LMP2 effort with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and the Intercontinental GT Challenge with DXDT Racing.
When asked about his 2022 plans, Keating confirmed that he would remain with TF Sport for the 2022 season, but that he would downgrade his IMSA commitments to contesting just the four longer rounds on the calendar.
“I did fourteen events this year, between IMSA, Intercontinental GT and WEC,” Keating told MotorsportWeek.com. “I can’t do that again. I don’t want to do that again.”
“My plan now is to do WEC again with TF Sport, and to do the North American Endurance Cup [Michelin Endurance Cup] in IMSA with PR1 again in the LMP2. That’s four races in IMSA and six races in WEC, and as long as Sebring goes off the way they’re planning it to, I’m counting that as one event but I’ll be in both races.”
“That’s how I’m getting to nine. I’m going from fourteen events to nine events, so we’ll see how that goes.”
TF Sport officially confirmed Keating’s 2022 deal with the team on Tuesday, as team owner Tom Ferrier stated he was happy to have Keating in his stable for another year.
“It’s fantastic to have Ben back,” said Ferrier. “It is clear to everyone that he is a stand out driver. Another year working together and I am confident we can win both the World Championship and the world’s biggest race.”
Keating is coming towards the end of his second full season in the FIA World Endurance Championship. After having contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans every year since 2015, he joined the series full-time for 2019 with Team Project 1 before moving over to TF Sport for the 2021 campaign.
The Texas gentleman driver went on to explain that his busy business schedule is one of the reasons for his toned-down racing plans in 2022.
“I’m in the car business, as most people know,” said Keating. “I’m buying six additional dealerships between now and Christmas. So I have a ridiculous amount of stuff going on.
“I’ll be here [in Bahrain] for 12 days. I get home for two days, and then I go to Petit Le Mans for that championship. I’ll be up late at night next week, working on all that stuff from the hotel here.”
