Stuart Wiltshire has joined Era Motorsport for the two sprint races of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship which involves the LMP2 category as well as GTD and GTD Pro.
With the departure of Bronze-rated Dwight Merriman, the Indianapolis-based team has announced the Englishman to pair up with Ryan Dalziel in the #18 Oreca 07 LMP2 machine as their efforts begin on assessing and selecting a 2025 Bronze driver.
Wiltshire will make his IMSA debut although he has already driven with Era Motorsport in their historic sportscar racing endeavours, such as in last year’s Historic Sportscar Racing Daytona Classic in an IMSA-spec Era Motorsport Oreca 07 LMP2 with Merriman as his teammate.
Prior to the outing, he has driven other prototypes including a Peugeot 90X LMP1 car and an Acura ARX-05 DPi which is run by Era Motorsport.
Wiltshire and Dalziel will compete at the seventh IMSA round at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on 14 July, followed by the SportsCar Weekend round at Road America on 4 August, both of which are 2-hour and 40-minute races.
“I can’t wait to get my first taste of racing at this level,” said Wiltshire.
“After getting a few years of experience driving prototypes, I’ve gotten quite comfortable behind the wheel, and I can’t wait to see how things stack up once we get on track for FP1.”
“After the test, I feel great in the car, and I’m confident with the pace I have.
“The biggest difference for me will be the longer stints in IMSA as opposed to the 45-minute drive times I’m used to in historic racing.”
“Overall though, I’m extremely thankful to Kyle Tilley and the rest of the team at Era Motorsport.
“They always put together an incredible car and have the crew to back it up, so I feel as strong as ever entering into these next few races.”
Kyle Tilley, founder of Era Motorsport and a regular in historic racing, added: “I’ve known Stuart for a while now, and have every confidence that he will do an excellent job for us.”
“It’s a bit of a power cut compared to what he’s used to, but who wouldn’t want to race a P2 at Mosport?”
After testing at CTMP last week, Wiltshire will gain his first taste of IMSA racing next week with Era Motorsport set to field another Bronze driver after Road America.
Despite retiring at the Six Hours of the Glen due to gearbox and clutch issues, after Merriman’s contact, Era Motorsport look hopeful to chase their third victory this year.
