Norman Nato, Phil Hanson and Callum Ilott has been confirmed by JOTA amongst their 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar driver lineup for their two Porsche 963 entries.
JOTA Sport has now finalised five of their six WEC drivers who will drive across their #12 and #38 LMDh runners next year.
During the WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain, Nato drove his first laps behind the wheel of the JOTA Porsche 963 and will drive for the team full-time, although the team has not mentioned which car he will compete in his WEC return.
His Hypercar commitments will be balanced with his Project H24 duties, which outlines and will push hydrogen’s presence in the future of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Hanson has already been announced for a Porsche customer programme, and so now he will also drive in the WEC’s #38 entrant and joins Oliver Rasmussen.
As the youngest WEC champion, he is renowned for his affiliation with United Autosports, having claimed an LMP2 Le Mans 24 Hours win and the 2020 LMP2 championship amongst multiple sportscar titles.
Meanwhile Ilott began his sportscar career as a Ferrari Driver Academy driver, driving for Iron Lynx in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Later in the year, he would debut at the Le Mans 24 in the #80 GTE Am Iron Lynx Ferrari 488, as a replacement for Andrea Piccini in the lineup, who chose to prioritise his role as team principal. Ilott and his two teammates would go on to finish third in the category.
He also contested in the 24 Hours of Spa during that year, which was interrupted after a significant four-car incident on the 10th lap, in which his #71 Iron Lynx Ferrari was involved and therefore retired from the event.
Further after the initial round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Ilott took part in the final two rounds with AF Corse’s #71 entry.
During 2023, he concluded a three-season-long partnership with Juncos Hollinger in the IndyCar Series, in addition to one outing for Wright Motorsports in the GT World Challenge America.
With Will Stevens having already been named in the #12 alongside Ilott, one more driver is left to be announced which will also confirm which car Nato will drive.
They submitted an application to run two drivers in one of the entries over one month ago, solely for two six hour races on the 2024 schedule (out of five including Lone Star Le Mans); it is likely that arrangement will be confirmed and carried out by JOTA.
