Gradient Racing To Compete in IMSA Sprint Rounds

Gradient Racing announced that it will join the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Series. The Austin, Texas-based team will run its Acura NSX GT3 Evo in the GTD Class at all eight rounds starting with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (April 17-20). The driver line-up will have a familiar look as the team’s regular professional, Marc Miller, will once again partner with the New York-based British racer, Till Bechtolsheimer.

2019 saw the team compete in its first full season under the Gradient Racing banner. It’s efforts in the SRO’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America netted one win and several podiums in the Pro-Am category. The team’s last foray into IMSA competition was in June 2018 at the Six Hours of the Glen.

Coming off a career year, Marc Miller is excited about the chance to compete for another title this season. “2019 was a really good year. I won a Trans-Am title and Till and I were able to grab a GT3 win and and some podiums for Gradient Racing. IMSA though, has always been our main goal, the level of competition in GTD compares with any Championship in the World! Knowing we have a chance to compete full-time in the IMSA Sprint Championship is extremely exciting. I look forward to having the opportunity to focus completely on our GT3 program this season.”

Miller’s regular driving partner, Till Bechtolsheimer couldn’t be more excited for the 2020 season. “It’s great to be back with Marc and the whole Gradient team. I feel we learnt a lot last year and so I’m excited to be back in IMSA to see how we fair in one of the most competitive sports car fields on the planet. No pressure then!”

This is the Texan team’s third season of competition with the Acura NSX GT3 Evo and is a key element of its wider partnership with Honda Performance Development which includes an agreement to build the brand new Honda Civic Type R Touring Car which is available to compete in a number of events and series across the Globe.

“We’ve been working non-stop over the winter on the Civic Type R project, and It has been a fun challenge, but the whole team is ready to get back to racing with the NSX,” explained Team Manager, Andris Laivins. “There’s very little time to learn the streets of Long Beach and tune the car, so we’re planning a fair bit of sim work so we can hit the ground running.”

“This season is our third with the Acura brand, and every year our relationship has grown stronger. Working alongside the team at HPD on the touring cars has been a treat, and it’s made Gradient push harder on our NSX program because we want to continue expanding what we do as partners. They make it easy to run the car on track, and it helps focus our energy on the commercial side.”

The WeatherTech Sprint Championship effort is part of a longer-term plan for the Acura team. “In 2021, I want to have a competitive effort on the grid at Daytona,” said Laivins. “The only way to get there from here is to put our heads down and do the work this year.”

“We are excited to be part of Gradient Racing’s plans to compete in the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Series and help them achieve their goal of competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona next January,” said John Whiteman, Manager, HPD Commercial Motorsports. “The Team has extensive experience and success with the Acura NSX GT3 Evo and knows that the NSX is a competitive platform for sprint and endurance sports car racing.”

While the IMSAs eight short-format races are the only ones inked into the calendar at present, Gradient Racing is looking to add additional domestic endurance events to the 2020 calendar and is happy to talk to drivers and partners about the opportunities currently available.