Derani and Action Express expected to part ways at the end of the 2024 IMSA season – Motorsport Week

According to a report from Sportscar365, Pipo Derani has decided to part ways with Action Express Racing at the end of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after six years together.

The two-time IMSA champion will not return to the team next year after agreeing to a parting of the ways through the end of the 2024 season, which concludes on October 12 at Road Atlanta.

This marks the end of a six-year partnership between the team and the Brazilian driver, who won the 2021 DPi and the 2023 GTP and Endurance Cup titles with Cadillac machinery.

He took three consecutive pole positions this year at the Roar Before the 24 (Hours of Daytona), the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Teaming up with his respective Action Express Racing teammates Jack Aitken and Endurance Cup driver Tom Blomqvist, the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R took two second-place finishes at Daytona and Long Beach, while Derani’s accident at Sebring upended him and knocked him out of the lead.

Derani is currently tied for fourth place in the drivers’ standings alongside teammate Aitken. This decision is likely to be the first of many steps ahead of the 2025 season and for the GTP category after Chip Ganassi Racing announced its split with Cadillac earlier this year.

He joined the Action Express Racing (AXR) team in 2019 after three years with Extreme Speed ​​Motorsports and their Onroak DPi campaign, where he took his first win at Daytona in his IMSA debut and then the first of four career victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

With AXR he has achieved 28 podium finishes so far, including seven race wins: two at the 12 Hours of Sebring and his only victory at the Petit Le Mans.

After the Six Hours of the Glen this Sunday, June 30, the GTPs return to Road America, followed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the season finale at Road Atlanta.