Di Resta adds IMSA endurance races at Sebring, Watkins Glen

Di Resta, who was in grand prix racing full-time in 2011-13 and made a one-off F1 start last year as Felipe Massa's stand-in at Williams, will drive United Autosports' Ligier JS P217 in the Sebring 12 Hours in March as well as July's six-hour Watkins Glen race.

He will team up with fellow ex-F1 driver Bruno Senna and LMP3 graduate Phil Hanson.

In his first LMP2 outing, di Resta was part of the United Autosports crew that finished fourth in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I’m massively excited to be taking on some more races in IMSA,” said di Resta. “After the success we had in Daytona and what could have been, I’ve really got the bug for doing more and why not be part of it with United Autosports where it all started.

“It’s a new task for the team racing out in America and there’s lots going on, but being part of that back in the car alongside Bruno and Phil is great.

“There’s plenty of work to do and I’m looking forward to undertaking these two races and seeing what it leads to.”

“It’s great to have Paul back with the team for Sebring and Watkins Glen,” added United Autosports team owner Zak Brown. “He did a fantastic job at Daytona and really settled into sports car racing so to have him racing alongside Bruno and Phil will only strengthen our campaign out in America.”

The announcement for Sebring and Watkins Glen mean di Resta's programme will now comprise three of the four races of IMSA's North American Endurance Cup.

However, he will be absent from the final race – October's Petit Le Mans – as it clashes with the Hockenheim season finale of the DTM series, where the Scotsman races for Mercedes.

Teammate Senna also has a clash for that race weekend, as he is set to be racing for Rebellion in WEC's LMP1 class at Fuji - following the decision to move the latter event to accommodate new Toyota signing Fernando Alonso.