Will Power to make IMSA debut in Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona

The SunEnergy1 squad, owned by US-based Australian Kenny Habul, was recently locked in as the 61st entry for the opening round of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship .

The GTD-class Mercedes AMG GT3 will be shared by Power, Habul, Fabian Schiller and Zimbabwean Axcil Jeffries for the endurance classic.

The event will mark Power's debut in the Rolex 24, the Aussie hoping to use it as a springboard for more tin-top outings, such as the Bathurst 1000 and the Bathurst 12 Hour.

A potential Bathurst 12 Hour berth in the future could come through Habul, with SunEnergy1 a regular at the event and the reigning winner.

“The Daytona 24 is an iconic event on the bucket list of most drivers and I have to thank Kenny for the opportunity,” said Power.

“I am looking forward to driving the heavier GT car and getting experience for, hopefully, a lot more drives like this in the future – including the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hours back in Australia.

“It is quite funny when you look back at how Kenny and I raced Formula Ford against each other all those years ago and now we are going to be teammates.

“He chose a business route instead of chasing his racing dream and has obviously been incredibly successful. It has been great to watch him enjoy his racing later in life and actually improve as he gets older.

“Kenny obviously knows what it takes to be successful in business and is applying all those lessons to his racing – his win in the Bathurst 12 Hour last year is proof of that.”

Habul said he expects Power to have little trouble getting up to speed in GT3 hardware.

“Will is a monster talent and genuine person and we look forward to him being a valuable contributor to our 24-hour campaign at Daytona,” he said. “He has a reputation of being fast in anything he drives and I am sure he will be up to speed in our gear in no time.

“Will and I have been friends since we raced Formula Ford against each other in the late 1990s and it is quite ironic that we now have houses only a few miles apart from each other in North Carolina.

“We stood on the podium together as kids, in the 1999 Formula Ford race at the Gold Coast IndyCar event, dreaming of racing IndyCars someday. Will made that dream happen and then some. I’m so proud of him.

“I think the mixture of myself, Will, Fabian and Axcil will be a competitive one and it would be nice to come away from the weekend with a Rolex watch.”

The Roar Before the 24 will take place on January 20-22 followed by the race itself on January 28-29.