Button adds Petit Le Mans outing to busy 2023 schedule

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Former Formula 1 champion Jenson Button will be behind the wheel of JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Porsche 963 GTP entry in this year's Petit Le Mans at Road America, the final race of this year's IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

The 43-year-old Briton, who now lives in Los Angeles, said that he was "very excited" to be joining co-drivers Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller for the event.

Button has been working with Rockenfeller on the Garage 56 NASCAR Le Mans project, and the pair also were on-track rivals last week in the Indianapolis NASCAR Cup race

"Whilst I'm having a lot of fun cutting my teeth in the NASCAR Cup series this year, a prototype with high downforce is definitely more in my comfort zone," Button admitted.

"That said, the Porsche 963, the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, and Road Atlanta are all brand new to me so I can't wait to tackle all three with my team-mates for the weekend.

"I partnered with Rocky at Le Mans this year and he will be invaluable as he's fantastic at car/team development," he said in a press release from the team. "He is also incredibly quick which always helps!

Read also: Button planning full-time return to racing in 2024

"I'll also have the pleasure of working with rookie Tijmen van der Helm who seems to really be gaining speed and confidence through the season, so we should have a lot of fun."

Button has taken part in three road course races in the NASCAR Cup series for Rick Ware Racing, with support from Stewart-Haas Racing with a best finish of 18th at the Circuit of the Americas, and qualified eighth in Chicago.

In IMSA, JDC-Miller MotorSports was a late arrival in this year's championship in May because of supply chain issues relating to the supply of its hybrid-powered customer Porsche 963 GTP.

©Mobil1-RWR

"JDC-Miller MotorSports is honoured to confirm that Jenson will be joining us for the final race of the season in our Porsche 963 at Road Atlanta," team boss John Church said.

"His accomplishments speak for themselves. He and Rocky bonded through the extensive development of the Garage 56 Camaro," he added. "We are confident he will quickly integrate with the team and get up to speed with the 963."

"Having Jenson join JDC-Miller MotorSports is a testimony to the program John Church, John Miller and the entire team has assembled," commented Volker Holzmeyer, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America.

"It also speaks to the high level of competition and interest in the IMSA GTP class," he pointed out. "Rocky and Tijmen have proven how successful a privateer can be with the Porsche 963. The addition of Jenson should bring even greater success."

The team had hoped to have Button join Rockenfeller and van der Helm at Watkins Glen in June, but unfortunately the scheduling didn't work out as the 2009 champion was already tied up with TV commitments.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.