This will be Juncadella’s first return visit to an IMSA team, having competed for four different squads in his first four outings in the series.
Back in 2018, he debuted at Daytona driving an Oreca for the Jackie Chan DCR JOTA team. He returned to the series racing an Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 at Petit Le Mans last year, before driving the similar car of WeatherTech Racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
There, Juncadella shared with MacNeil, Maro Engel and Jules Gounon, yet at Sebring, he raced the Mercedes of Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports, teamed with Stevan McAleer and Mike Skeen, and finished runner-up in the GTD class.
Now he switches back to the GTD Pro class with as the WeatherTech Racing/Proton Competition team heads to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
“I have not raced there yet, but from what I see,I already love the circuit,” Juncadella said. “I have driven WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca online many times and it just looks super cool, so I can’t wait to race there this weekend.
“I think it’s a good track for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 car because it has a good combination of corners and the straights aren’t too long. My favorite part is The Corkscrew and the fast left-hand kink before The Corkscrew.”
MacNeil is similarly enamored with the classic undulating 2.238-mile venue on the Monterey Peninsula.
“I have a lot of laps at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca,” he said. “I’ve won a lot of races there in Ferrari Challenge, one win in a GT3 car in another series, podium last year and in 2019, but would like to win one in IMSA.
“The track is one of my favorites. There is nothing that really compares in racing to driving up the side of the hill and then the more than five story plunge down through The Corkscrew.”
MacNeil sits fourth in the GTD Pro championship and thanks to the team’s revolving door co-driver policy, he sits alone behind the pairings of Jordan Taylor/Antonio Garcia (Corvette Racing), Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell (Pfaff Porsche) and Ben Barnicoat/Jack Hawksworth (Vasser-Sullivan Lexus).
