ELKHART LAKE, Wis., (August 6, 2017) -- Tequila Patrón ESM celebrated a breakthrough performance Sunday afternoon at Road America, earning the first Nissan DPi win of the 2017 season, while also netting a third place finish. The No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi clinched the win, the team's seventh under the IMSA sanctioning body. The No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi produced a well fought third place finish at the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship's Road Race Showcase.

In recent weeks, the focus of the new development program focused on reliability, already showing competitive speeds all season long. In the Road Race Showcase race weekend, Road America weather threw its own curve balls, offering varying conditions for every session leading up to the race. The lack of continuity in conditions minimized the team's ability to do extended testing with the same set up, but the engineers and crew at Tequila Patrón ESM worked diligently to produce a strong package for both Nissan Onroak DPis.

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ELKHART LAKE, Wis., -- Four weeks after a podium finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Tequila Patrón ESM will return to the track for the next stop in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.  The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America will offer the pair of Tequila Patrón ESM's Nissan Onroak DPis the opportunity to again produce two strong finishes for the developmental program.

While both cars ran competitively at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, gremlins hampered a strong podium run for Johannes van Overbeek and Pipo Derani in the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi, but the No. 2 with Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel continued on to earn a third place finish.

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BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp earned their second podium finish in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge season. The No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan Onroak DPi started third and finished third in the two hour, forty minute Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix.

The team’s pair of Nissan Onroak DPis qualified well to start third and fourth. Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel led the team charge, with Johannes van Overbeek and Pipo Derani one position behind in the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi. Sharp kept position while van Overbeek slipped to fifth. Both cars slowed consistent pace, maintaining position as the field spread out and the prototypes began to lap the GT cars.

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BOWMANVILLE, Ont., — After a disappointing end to a strong weekend at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, Tequila Patrón ESM will be offered a chance at redemption this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Just days after both cars retired early from the six hour endurance event, the team has arrived at the next stop on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar.

The development of the new Nissan Onroak DPi program showed impressive improvements at Watkins Glen, as the team earned their first pole position of the year and followed up the qualifying performance with both cars leading several stints during the event. The newfound speed and performance in the pair of cars will carry over to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where the team earned a podium finish in 2013 with Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmo.

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WATKINS GLEN, NY., -- The Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen started out promising this weekend for the Tequila Patrón ESM squad, but attrition took both Nissan Onroak DPis out of the endurance race before the checker flag.

Both cars arrived at Watkins Glen International and immediately showed strong speeds. Brazilian Pipo Derani qualified on pole position in the No. 2, earning the team's second pole at the Glen in two years. Last year's pole sitter Johannes van Overbeek set a position to start fifth. Derani led the field to green and pulled away from Olivier Pla and the rest of the field to create a two second gap in the first ten minutes. Van Overbeek and the No. 22 lost a position on the start to run sixth, but stayed close to the No. 85 car and made a daring pass on the outside to take the position back in the first ten minutes. On lap 14, Pla took the lead and Derani stayed close, biding his time with five and a half hours left in the race. Strong pit strategy by the team during the first round of stops brought Derani back to the lead, and kept van Overbeek in fifth position. Derani pulled away from the field to hold a 17 second lead over Christian Fittipaldi at the one hour mark. In the No. 22, van Overbeek gained ground with every lap, running in fourth and quickly reeling in third. He pitted in 75 minutes running, and passed the wheel on to his only co-driver of the weekend, Bruno Senna. Derani pitted the No. 2 from the lead and gave the car to Scott Sharp, who rejoined with an 11 second lead.

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WATKINS GLEN, NY.,  -- Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International Raceway, Pipo Derani dominated the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying session to pole position for Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen. The Brazilian piloted the No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi to the top of the timing charts to earn Nissan's first DPi pole. Last year's pole sitter, Johannes van Overbeek qualified the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi in fifth position.

Derani initially held provisional pole early in the session, but Olivier Pla showed competitive speeds, taking the position back. Derani pushed on, reclaiming the position. With one lap left, Derani again set a fast time, setting the fastest lap with a time of 1:34.405. In the No. 22, Johannes van Overbeek also showed the Nissan's competitive lap times, setting a fast time to sit in third position. As the car began to settle in to set a qualifying lap, the team noticed issues with the boost, forcing van Overbeek to make a quick pit stop. He rejoined the field, securing a fifth place starting position for Sunday's race.

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DETROIT, MI., — The streets of Detroit paid Tequila Patrón ESM no favors this weekend for round five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The bumpy 2.3 mile, 14 turn street circuit challenged the team all weekend, resulting in a best finish of seventh place for the team at the Chevrolet SportsCar Grand Prix.

With two long practices, the team worked hard to master the street circuit, looking for a set up to best handle the rough course over the duration of the 100-minutes race. The duo of Nissan Onroak DPi cars looked strong in Prototype qualifying until a crash from the pole sitter canceled the reminder of the session. The field started by points, putting Scott Sharp and the No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi to start fourth, and Ed Brown in the No. 22 to start sixth.

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DETROIT, Mi.,  — This weekend, Tequila Patrón ESM returns to Detroit, Michigan for the next round in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. Tequila Patrón ESM last raced on the temporary street circuit in 2014, where the team earned a fifth place finish. This year, they will return with its pair of Nissan Onroak DPis, driven by Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, Ed Brown, and Johannes van Overbeek.

As the season has progressed, Tequila Patrón ESM has begun to show a quickening momentum to their new DPi program. Both cars showed strong reliability and increased speed last month at the Long Beach Grand Prix, and other street course on the IMSA calendar. The driving duo of Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel earned the team’s first podium finish of the season, finishing the race in second place. Earlier this month, the Nissan DPis put forth another strong effort, narrowly missing a podium finish when the No. 2 car caught fire and retired early at Circuit of the Americas. Despite contact from a lapped car, the No. 22 ran a clean race to earn a top-five finish, showing the continued progress of the program.

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AUSTIN, Tex., (May 6, 2017) – After showing encouraging progress over the course of the week at Circuit of the Americas, the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown ended in disappointment for Tequila Patrón ESM and their pair of Nissan Onroak DPis. The No. 22’s chance at a podium finish ended when contact from a lapped car forced the team to pit off strategy, and a late race fire ended the No. 2’s race with less than ten minutes to go.

Johannes van Overbeek qualified the No. 22 in second place, locking in a strong starting position for Round 4 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Scott Sharp and the No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi started four places behind in third. While the leaders quickly pulled away from the field, the Tequila Patrón ESM cars held strong to their positions. Thirty minutes in, van Overbeek had contact with a lapped car, sending him to the pits for a quick check and repair. He rejoined in eighth, but quickly took over seventh position, with Sharp just ahead in sixth. At the one hour mark, the race went full course caution, showing Sharp running in the top five. Ed Brown took over under caution for the No. 22, and proceeded to complete his required minimum drive time of ten minutes. He proceeded to give the wheel back to van Overbeek who rejoined in seventh.

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AUSTIN, Tex., (May 5, 2017) – Today at Circuit of the Americas, the No. 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan Onroak DPi gave its strongest qualifying performance of the season, with drivers Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek. With a fast lap time of 1:56.401, van Overbeek qualified the car to start in second position in Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown.

Coincidently enough, the qualifying session landed on the same day as Cinco de Mayo, a day dear to the team as well as President and CEO of Patrón Spirits, Ed Brown. The team arrived at Circuit of the Americas chasing the setup of the Nissan Onroak DPi cars, but utilized the three practice sessions to find more speed. While still 1.6 seconds off of pole position, the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi’s fastest qualifying lap was enough to land in second in the highly competitive field. The sister car of Scott Sharp ran a predictive lap to take third, but lost the lap after being held up by traffic. The No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi will start sixth.

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AUSTIN, TX. — Riding the momentum of a strong second place finish on the streets of Long Beach, California, Tequila Patrón ESM journeyed to Austin, Texas to test their Nissan Onroack DPis at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) to prepare for the next round in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This weekend, COTA will be host to the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, the fourth race in the 2017 IMSA Championship.

The team tested for two days at the 3.4 mile course, determined to improve on the continued progress the new Nissian Onroak DPi program. Offering both high and low speed corners, two long straights, and an elevation change of 133 feet, the track can be challenging to find the right set up for. With the test complete, the team found a solid baseline for the No. 2 and No. 22 car setups heading into the sprint weekend.

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By Nissan Nismo

SEBRING, Florida, USA: The bumps of Sebring International Raceway are renowned for taking their toll on machinery at the 12 Hours of Sebring and sadly for the Nissan-powered ESM squad, that was what transpired last weekend.

The team managed to get both cars home to the finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona but struck issues at Sebring which eliminated both cars half way through the day.

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SEBRING, Fla., (March 18, 2016) – After a challenging race weekend, defending race winning team Tequila Patrón ESM has retired early from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh from Florida. Both the No. 2 and No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi cars struggled throughout the race with mechanical issues, retiring just before the halfway point.

As is the normal with new race programs, the team dealt with issues throughout the practice and qualifying sessions leading up to race day, Round 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Brendon Hartley qualified the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi in fifth position, while Pipo Derani and the No. 2 car suffered boost issues, resulting in the team unable to run and set a qualifying time.  With both cars set up to run well at night in the cooler temperatures, the team felt confident both Nissan DPi cars would perform strong, should the demands of Sebring International Raceway not prove to be fatal.

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SEBRING, Fla., – When Tequila Patrón ESM captured the win at the 2016 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh from Florida, they had become the first team in 18 years to win both the Twelve Hour and the 24 Hours of Daytona in the same year. This weekend, Tequila Patrón ESM returns to the 65th running of the historic event with a two car assault, in hopes of again claiming top honors.

The No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi will be piloted by full time drivers Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel, who will be joined by last year’s breakout driver, Pipo Derani. The No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi will also maintain its Daytona lineup with full time drivers Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek to be joined by Brendon Hartley and Bruno Senna. This will mark Hartley’s first attempt at the Twelve Hour, while this event is the only other race in the United States Senna has participated in, outside of the 24 Hours of Daytona.

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Just one month after taking delivery of their Nissan Onroak DPi race cars, Tequila Patrón ESM celebrated a top five finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend. The Florida based team kicked off the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the longest race of the season, hosted at Daytona International Raceway.  With limited testing of the new machines, the team utilized every practice session to the best of their ability to prepare for the 55th annual running of the endurance event.

Brendon Hartley led the team charge in qualifying, setting a fast lap to earn a fifth place starting position for the No. 22 Nissan Onroak DPi. Full season driver Ryan Dalziel and the No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi started the race in sixth position. The field of 55 cars showed a clean start, with Hartley slipping to sixth position and Dalziel eighth by the first caution ten minutes after the green flag. With 24 hours of racing ahead, the drivers and engineers at Tequila Patrón ESM knew to play the first two thirds of the race safe. However in his opening stint, Dalziel found himself forced off track twice, narrowly escaping any critical damage. Thirty minutes into his stint, Hartley also radioed to the team he suffered early contact as well, with minimal damage.  Hartley climbed back to fifth before passing the driving duties to the No. 22 car to Ed Brown. Ed rejoined in sixth as Dalziel took fifth place as the second full course caution came out.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., — After taking delivery of two brand new Nissan Onroak DPi race cars within the last two weeks, Tequila Patrón ESM has completed its first official IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship test, the Roar Before the 24. Armed with its two full season entries, four of the six drivers were able to run laps at Daytona International Speedway over the course of the three day test, gathering valuable data for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which will take place later this month.

While the team had completed a shakedown with one car two weeks prior at Sebring International Raceway, the second car arrived less than a week before this week’s Daytona test. Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, and Pipo Derani ran a total of 77 laps in four sessions, working through item by item the checklist of tasks required to be completed with a new car. The No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi performed well as the drivers gave engineers continuous feedback, frequently pitting for adjustments, dialing in on the car’s optimal setup.

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After two seasons competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Tequila Patrón ESM is preparing its homecoming to the United States for the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Florida based team will return with its familiar but strong lineup of Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, Ed Brown, and Johannes van Overbeek as the full time drivers in the No. 2 and No. 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Ligier DPi cars. Luis “Pipo” Derani, Bruno Senna, and Brendon Hartley will join the squad for the first race of the year, the Rolex 24 of Daytona.

The team previously announced its two car entry, transitioning from the Daytona Prototype chassis to the new Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars. Partnering with Nissan Nismo, the 2017 return to IMSA with Ligier and Oak Racing, with which team has already celebrated success together. The two new DPi cars will run with the ACO/FIA homologated LMP2 Prototype Ligier chassis in the IMSA Prototype class.

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Saturday evening at the Bahrain International Circuit, Tequila Patrón ESM bid adieu to the FIA World Endurance Championship with one of the strongest performances the team has seen all season. Pipo Derani, Ryan Dalziel and Chris Cumming perfectly executed the team’s strategy to hold an impressive lead for several hours of the Six Hours of Bahrain for the No. 31 Patrón ESM Ligier to finish fourth.

Derani and Cumming qualified with a combined average speed to set a seventh place starting position. A post-qualifying change further up the field moved the No. 31 Ligier up for Derani to start sixth. The young Brazilian showed strength on the start, jumping from sixth to fourth in the opening lap. He continued his climb in the opening stint, racing side by side with the sister No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier of Giedo van der Garde. Derani took the position to run third before making his first pit stop 45 minutes running. He rejoined in fifth, involved in a three way battle for position with the No. 44 Manor and the No. 26 G-Drive machines. Derani took fourth before handing the wheel off to Ryan Dalziel with an hour and a half complete.

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This weekend, the Middle East will host the season finale for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season. After starting the season with a second place finish at the 6 Hours of Silversone, Tequila Patrón ESM hopes to finish the season with the No. 31 Nissan powered Ligier JS P2 again on the podium. In the eight races competed thus far, Tequila Patrón ESM earned four podiums and an additional three top five finishes.

The Bahrain International Circuit held its first FIA WEC event in 2012, and will celebrate its fifth anniversary this weekend with 92 drivers in 30 cars competing in the four classes. With 24 turns, the 3.914 endurance circuit will be the final battle ground for the 2016 race season.

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Sunday evening at Shanghai International Circuit, Tequila Patrón ESM earned their seventh top five finish of the weekend in the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. The 6 Hours of Shanghai ran under the green flag for the majority of the event, where the Ligier ran error free and finished a fifth place after starting in ninth place.

Dalziel showed a strong race start, gaining two positions in the opening lap before the race went under safety car for two laps. At the end of his 50 minute stint, Dalziel pitted in sixth, strategically setting up Chris Cumming to rejoin in fifth position. Despite heavy race traffic, Cumming ran a clean stint, at one point dropping to ninth in the LMP2 class, but a consistent run brought him back up to sixth at the two hour mark. Dalziel rejoined in seventh, and quickly climbed up to fifth before his stint ended shortly after the halfway point.

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