Cameron looking to grow with AO Racing in IMSA’s LMP2 class

When looking down the entry list for this weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, with its GTP class filled with factory teams and GTD categories oozing star drivers, it could be easy to overlook the 12-car LMP2 class. But you shouldn’t. This year’s field is packed with quality drivers and world-class teams. And with the entire field racing on equal equipment, the racing promises to be as close as ever.

Picking a winner for the Rolex and the title, is near impossible, but there are a few teams that stand out. One of those is AO Racing, with its “Spike” liveried 07 and new-look driver line-up.

After team owner PJ Hyett completed the 2024 season with a rotating cast of characters that included Paul Loup Chatin, Matt Brabham, Alex Quinn and Louis Deletraz, the team has opted to bring a fresh line-up for the season ahead.

For the team’s sophomore campaign with the ORECA stateside, it’s almost all change. Hyett will be joined for the season by 2024 IMSA GTP champion Dane Cameron and by the team’s 2024 ELMS LMP2 champion Jonny Edgar for the longer races, with IndyCar full-timer Christian Rasmussen signed for the Rolex 24.

The addition of Cameron during the off-season is particularly notable. It’s a statement of intent that the team hopes will take its LMP2 team to the next level. The American — who departed the Porsche Penske Motorsport effort after Petit Le Mans on the highest of notes after helping the team sweep the GTP titles — is at the core of AO’s push to claim the LMP2 title for the first time.

“AO is definitely a team of ambition,” he tells RACER. “I saw an opportunity to jump into a group that has all the tools, all the potential in the world to do great things, and showed what they were capable of through GT last year. Now they have the same desire to replicate that in LMP2.

“I would love nothing more than to be the guy to help bring that along forward. It’s not just me, it’s it’s all the other work that they’ve done in the background. But you know, if I could be a small part of that then, hopefully all together, we can kind of lean forward to quite an exciting future.”

Crucially for AO, Cameron doesn’t see this as a temporary landing spot before rejoining a factory team in GTP. He has fully bought in and has a longer-term vision for what he hopes to achieve with the team in this new phase of his career.

“I see an opportunity here to be with PJ for a long time, and obviously, what they’re building,” he says. “Can it win? This is another guiding principle that I’ve always tried to abide by. I do believe this team could win.

“You know, I don’t really place any more significance on winning the GTP championship as I would an LMP2 championship. This whole thing with categories and class wins and overalls is honestly a bit overdone. It just doesn’t really matter that much to me. They’re all really competitive. They’re all really difficult. I’m just as proud as having one GTD title as I am of having one in GTP. The satisfaction comes from doing the best job on the day.”

2025 is set to be the biggest year yet for AO Racing, which has been on a steep upward trajectory since it was founded in 2022. Hyett and fellow co-owner Gunnar Jeanette have accomplished a huge amount in a short space of time.

Will the team’s stock continue to rise? It’s certainly going to be a challenge to reach the highs from its barnstorming 2024 GTD Pro campaign with the “Rexy” Porsche, which according to Hyett, “got a lot of factories here wondering how the hell a green T-Rex beat them to the championship podium and winner’s circle.”

But with a move like this, signing a newly crowned GTP champion, it’s clear that it’s still full steam ahead for the fan-favorite team.

“We’re so passionate about this and we want to get more people passionate about it and kids rooting for us,” Hyett says. “People may be a little confused because we came to win, but we also like to have fun. You can do both things at the same time. You can attract an entirely new fan base, you can put a smile on people’s faces, and you can also make the race car go really, really fast around the racetrack with the right crew and the right driver line-up.

“I don’t want to say that we had this grandiose plan from day one — I was just trying to put a smile on my kids’ faces with “Rexy,” because their dad’s gone a lot. But the fact of the matter is, like, I do feel like we sort of trapped lightning in a bottle here.

“If we can take advantage of all of that goodwill, it’s a dream-come-true scenario. There’s still a lot more to come.”