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Former Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant is making a surprise return to prototype racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, six months after a mysterious split from IDEC Sport Racing and the Hyundai Genesis team.

The 24-year-old American will contest the final two endurance rounds of the season with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, driving the #52 Oreca 07-Gibson.

His schedule includes the six-hour race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 21 September and the season-closing ten-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on 11 October.

The move stands in stark contrast to the official line given by IDEC Sport Racing back in February. At the time, the European Le Mans Series LMP2 outfit stated that Sargeant would be stepping away from the sport to pursue other interests. His return is a clear statement that he wasn’t done with racing after all.

Only this Wednesday, Sargeant was announced as a new client of former Le Mans winner Oliver Gavin’s management group – a further sign that his comeback may be part of a longer-term plan.

At PR1 Mathiasen, Sargeant will team up with former IndyCar driver Benjamin Pedersen and class-mandated Bronze-rated driver Naveen Rao.

“I’m super excited to be jumping back into a car for the last two LMP2 races in IMSA with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports,” Sargeant said.

“It’s a great opportunity to drive at two special tracks, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta, and help push for good results with my teammates Ben and Naveen.”

“I’m eager to contribute to a successful couple races for the team, and bring my knowledge and experience to everyone involved. See you at the track.”

Team principal Bobby Oergel welcomed the signing: “Myself and all the crew here at PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports are very excited that Logan is able to join us for the last two endurance events of this season.”

“I am sure Logan’s pace will be top-notch and everyone will work well together. We really want to welcome him into our team in a smooth and easy fashion. The opportunity to do some testing ahead of the Indy event should do just that.”

Sargeant’s path to IMSA included a world karting title, multiple podiums in Formula 3, and a fourth-place finish in Formula 2, which earned him a Formula 1 seat with Williams in 2023 and 2024. In his rookie season, he became the first American in 30 years to score a championship point, achieving the milestone at the United States Grand Prix at Austin.

However, his overall performance fell short of expectations, and he was replaced after the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort by Franco Colapinto. Shortly thereafter, he joined Genesis Magma Racing’s Hypercar program alongside Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani – until his sudden exit in February this year.

Pato O’Ward’s faint championship hopes were extinguished with a 25th-place finish in last Sunday’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI.

Entering the 15th round of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, O’Ward trailed championship leader Alex Palou by 121 points and needed to outscore him by at least 14 to stay mathematically alive. But an early electrical malfunction ended O’Ward’s day, while Palou’s third-place finish sealed his fourth series championship and third straight title.

“Unfortunately, reliability stood in the way of us maybe making it a little bit more interesting for everyone,” O’Ward said. “Congrats to Alex (Palou). It’s been really an unbelievable season for him.”

Although O’Ward heads into the upcoming Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 on Sunday, Aug. 24 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) with no championship on the line, he remains proud of what he and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team have accomplished this year.

“I’m happy with how my year has gone,” O’Ward said. “It hasn’t been a rocket of starts, but we’ve gotten better as the year has gone on. We’ve pretty much been the best of the rest.

“So, after you see somebody like Alex have his insane year, we’re kind of having a championship season, quote, unquote. But sadly, the guy that’s leading is having an unreal, unexpected year.”

Palou has collected eight wins so far, just two shy of the all-time single-season record set by A.J. Foyt in 1964 and matched by Al Unser in 1970. Palou won five of the opening six races, including a dominant performance in the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

O’Ward’s 2025 campaign began with an 11th-place finish at St. Petersburg. He earned NTT P1 Awards honors at The Thermal Club and led 51 of 65 laps before finishing second to Palou. Then came a disappointing 13th place at Long Beach.

Mexican driver O’Ward arrived at Barber Motorsports Park in early May ranked sixth in the standings, and that’s when things began to click.

Over the next 12 races, O’Ward finished outside the top seven only once, a 17th-place showing June 22 at Road America. That run of consistency vaulted him to second in the standings, making him the only driver still mathematically eligible to challenge Palou entering Portland.

So, what changed?

“There was a pretty big objective to make our bad weekends better,” O’Ward said. “I don’t necessarily think it’s been amazing in that regard. We’ve had some really tough weekends where we’ve just not been anywhere close to where we truly should be, especially when you see where the 10 car (Palou) has been every weekend.

“But it’s showing how we’re just accepting whenever we don’t have it, and we’re executing when we do have it. I think that’s put us in a position to fight.”

A key example came in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on June 1, where O’Ward surged from 18th to seventh, a strong result for a team that’s struggled on street circuits. He then backed it up with a win in the next street race, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto in July.

O’Ward looks to finish the season strong. He won last year at the Milwaukee Mile and finished second to Colton Herta at Nashville Superspeedway in the 2024 season finale. Another strong finish could set the table for Arrow McLaren in 2026 perhaps breaking an INDYCAR SERIES streak lasting more than two decades: No team outside of Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske or Andretti Global has won the Astor Challenge Cup since Panther Racing with Sam Hornish Jr. in 2002.

Arrow McLaren came close in 2025 – if not for Palou’s dominance.

“He’s probably in the best form he’s ever been,” O’Ward said. “This is likely the best year he’ll ever have in his life. So, it’s definitely been a cool journey to fight against someone performing at that level.”