The French outfit has won each of the last two GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup titles with Mercedes, as well as claiming victory at the Spa 24 Hours in 2022, but has switched to Toyota-owned Lexus brand for 2024 in a move triggered by the WEC's move to adopt GT3 cars for the first time.
It was made clear that the new LMGT3 class that replaces GTE Am would prioritise manufacturers with an existing presence in the Hypercar class, which meant a Mercedes entry was unlikely to be admitted.
ASP already had a Toyota brand affiliation via a French GT4 programme with its GR Supra GT4 Evo that began last year, which made its switch to run the Lexus RC F GT3 that won last year's IMSA Sportscar Championship GTD Pro title a logical extension.
But Policand says the time constraints between the end of the GTWCE Sprint Cup season in late October and freight deadlines for the first round of the 2024 WEC in Qatar - with the pre-event Prologue on 24-25 February one week before - meant support from the TGR operation that runs Toyota's Hypercar programme and the TRD US operation that supports Vasser Sullivan Racing in IMSA was crucial.
"It’s great to work with these people and without the support of everyone, we are not completely ready for the first race," he told Autosport.
"It helps a lot because at the end we have roughly two and a half months to make everything happen since Zandvoort, the last race in Sprint with Mercedes, until we have to load the container to Qatar.
"So for sure we needed support from everyone."
Source: Autosport