A pair of retirements in the GTP class has now effectively settled the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title. With 133 points between the two Porsche Penske Motorsport teams coming into the race, and the two retirements, there is only a possible points swing of 130 points. Even if the No. 7 finishes ninth and the No. 6 wins the race, the No. 7 and drivers Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron would win the championship by three points. The caveat is that if the No. 7 should fail post-race technical inspection, it would be moved to 11th.
The two PPM Porsche 963s are first and third at halfway, with Kevin Estre in the No. 6 leading Brendon Hartley in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06. Cameron was at the wheel of the No. 7, which had been leading but ended up third after an odd call by the team during a full-course caution. Estre was able to get the No. 6 in before the yellow, but pitted again with most of the other GTP cars during the caution. The team, however, kept the No. 7 out for an extra lap, which put them in third. The top three are the only cars on the lead lap.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R has received another penalty after the one for passing under yellow, a drive-through for Tom Blomqvist spinning the No. 24 BMW, and is a lap down.
Riley Motorsports put itself in the best possible situation to overtake Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports by having the No. 74 ORECA in the lead with Felipe Fraga in the cockpit, but with the No. 52 running in fourth, it’s not enough. Nick Boulle did a monster first stint to fulfill his drive time in the No. 52, and the team is still in position to take the title.
The No. 88 Af Corse ORECA ran second with Luis Perez Companc at the wheel, ahead of Scott Huffaker in the No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing.
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Alessandro Pier Guidi was leading GTD PRO in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 that had started near the end of the GT field due to contact and a penalty in qualifying. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo ran second in the hands of Roman De Angelis, but that car will need to be one position better to have any chance of taking the championship for the team and Ross Gunn. Christopher Mies and the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 in third.
Misha Goikhberg just took the GTD lead for Forte Racing before the halfway point arrived, passing Adam Adelson in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Adelson slid backwards, and was running fifth. Kenton Koch was second in the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG was second ahead of Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
There was one full-course caution in the second quarter of the race, caused by Ben Keating hitting the wall at Turn 5 with the No. 2 United Autosports ORECA that had already been crashed once and was many laps down. That car has been retired.
As for the retirements in GTP, Richard Westbrook’s final race ended in heartbreak as the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 suffered a power steering problem while Westbrook was at the wheel. The car was showing good pace, but the team took the car back to the paddock before figuring out that the problem was terminal and retired it.
The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 also struck trouble and went back to the paddock with apparently a fuel delivery issue. That car was retired as well. The fourth retirement is the GTD PRO No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT4 which Ben Barnicoat pulled off track at Turn 7 with an expired engine. The Lexus’ exit was beneficial to AO Racing, promoting the No. 77 Porsche by a much-needed position.