Michelin Pilot Challenge – Page 2

Rebel Rock Racing wins VIR Pilot Challenge shootout

The last lap of the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway packed in enough action to fill an entire two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race. A late full-course caution produced a one-lap shootout that ended …

The last lap of the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway packed in enough action to fill an entire two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

A late full-course caution produced a one-lap shootout that ended in glory for
Robin Liddell and Frank DePew and Rebel Rock Racing in the Grand Sport (GS) class. Liddell emerged first after the three leading GS cars made contact exiting Turn 1 in the dash to the checkered flag to claim the win in the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R by 0.684s over Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4.

Liddell took the final restart in third place behind Jeff Westphal in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport and Scott Andrews in the No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. All three were on radically different fuel strategies, with Andrews in the best shape and Westphal running on fumes.

Westphal made a good restart, but struggled on older tires through the long, 180-degree first corner called Horse Shoe. Lidell, attempting a crossover move, appeared to bump Andrews into Westphal, causing the Mercedes to bounce back and forth between the Camaro and the Porsche. After multiple bumps, Westphal edged ahead while Andrews spun into the infield. IMSA officials reviewed the incident but took no action.

Westphal then ran out of fuel a few corners later, leaving Liddell – who was short on fuel and marginal on tires himself – to fend off Foley. Joey Hand and Jenson Altzman finished third, 1.315 seconds in arrears.

“It’s a nice feeling,” Liddell said after his 16th career Michelin Pilot Challenge race win. “It’s not great for a driver when you’re just saving gas and you get a result, but when you actually have to fight for it, it feels awesome.”

Lidell called the last-lap contact with Andrews “unfortunate.”

“I guess he got pinched by the Porsche, so he came back in front of me a little bit,” Liddell said. “He turned sideways. I lifted out of it. I tried to avoid turning him. But in the end, we made contact several times. And in the end, I had a race to run. So unfortunately, I’m afraid it ended badly for him.

“I’m sorry for him because I was quite happy to see him win the race – before it went yellow, on a different strategy,” he added. “But when it comes to a straight fight, I’m not going to take any prisoners.”

Foley and Barletta were delighted to finish second after Barletta spun into fairly substantial contact with a tire wall half an hour into the race. The Turner Motorsport crew taped up the rear end of the BMW, and Foley found it was surprisingly competitive as he moved back through the field.

“He was able to work his way back up and dig us out of that issue,” said Barletta. “We had some luck with the fuel; it took a lot of variables to put us on the podium in second.”

Saturday’s results made an already exciting battle for the GS class points lead even better. Barletta, Foley and the No. 96 BMW are now tied at the top with the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, which finished ninth at VIR with drivers Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo.

Liddell, DePew and the No. 71 Chevrolet are third in the standings, 80 points back. Mercedes-AMG leads BMW by just 10 markers in the battle of manufacturers.

“What a race!” Foley exclaimed. “It was obviously very exciting at the end. The yellow at the end changed everything up. A great day for our team, trying to fight for the championship.”

Taylor, Miller drive No. 17 JDC-Miller Audi to victory in TCR

Mikey Taylor and Chris Miller got the victory in the Touring Car (TCR) class Saturday at VIR, but Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker maintained their grip on the championship.

Taylor held on through a one-lap shootout to claim the class victory in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR he co-drives with Miller. Wickens held on to second in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR he shares with Gottsacker.

While trying to chase down the leader late in the race, Tim Lewis went off course in the esses from second place, telling his crew over the radio that something broke on the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. That resulted in a full-course caution with eight minutes remaining in the two-hour race, letting the field gather closer to Taylor.

The ensuing restart was a one-lap run to the finish over the 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit. Taylor brought it home 6.974s ahead of Wilkins, who finished 0.550s ahead of BHA stablemate Mason Filippi in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai he co-drives with Mark Wilkins.

Before the late caution, Taylor was leading comfortably but was razor thin on fuel. When asked if he thought he could win had the yellow not come out, Taylor said he wasn’t quite sure.

“I think it would’ve been fine,” he said. “But at the same time, because of the yellow, these guys were pulled back up to us. It could’ve gone either way, really. We were just trying to maximize the package the car has. We don’t have enough fuel, really, to do a full stint. We kind of got lucky today.”

While Taylor and Miller closed on Wickens and Gottsacker in the championship standings, the No. 33 duo remains 50 points ahead with only two races – at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – remaining on the 2023 schedule. Filippi, Wilkins and the No. 98 BHA Hyundai are 110 points from the leaders.

“We’re going to have to beat them in the next two races to beat them in the championship,” Miller said. “But we have a good car and the best team, so we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

The victory for the No. 17 did, however, push Audi into the TCR manufacturer points lead by just 10 over Hyundai, which is seeking its fourth straight crown.

The next Michelin Pilot Challenge race is four hours in length, on Saturday, Sept. 16 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The telecast of Saturday’s VIR race airs at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3 on CNBC.

RESULTS

Rebel Rock awarded Road America MPC win after Winward fuel tank infringement

Robin Liddell’s late charge to second across the finish line wound up netting the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race win Sunday at Road America. Liddell and co-driver Frank DePew pushed the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R from the …

Robin Liddell’s late charge to second across the finish line wound up netting the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race win Sunday at Road America.

Liddell and co-driver Frank DePew pushed the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R from the 17th starting position in the Grand Sport (GS) class to cross the finish line 3.229s behind the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 at the checkered flag of the Road America 120. But following post-race technical inspection, the Mercedes was found to have exceeded its fuel capacity and moved to the rear of the class in the provisional results.

The resulting win is the first of the season for Liddell and DePew and comes on the heels of a second-place finish last month at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The revised results put a pair of Ford Mustang GT4s on the GS podium, with the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Mustang shared by Bob Michaelian and Luca Mars taking second place and the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT Mustang co-driven by Jenson Altzman and Chad McCumbee placing third.

The race became one of differing fuel strategies and mileage, with a potential BMW podium sweep going awry when the Nos. 95 and 96 Turner Motorsport and No. 92 Random Vandals Racing entries all forced to pit for a splash of fuel with eight minutes to go in the two-hour race.

That promoted Daniel Morad in the No. 57 Winward Mercedes to the front, which he held to the checkered flag – only to have the result negated by the post-race penalty. The win is the 15th of Liddell’s Michelin Pilot Challenge career and the sixth for DePew.

The GS points-leading No. 72 Murillo Mercedes also needed to pit and ended in 11th place.

No. 5 Alfa Romeo triples up at Road America in TCR

The story of the Touring Car (TCR) weekend battle at Road America can be told in two halves. Hyundai dominated qualifying with four of the top five spots. Yet manufacturer parity emerged in the race, with the sole Alfa Romeo and the sole new Audi finishing ahead of the seven-car armada of Hyundai Elantra Ns.

An epic scrap occurred between Tim Lewis Jr. in the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR and Mikey Taylor in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR in the waning stages of the race.

Taylor’s co-driver Chris Miller rocketed to the lead early but fell back to fourth on the pit stop, behind three Hyundais: the No. 91 van der Steur Racing car and the Nos. 98 and 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian cars.

However, with 34 minutes to go, Taylor put together a sequence of moves on par with his charge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – where he and Miller secured their first win of the season. Taylor darted around the outside of Tyler Maxson, in the No. 91 van der Steur Hyundai, for the lead at Turn 1.

But Lewis, who’d taken over for Roy Block, was keen to extend the KMW Alfa Romeo win streak at Road America to three. With a methodical charge and an eventual pass for the win, the No. 5 car was back on top of the box.

Lewis and Taylor praised each other in a clean battle.

“The pass was a few laps in the making, trying to figure out where we were good and where he was good,” Lewis said. “I felt like the fuel number on the dash kept getting closer to zero.”

Taylor added, “It was a super-good battle. They’re good friends and it’s great they’re up there as well. We would have been there, but had to save on fuel. The pace they were running was super good, and hard to maintain.”

Fuel saving became a story in TCR as several cars ran out of fuel. The pole-sitting No. 33 Hyundai of Harry Gottsacker and Robert Wickens was best of the bunch in third, while their championship-contending teammates Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi in the No. 98 Hyundai were not so lucky with an apparent stop on the backstraight.

The Michelin Pilot Challenge season resumes on Saturday, Aug. 26, with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at VIRginia International Raceway.

RESULTS (pre-inspection)

Megennis, Gottsacker capture record MPC poles at Road America

Robert Megennis fired off quickly in a two-lap sprint of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Motul Pole Award qualifying in Grand Sport (GS), as part of a record-setting day at the freshly repaved 4.048-mile Road America road course. After a brief red …

After a brief red flag for a spin at the Kink, the GS competitors were able to return to the track inside the final four minutes of the 15-minute session. Megennis, in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82), posted a lap of 2m14.920s that was a full 0.734s clear of second place.

The top five drivers in GS beat the previous GS pole lap record (2m16.096s in 2020), with the No. 95 Turner BMW getting their second pole of the year after Cameron Lawrence scored the pole at the Detroit street circuit.

The manufacturer variety was present with four different brands in the top four positions. BMW was followed by the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 and the No. 44 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

The GS championship-leading No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 with co-drivers Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak rolls off from seventh place.

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While parity reigned in GS, Hyundai dominated in Touring Car (TCR) qualifying with seven of 14 class entries — the Hyundai Elantra N the most populous chassis. It took until the seventh race at Road America, however, for the car to score its first pole of the season.

Harry Gottsacker, who shares the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai with Robert Wickens, will roll from the top spot with a lap of 2m17.249s — a new TCR pole lap record. The top 10 cars in class all beat the previous TCR pole lap mark (2m19.712s in 2019).

Gottsacker and Wickens enter Sunday’s two-hour Road America 120 race just 10 points behind teammates Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai.

Hyundais locked out four of the top five positions on the grid, with the only interloper Chris Miller in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS in third.

The Road America 120 airs live on Peacock beginning at 3:55 p.m. ET on Sunday.

RESULTS

10-race 2024 slate for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge

The 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule revealed Friday again includes 10 races for the production-based series, including a return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a four-hour race that will headline a full weekend of IMSA action. The …

The Mid-Ohio event weekend slated for June 7-9 returns the Michelin Pilot Challenge to the Lexington, Ohio venue after a one-year absence. It will be Round 4 of the season and the second of two, four-hour races on the calendar.

The first four-hour enduro will once again open the season at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Jan. 26 as part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona event weekend. From Daytona, the Michelin Pilot Challenge makes its way to Sebring International Raceway on Friday, March 15 for the first of the season’s eight two-hour races for the Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Car (TCR) classes, which will compete simultaneously in every 2024 race.

The series then makes its annual trek to the west coast to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, May 11 for a two-hour battle on the picturesque circuit in Monterey, California. From there it’s on to Mid-Ohio and then Watkins Glen International on Saturday, June 29 for a two-hour battle to close out the first half of the season.

Round 6 takes the series north of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Saturday, July 13 ahead of a return to Road America, which hosts the seventh race of the season on the weekend of Aug. 2-4. Virginia International Raceway occupies its traditional place on the calendar with a two-hour battle planned for Saturday, Aug. 24.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the penultimate round of the Michelin Pilot Challenge season — this time a two-hour race — on Saturday, Sept. 21, with Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta once again hosting the season finale on Friday, Oct. 11 as part of the annual Motul Petit Le Mans festivities.

One week prior to the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, Michelin Pilot Challenge teams again will have the opportunity to test and tune on Daytona’s high banks as part of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 event on Jan. 19-21.

Aside from the Mid-Ohio event, all other Michelin Pilot Challenge races in 2024 will run as companion events to the WeatherTech Championship.

Filippi takes BHA Hyundai to stunning Lime Rock MPC win

Mason Filippi was fastest when it counted, dominating the late stages of the Lime Rock Park 100 at the picturesque Connecticut road course of the same name. Filippi took over the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR …

Mason Filippi was fastest when it counted, dominating the late stages of the Lime Rock Park 100 at the picturesque Connecticut road course of the same name.

Filippi took over the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR from Mark Wilkins exactly halfway through Saturday’s 100-minute race that was a unique standalone event for the Touring Car (TCR) class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. He exited the pits with an 8.4s deficit to Ryan Eversley, whose teammate Mat Pombo claimed the Motul Pole Award and led the first 45 minutes.

But Pombo pitted the No. 37 Honda Civic FL5 TCR three laps earlier than his LA Honda World Racing team had planned, due to excessive tire wear. Compounding the challenge for finishing driver Eversley, a miscommunication during the pit stop forced him into extreme fuel-saving mode and he ultimately fell to third place behind the No. 33 BHA Hyundai shared by Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker.

Filippi eased past Eversley’s Honda through “Big Bend” Turn 1 with 12 minutes remaining. By the time he took the checkered flag, the No. 98 Hyundai was 20.587s ahead of the No. 33 in one of the most convincing wins in recent Michelin Pilot Challenge memory.

“Mark (Wilkins) was on the radio giving me information about what kind of (lap time) target to hit and I knew the deficit I had to make up,” Filippi said. “I could see (Eversley) at the end of the straightaway, then I was getting closer and closer. It was awesome. With about 15 minutes left, my engineer Chris Finch said it was ‘go time,’ and that’s what we did.

“It felt great – just incredible, and I can’t thank my team enough.”

Wilkins said that he placed great importance on qualifying well at Lime Rock, a short 1.478-mile road course where traffic is often an issue. He started the race from the outside of the front row and actually passed Pombo on the track for the lead prior to the round of pit stops.

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“You really have to lay it on the line to get to the front,” Wilkins said. “I pushed really hard, and we just drove a smart race. We’ve got a really great synergy on the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport team. We’re having fun, and when you’re having fun, these kind of things happen. Second win of the year feels great.”

The latest win for the No. 98 team (the other in 2023 came at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May) lifted Wilkins and Filippi into the lead of the TCR standings, unofficially 10 points ahead of Wickens and Gottsacker.

Eversley was disappointed to not convert Pombo’s fifth TCR pole position this year for the No. 37 Honda into a win, but he was encouraged by the podium finish.

“We had a very fast car, but after about 40 minutes, the tire fall-off was dramatic. Then, because I was trying to save so much fuel, the last 10 laps of the race, I think I was 5-7s off the pace,” Eversley said. “You’re not even driving at that point.

“I was just trying to get us to the podium, and glad it worked out. We needed this podium pretty bad.”

The next round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is the Road America 120, part of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 4-6.

RESULTS

Toyota, Hattori Motorsports take first MPC win at CTMP; Audi charges back to win in TCR

The No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 was awarded the overall and Grand Sport (GS) class win in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, when the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82) was …

The No. 95 BMW was found to have a refueling time less than the minimum permissible and also found to be under the minimum allowed weight. The penalties moved the car to the rear of the 24-car GS finishing order and advanced the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota co-driven by Parker Thompson and Billy Johnson to the race victory. It marks the first Michelin Pilot Challenge triumph for Toyota and made Hattori Motorsports a winner in its series debut. It’s also the first series victory for Thompson and the 24th for Johnson, making him the winningest driver in Michelin Pilot Challenge history.

During the race, the No. 95 BMW, with drivers Robert Megennis and Cameron Lawrence, executed a one-stop strategy to cross the finish line 27.234s ahead of the No. 50 Toyota that started the two-hour race from the pole position. With the penalties assessed, the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R shared by Frank DePew and Robin Liddell moves to second place in the provisional results, with the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and co-drivers Rory van der Steur and Austin McCusker finishing third.

The GS class returns to action Aug. 6 in the Road America 120 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

No. 17 Audi charges back to win TCR

Down 20s halfway through, Mikey Taylor wasn’t sure he could claw back and win the Touring Car (TCR) portion of Saturday’s race. But cagey strategy coupled with a bump-and-run pass for the lead on the penultimate lap took Taylor and co-driver Chris Miller to victory in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

Miller started from pole in the No. 17 and led the bulk of his stint, with Harry Gottsacker in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR hot on his heels the entire time. Gottsacker pitted from second position with 1h7m minutes to go, turning the No. 33 Hyundai over to Robert Wickens – the latter seeking a second straight win at his home track.

Miller stopped five minutes later but Taylor was staring at a 20s deficit when he returned to the track in the No. 17 Audi. From there, the South African put on a calculated comeback as Wickens tried to conserve fuel in a gambit to make it to the finish.

“The team was just telling me what numbers to hit and what to do, and we were closing down on those guys,” Taylor said. “Save fuel, go fast, it’s a bit of a balance. It was just a management game the whole race.”

The leaders ran nose-to-tail late until Taylor dove inside Wickens into Moss Corner with under two minutes to go. The cars made contact, forcing Wickens wide and allowing Taylor to take the lead. Sensing damage to his Hyundai, Wickens made another pit stop for a splash of fuel and a quick check of the car. He returned nearly a lap down but still came home second, ahead of the sister No. 98 Hyundai shared by Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi.

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“There was a little bit of contact but we were both saving fuel and he was saving a little bit more than me,” Taylor explained. “I went down the inside and he turned in and I was there. That’s racing.”

Wickens said his car was challenging to drive on top of the need to conserve fuel.

“That was the only pace I had and I knew he was catching me,” he said. “My only plan was hopefully to have enough tire left to make a run at the end. Unfortunately, he hit me in (Turn) 5B to take the lead and then we had to pit the next lap. It is what it is.”

The win was the first for Miller and Taylor since Lime Rock Park last season and the first in the updated version of the Audi RS3 LMS.

“We’re learning more about this new Audi every race,” Miller said, “And it’s been a great job by the team to continue to develop it, get better with our pit stops. I think we’re in great shape for the rest of the season now.”

Despite losing out on the victory, Wickens and Gottsacker unofficially took sole possession of the TCR class lead after five races by 20 points over Wilkins and Filippi and 30 up on Miller and Taylor.

“Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for us today, but it’s coming,” Gottsacker said. “It’s good points for us but we want that win pretty badly.”

The Lime Rock Park 100, a TCR-only race at the Connecticut road course, is next on the schedule on Saturday, July 22.

RESULTS

Turner BMW gets third straight GS win at Watkins Glen, Alfa celebrates birthday in TCR

Robby Foley executed a series of perfect restarts down the stretch at Watkins Glen International to lead a 1-2 result in the Grand Sport (GS) class for BMW and Turner Motorsport in the Sahlen’s 120 at The Glen, the fifth round of the 2023 IMSA …

Foley handled the anchor stint in the No. 96 BMW M4 (G82) that was started by Vin Barletta. He maintained the lead through three full-course cautions in the final 30 minutes of the two-hour event to claim the second win of the season for the duo. It was also the second 1-2 of the year for Turner, repeating the team’s achievement in the Alan Jay 120 at Sebring International Raceway.

Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen was delayed by 48 minutes by severe weather in the Finger Lakes region. That created wet conditions for the start, but the track was completely dry by the time Foley took the checkered flag 0.680s ahead of the No. 95 Turner BMW driven by Robert Megennis and Cameron Lawrence.

“It was a crazy race,” Foley remarked after he and Barletta completed 46 laps of the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. “Vin did a great job just to survive when it was very wet and get us to the middle of the race. We made some changes, anticipating this kind of weather with kind of a wet setup, and the car was really good.

“We could be really strong on restarts and we could make some moves,” he added. “That was the key. Once we got in front, it was about not screwing it up — just managing. Great day for the team, awesome to have another 1-2, and we’ll try to keep the momentum going.”

Barletta held his own in the opening stint, handing the car over to Foley without a scratch.

“It was a little difficult, but the track improved right away,” Barletta said. “I tried to find my pace so I wasn’t getting into trouble or losing time. The cautions fell in our direction, which doesn’t always happen. We were able to get that early pit stop in and that set Robby up.”

It was the third consecutive GS victory at Watkins Glen for the Turner team. “We love this place,” Foley said. “The track has always been good to us, in GTD and in GS. You could say ‘horses for courses,’ and the BMWs are really good here.”

Ted Giovanis and Owen Trinkler finished third in the No. 64 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 after Trinkler passed the pole winning No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo in the closing stages. A fifth-place result behind the No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 shared by Todd Coleman and Billy Johnson maintained the GS class points lead for Szymczak and Murillo.

Block, Lewis deliver Alfa Romeo birthday present with TCR win

Roy Block and Tim Lewis know how to give the best birthday presents. The co-drivers of the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR outlasted the Touring Car (TCR) class competition in Saturday’s chaotic race to win on the 113th anniversary of when Alfa Romeo was founded in Italy.

Lewis snagged the lead with 27 minutes remaining and held off a gaggle of TCR contenders through a pair of late restarts. He and Block won by 0.576s over Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

“Just great teamwork, great strategy,” Lewis said collecting his seventh career Michelin Pilot Challenge win. “Our team always nails the pit stops and puts us in a position to succeed. Roy did a great job keeping the car in one piece during some hectic opening stints and then it was just my job to bring it home and survive all the restarts.”

Block also did a great job keeping the car off the wall when he suffered a flat left-front tire but was able to negotiate back to pit lane for a replacement just as he achieved his minimum drive time and could turn the car over to Lewis.

“It was truly treacherous conditions for me at the start,” Block said. “A lot of people were being aggressive. I just kept the long view always in mind. I started to get my footing as the track dried and then my left front blew up going into the ‘toe’ (Turn 7). Luckily, I saved it, kept it together and then our race engineer called a great strategy and here we are.”

The win was the eighth for Block in the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the second for the No. 5 this season. It also tightened the unofficial TCR standings after four races. The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR, with drivers Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi, leads with 1,160 points after finishing 10th on Saturday. The No. 33 BHA Hyundai, with drivers Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker, finished fifth and is 10 points out of the lead.

Lewis and Block are tied with Miller and Taylor, 70 points behind the leaders.

As for the special present they delivered for their manufacturer, Lewis said, “Happy birthday, Alfa Romeo!”

Block added, “The racing gods have spoken!”

The next round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, part of the Chevrolet Grand Prix weekend July 7-9 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park just east of greater Toronto.

RESULTS

Morad, Ward claim maiden MPC victory on streets of Detroit

The GM Renaissance Center serves as one backdrop of the Detroit Street Course, while the Canadian flag serves as another thanks to nearby Windsor, Ontario. It was the latter backdrop that held true in Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, …

The GM Renaissance Center serves as one backdrop of the Detroit Street Course, while the Canadian flag serves as another thanks to nearby Windsor, Ontario.

It was the latter backdrop that held true in Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, as Canadian Daniel Morad won in the shadow of his home country in the fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season.

Morad and Bryce Ward shared the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4, using a bit of strategy, Morad’s relentless attack on a restart and eventual overtake to secure the victory in the Grand Sport (GS) class-only, 100-minute race. It is both drivers’ first victory in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition.

Ward started 11th and pitted shortly after the 33-minute mark, three minutes after the minimum drive time window of 30 minutes opened. The Winward Racing team swapped in Morad, took rear Michelin tires and resumed on course shortly behind the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 and No. 28 RS1 Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS CS, which had been the dominant cars in the opening stanza of the race.

The No. 28 car, started by Eric Filgueiras, went for a fuel-only stop and swapped the car to Stevan McAleer. Meanwhile, the No. 95 car, started on pole by Cameron Lawrence, matched the strategy and flipped over to Robert Megennis after leading the opening 28 laps.

It was there the complexion – and visuals – of the race changed.

Megennis sought to lap Rory van der Steur in the No. 19 van der Steur Aston Martin Vantage GT4 heading into the primary passing opportunity on the bumpy, 1.645-mile, nine-turn new downtown street course.

It all went awry when Megennis drove into van der Steur, with the momentum carrying his BMW up and over the Aston Martin in a spectacular incident. Megennis’ car hit the top of the tire barriers before he continued onto the pit lane, while van der Steur’s car was significantly impacted on the driver’s side and roof of the car. Both drivers made it back to pit lane.

The resulting full-course caution shuffled the order as a handful of cars, including the points-leading No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak, had not yet pitted and subsequently lost track position when it did stop.

The race resumed with McAleer cycled to the front ahead of Marc Miller in the debuting No. 78 Thaze Competition by MC Squared Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 and Morad third in the No. 57 Winward Mercedes.

Morad took off behind the leaders, as McAleer had a gap of a couple lapped cars between himself and Miller. After charging past two lapped cars on the first restart lap (40), Morad had the gap down to just a second behind McAleer by lap 43.

Morad made the winning move on lap 46, sizing up McAleer into Turn 1 and going past him on the inside on the run to Turn 2.

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“I knew the best opportunity would be right at the beginning when track was unknown with oil and coolants,” Morad said.

“I had a good idea of where the grip was and went full attack and didn’t hesitate. The moment you hesitate on a street circuit, you run into trouble, so I went for it, full send.”

While Morad began to stretch his gap in front, McAleer put on a defensive driving clinic behind him to keep a bevy of cars in his rearview mirror, in the form of Miller, Jeff Westphal (No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine Racing Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS Clubsport), Elliott Skeer (No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche Cayman 718 GT4) and the recovering Szymczak.

Despite multiple attempts, Miller was never able to get past McAleer. The two were former teammates with another program and know each other’s racing styles well, so a healthy level of respect was present.

McAleer and Filgueiras finished second with Miller and Michael Di Meo completing a dream debut for Birmingham, Michigan-based Thaze Competition, finishing on the podium in both the team’s and Miller’s home race.

Westphal and Sean McAlister were fourth, ahead of Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes. Mosing and Foss capped off an eventful weekend where Mosing needed to reverse down the backstraight in a Friday session after a spin. For Foss, the opportunity to race in Detroit was special as he caught the racing bug going to the Formula 1 race with his dad here in the 1980s. Points leaders Murillo and Szymczak finished seventh, behind Skeer and Adam Adelson in sixth.

For Morad and Ward the win was sweet, particularly for Ward whose Winward team has been a Michelin Pilot Challenge stalwart for several years.

“It’s awesome,” Morad said. “Driving with Bryce is such a good opportunity for me this year. He’s been the best team owner and teammate. There’s no pressure except for what I put on myself. And I want to win. Winning is fun!”

Ward added, “It’s an amazing day, and I can’t say enough for the team. The pit stop was perfect. The call from engineering was perfect. It was key to be clean and get it over to Daniel!”

The Michelin Pilot Challenge resumes with both the GS and Touring Car (TCR) classes back in action at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, June 24.

RESULTS

Lawrence takes stunning MPC pole on streets of Detroit

Cameron Lawrence will lead the field to green for Saturday’s fourth round of the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. This is the first street course race for the series since 2010 and a showcase race …

Lawrence lapped the 1.645-mile, nine-turn Detroit street course in 1m16.236s. He set the flyer on his 10th lap turned. Lawrence will share the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 with Robert Megennis, a street course veteran across multiple series.

Times tumbled in the final three minutes of the 15-minute session as Grand Sport (GS) class drivers got more heat into their tires and more laps after an early red flag, with the provisional pole time changing hands several times.

Lawrence had nearly a full second gap to the field before Eric Filgueiras uncorked a lap within 0.150s. Filgueiras will start second in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS he’ll share with Stevan McAleer.

Rounding out the top five qualifiers were Jenson Altzman (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT Ford Mustang GT4), Kenny Murillo (No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) and Rory van der Steur (No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4). This ensured five different manufacturer brands qualified in the top five positions amidst the backdrop of Motor City and the GM Renaissance Center.

Murillo and Christian Szymczak enter Saturday’s race with a 90-point lead on Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4. Barletta qualified 17th in the 22-car field.

Prior to qualifying, Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 cars led both practice sessions. Daniel Morad (No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) topped the first session while Scott Andrews (No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG) ran quicker in the second.

The 100-minute race streams live on Peacock with a start time of 4:10 p.m. Saturday, June 3.

Murillo, Szymczak break through for first Pilot Challenge win

Kenny Murillo moved from third place to first in the space of a single lap 35 minutes into the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 on Saturday, and co-driver Christian Szymczak preserved that lead in the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 until the end of the two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race to claim the overall victory and Grand Sport (GS) class honors.

Fastest qualifier Austin McCusker led from the start in the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 but encountered Touring Car (TCR) class traffic coming down the hill from WeatherTech Raceway’s famous Corkscrew on Lap 23. That allowed Murillo, who had passed Eric Filgueiras (No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport) for second place earlier the same lap, to make an over-under move on McCusker in Turn 11.

Murillo’s Mercedes exited the tight left-hand corner level with the Aston Martin, then he pulled ahead under acceleration up the front straight while Filgueiras followed Murillo past the compromised McCusker into second place.

Szymczak took over the No. 72 from Murillo for the final 55 minutes, reclaiming the lead with 35 minutes remaining when the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche, running an alternate strategy with drivers Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal, made a second planned stop during the only full-course caution of the event.

The No. 72 Mercedes was unchallenged in the closing laps, with Szymczak winning by 1.876 seconds over Stevan McAleer in the No. 28 Porsche. Daniel Morad drove a storming final stint to advance to third place in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes shared with Russell Ward. Mercedes-AMG also claimed fourth place with the No. 27 Lone Star Racing entry driven by Anton Dias Perera and Scott Andrews.

It was the first Michelin Pilot Challenge win for Murillo and Szymczak, who earned a pair of podium finishes in 2022. The duo led 29 of 41 laps of the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway in March, only to be eliminated by contact in the final corner of the last lap, dropping them to 18th place in class. On Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway, they led 35 of 74 laps, including the last 23.

The victory vaulted them from sixth to first in the GS standings with a 40-point lead over Dias Perera, Andrews and the No. 27 Mercedes.

“The monkey is off our back!” exclaimed Murillo, the 26-year-old son of Murillo Racing team owner Ken Murillo. “Just really happy; the Murillo Racing crew really deserves this result. It’s been a long time coming, and hopefully we can follow these results. I’m just lost for words. My stint was exciting towards the end, and Christian did a great job to bring it home.

“What an incredible weekend,” he added. “I’ve been coming to IMSA races with my father for probably 15 years, and I’ve always dreamed of winning in IMSA. To get that monkey off our back is an incredible feeling.”

“No better place to win — this track is home to me,” added California native Szymczak. “I didn’t know we could win, honestly. But now I know.

“Those were the longest 40 or 50 minutes of my life,” he added of his climactic stint in the car. “I didn’t know this race would pan out the way it did without many yellows, and that helped our car and our platform shine. We did the best we could, and we just happened to do it right today.”

Wilkins holds off former co-driver Wickens for TCR victory

The battle for victory in Touring Car (TCR) came down to two familiar drivers and one familiar team.

Mark Wilkins held off a late challenge from his former co-driver, Robert Wickens, to claim the class victory in a battle between two Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian entries.

Wilkins and current co-driver Mason Filippi teamed to bring the No. 98 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR home in front of the No. 33 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR shared by Wickens and Harry Gottsacker. The victory put the No. 98 entry 60 points ahead of the No. 33 after three races.

“I’m proud of this team,” said Wilkins, who teamed with Wickens to win twice last year. “Robert was pushing me hard, and I wanted to try to keep a gap, but he kept closing in and trying to get a bit more. … It was cued up perfectly. This is special.”

After Filippi wrested the lead from Gottsacker near the end of their opening stints, Wickens pursued his former partner throughout the second half of the race, all while being chased by Ryan Eversley. Eversley held on for third place in the No. 37 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic FL5 TCR, the car making its series debut that co-driver Mat Pombo had put on the TCR pole Friday.

For Filippi, the victory reiterated the bond between the new teammates.

“We’re super stoked that we got paired up together this year,” Filippi said. “We’ve got a bit of that mojo. We text each other every day. It just kind of follows into race weekend. We’re always ready, always prepping and competing with each other.”

The Michelin Pilot Challenge season resumes June 3 for the GS class at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit. Both the GS and TCR classes are in action June 24 in the Watkins Glen International 120.

RESULTS