Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves sent Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian out with a bang, delivering the team’s third win of the season in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, while Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims claimed the drivers title for Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing after their chief rivals for the title were eliminated one by one.
The race and the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title turned on Filipe Albuquerque’s final attack on Pipo Derani for the championship with an hour to go in the 10-hour race. With Renger van der Zande leading in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, which had been the strongest car throughout most of the day, Derani was running second in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R. Albuquerque was right behind in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06. Those two were the last teams standing in the championship fight, and Albuquerque had to get past Derani to win the championship for he and Ricky Taylor.
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Getting a run out of Turn 12, Albuquerque went left into Turn 1 as Derani defended and was alongside as they turned in. But stuck on the outside and running out of room at the exit, Albuquerque’s fate was sealed with contact between the two cars. The Acura sailed off the track and into the tire barrier on the outside of Turn 1. The crash sent Albuquerque to the hospital for observation before he was evaluated and released, and effectively decided the title in favor of Derani and Alexander Sims.
“I think that he was a little bit too optimistic when there was still an hour to go,” said Derani. “We’ve seen that going through the outside of Turn 1 never really works. It happened last year with two Cadillacs, unfortunately. But over and over again, you try and go on the outside and just lose grip.
“He tried and he came in very aggressively trying to cut me off to the inside, obviously trying to search for grip. But I was there and we touched and he went off. That’s unfortunate for him. I hope he’s feeling OK; obviously that’s the most important.”
But as much as deciding the championship, it set up a dramatic shift in the final result of the race. During the ensuing full-course caution – one of 13 during the race and made longer by necessary wall repairs – half of the frontrunners pitted for energy.
However van der Zande – who already had more time than the others since his last pit stop – as well as Colin Braun in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, Harry Tincknell in the No. 59 Proton Competition Porsche 963 and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports 963, all stayed out to maintain track position.
That set up the final pass for the lead on the restart. Braun swept around the outside as van der Zande was trying to save energy. A couple of additional cautions in the final 30 minutes, including one that ended the race, curtailed the racing and helped the cars that didn’t pit make it to the end. The No. 01 Cadillac prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing finished second, with Tincknell, Gianmaria Bruni and Neel Jani delivering the first podium for a privateer Porsche team as the No. 59 Proton Competition Porsche 963 finished third.
“I took it real easy on that last restart, took a long time just to save as much fuel as I can,” explained van der Zande. “That’s why we were so slow going down to the restart. I don’t know where Colin got that grip from, but he had massive grip and sent it on the inside and he made the corner, I didn’t expect that, but hats off for that move.”
“I knew it was gonna be kind of all to play for and I thought if we could get clean air, we were going to be in good shape,” added Braun. “So I just kind of put it all on the line. We didn’t have a whole lot to lose, and I think they were kind of in the same boat with the championship.
“So I knew it was going to be a big commitment. And yeah, it was awesome. It was nice to make it happen. Then, yeah, I just kind of put my head down and tried to hold on.”
The result was victory for Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves in what is MSR’s last IMSA race for the foreseeable future, the second Acura next year being run by WTRAndretti and Blomqvist moving to the IndyCar Series side of the MSR operation. It was an impressive feat considering the team was two laps down at one point in the race after contact with the Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 required replacing a toe link on the MSR Acura.
“It’s incredible,” declared Blomqvist. “I think good things happen to good guys and you know, I think that’s going to be more true. We’ve won three races this year. Obviously, we don’t have a championship, but I couldn’t be more proud and, at the same time, grateful to have spent these last two seasons with this team.
“We’ve done a lot together, won some good races, and it’s just such a good team atmosphere. It’s like a family and they work hard, they never give up.”
Derani ended up bringing the No. 31 V-Series.R home in fifth, more than enough to secure the championship. It was Derani’s and the team’s second championship in three years, he and Felipe Nasr taking the 2021 DPi championship after a similar late-race battle with a WTR Acura. It was the first prototype championship for Sims, who moves back to racing a Corvette in GTD PRO next season,
“It’s so much personal sacrifice by every member of the team,” said Sims. “It’s the non-glamorous side that really is necessary, but hugely, hugely appreciated by everyone that puts effort into getting the car into a position where we’ve been competitive every single race.
“It’s been a crazy season, as always in IMSA. It’s been so many highs, a few lows – as with every team – but it’s a really, really emotional moment to tie up the championship and thanks goes to Cadillac, Action Express, Whelen, these two guys next to me that have carried me most of the year. It’s been mega.”
Four teams came into the championship with a solid shot at the championship, the top three in a virtual tie. However, one by one they were eliminated.
The first was the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet and Laurens Vanthoor, through no fault of Tandy who was at the wheel at the time. Dennis Andersen in the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 car made light contact with Charles Scardina in the No. 023 Triarsi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, sending the Ferrari spinning across track into Brendan Iribe’s No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren, which then struck Tandy’s Porsche.
The 963 ended up stuck in the gravel. While it was fished out and returned to the paddock, by the time the car was repaired it was too many laps down to have any hope for the championship.
At one point the No. 7 PPM 963 squad of Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr was leading the championship when the other contenders were mired down the order. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly also had their brief taste of glory. While their No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 made it to the end, it was behind the No. 31 and no threat for the championship. Once Albuquerque crashed, all the No. 31 team had to do was finish sixth or better to secure the title.
George Kurtz, Ben Hanley and Nolan Siegel won LMP2 in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA over the No. 35 TDS Racing entry of Giedo van der Garde, John Falb and Josh Pierson and the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA of Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin and Alex Quinn. The victory secured the Michelin Endurance Cup title for Kurtz and Hanley as well as the Trueman Award and the Le Mans entry that comes with it for Kurtz.
“We had to have a lot go right to win the overall championship, but the two things we were focused on was the endurance championship and the big one was a Le Mans entry,” said Kurtz. “So at the end of the race, just 20 minutes left, you never think there’s going to be a green flag to the end and there’s so many emotions going through your mind. I have to give so much credit to my co-drivers and the team did a fantastic job.”
Keating, Chatin and Quinn had battled all race long with the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, whose full season drivers Steven Thomas and Mikkell Jensen were Keating and Chatin’s main rivals for the championship. Whichever team finished ahead of the other would take the title. Jensen was chasing Chatin as the sun was setting, but threw the No. 11 off track, ending their race and assuring Keating and Chatin of the championship.
Gar Robinson had already settled the final LMP3 title, but he, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon still wanted to win the race in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier. They were leading with only minutes left when Garett Grist in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier made a move for the lead resulting in contact that sent the No. 74 to the pits with a cut tire.
“I had a good run in Turn 7, I was catching up on the backstraight in his draft, and I knew it was probably going to be my best chance before we hit traffic to make the move,” explained Grist. “I think he was probably a bit surprised I sent it from that far back, but I was a long way up beside him once we got to apex. Unfortunately there was contact and he got a puncture; obviously, I don’t want that to happen, but I think it was my best opportunity so I took it.”
The result was victory for Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg, the latter two getting their first victory in the WeatherTech Championship. Matthew Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern were second in the No. 13 AWA Duqueine, and the Riley Motorsports squad ended up third.