A late-race shower near the conclusion of the Fox Factory 120 created slippery conditions Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta that gave the winning driver a fright and created a full-course caution for the two-hour event’s final minutes that scrambled championship implications for the Grand Sport (GS) class in the season finale of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The Motul Pole Award-winning No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 led the two-hour contest essentially from start to finish, with Alex Filsinger handing off to Jesse Lazare with 50 minutes remaining. Lazare had to contend with slowly intensifying rain in the contest’s final half-hour, with the slick track no doubt contributing to Denis Dupont’s spin in the No. 15 Rockwell Autosport Development Audi RS3 LMS SEQ with less than eight minutes to go that brought out the critical yellow flag.
At that point, Lazare held a 1.7s lead over Elliott Skeer in the No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport he shared with Adam Adelson, with Stevan McAleer (co-driver Eric Filgueras) running third in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche. The race ended under caution in that order, with Filsinger and Lazare claiming their first Michelin Pilot Challenge win of the year as well as the first in North American competition for the McLaren Artura.
The No. 69 McLaren gained speed and confidence throughout the second half of the season, including another Motul Pole Award at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. But Filsinger and Lazare’s top finish prior to Friday was 10th place at Watkins Glen International.
“Our pace was incredible, but as the rain came at the end, being the first car was kind of like being the guinea pig,” Lazare said. “It was definitely on the sketchy side. But we stayed on track and we finished strong. I’m extremely happy for the team because we worked hard all year and didn’t have the best of luck. We made wrong decisions on our part, so this really means a lot to end on a high note.”
Filsinger was impressive in leading comfortably during his opening stint. “I just put my head down, drove forward and tried to repeat my qualifying lap every lap,” he said. “First win in IMSA is an incredible feeling, and to have it at the last race of the year at Road Atlanta, which is such an iconic venue, is an incredible feeling.”
When the checkered flag flew, it appeared that the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R and drivers Frank DePew and Robin Liddell had earned the GS class championship by finishing sixth over Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4. But the late caution that closed the pits prevented two cars that finished between Liddell and Foley in 13th place (the No. 14 and No. 50 Toyota Supra GT4 EVOs that crossed the line in eighth and 10th place, respectively) were penalized a lap for drive-time violations.
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The elevation of the No. 96 BMW to 11th place resulted in a 20-point swing that lifted the Turner BMW duo to the title by 10 markers over the Rebel Rock Chevy. Mercedes-AMG claimed its second GS class manufacturer championship in a row and third since entering Michelin Pilot Challenge competition in 2019.
Foley and Barletta did not learn they were champions until about half an hour after the conclusion of the race as officials verified the penalties. By then, Barletta had departed Michelin Raceway to honor a family commitment.
“It’s certainly not the way you want to win it; it would have been nice for it to be a bit more straightforward,” said Foley. “We have some really smart guys on our team who were crunching numbers and it was super stressful. I told them, ‘When I cross the finish line, just tell me what’s going on.’
“We thought we were in a good position with strategy, but we basically missed the leader pitting by a lap and got trapped a lap down,” he continued. “The BMWs struggled for pace here, but we kind of had a lucky one come to us at the end. Great execution by our team, and it’s a very special feeling to be sitting here as champions.”
“This one was definitely a rollercoaster and it feels a little surreal,” added Turner Motorsport owner Will Turner. “I would rather have won it without the rollercoaster ride, but this whole series is a rollercoaster in a lot of ways. You never know who’s going to win – it’s never cut and dry, and today’s race and the championship was proof of that.”
BHA doubles its fun: No. 98 Hyundai wins TCR race, No. 33 takes title
First, second and – most importantly – the championship.
From every perspective, Friday’s Touring Car (TCR) race was a triumphant affair for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian.
Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins teamed to win the season finale in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR, while Harry Gottsacker and Robert Wickens clinched the TCR championship by finishing fourth in the No. 33 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
To add to the celebration, Bryan Ortiz and Tyler Maxson combined to finish second in the No. 91 van der Steur Racing Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
While the No. 98 car led from the first lap of the two-hour race, it wasn’t as simple as that. Rain began to fall during the final minutes, leaving the TCR field to fight to stay on track before finishing under caution.
“I wouldn’t say we had it under control,” Wilkins said. “Tyler is really quick. He’s always really quick. If there’s a guy I don’t want there, it’s probably him. He’s fast, and he’s proven that time and time again.”
Wickens and Gottsacker came into the race with a 20-point lead over Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR, but Miller experienced a mechanical issue on the first lap and didn’t return to the race.
Miller, who won the pole hours before the start, lost power shortly after leading the field to the green flag. That effectively put Wickens and Gottsacker in command for the championship. They held on for fourth in the race and celebrated the championship.
The No. 33 didn’t win a race this season but finished second in six of the 10 Michelin Pilot Challenge races.
“It wasn’t how I drew it up, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter,” Wickens said. “It’s been a year building toward this. It’s a little weird. I don’t know if it’s been done before, winning a championship without winning a race. It just goes to show how strong we were as a team. We went through a lot of adversity. We didn’t have a perfect season, but we had very good damage limitation when we needed it, and I think that really was the deciding factor.”
After Miller encountered the opening-lap issue, Filippi took the lead in the No. 98 Elantra with Gottsacker chasing him in the No. 33. Filippi gave way to Wilkins, who charged to the front and managed the late rainfall.
“This car is so good around here,” Filippi said. “Mark jumped in and had a great stint. It was awesome to watch him battle out there. I wasn’t jealous when it started raining. It looked like a lot of fun, but it also looked a little sketchy.”
Ryan Eversley and Mike LaMarra finished third in the LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic FL5 TCR.
