If the fact that Honda Racing Corporation reunited with Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian to run its two-car Acura ARX-06 program wasn’t enough of a surprise, here comes the driver announcement. Presented by RACER’s Trackside Report is …
If the fact that Honda Racing Corporation reunited with Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian to run its two-car Acura ARX-06 program wasn’t enough of a surprise, here comes the driver announcement.
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The 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans reminded a lot of people why they love this style of racing so much. A 10-hour race that comes down to the final minutes in a way that no one expects perfectly embodies what makes the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar …
The 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans reminded a lot of people why they love this style of racing so much. A 10-hour race that comes down to the final minutes in a way that no one expects perfectly embodies what makes the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship so appealing.
Saturday lacked, this year — at least in the top prototype class — the championship drama that’s become the norm, but that didn’t make the race any less crazy. Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr came in with enough of a margin that the chances of them losing the GTP championship was almost nil. Then again, when you think it’s in the bag, anything can happen at Petit Le Mans — just ask AO Racing.
Porsche Penske Motorsport as a team and Porsche as a manufacturer had the GTP championship wrapped up as soon as the two PPM 963s wet under the green flag, but that didn’t diminish the drama.
While caution periods and restarts ignite action and excitement, in this year’s Petit Le Mans it was the lack of yellows that heightened the show. Only five cautions for 1h22m of slowed pace kept the action going (last year’s race had a dozen). For an incredible four-and-a-half hours until the final yellow, the race ran under green. In that extended period of green running, there were clearly two strong contenders for the win, at least on outright pace – the No. 6 PPM 963 of Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet and Kevin Estre, and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Brendon Hartley. In the final race of the partnership between WTRAndretti and Acura, it looked like they might finally get the win that’s eluded them for the last several years.
Adding to the plot was the fact that the No. 7 PPM 963 was on a different pit sequence. Had the race run to the end without another caution, they needed one full stop from the lead while the others would need a splash of fuel to make it to the end, especially since they needed to race each other flat-out. Would that have been enough to hand the win to champions-elect Cameron and Nasr, plus endurance addition Matt Campbell?
Pit cycles left us scratching our heads all day long. PPM may have been on strategy together here, but that didn’t last long. Richard Dole/Lumen
We didn’t get to find out. With just under an hour, a two-GTD-car crash left a stranded Mustang GT3 on the track at the exit of Turn 5 — a blind corner. Ricky Taylor couldn’t avoid it and ripped off a good chunk of the left side of the Acura. The heartbreak was palpable as the TV cameras showed Albuquerque trying to console his teammate.
It ended one act of the drama, but the next act was even wilder. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was running its last race under Chip Ganassi Racing. The Cadillac operation is moving over to Wayne Taylor Racing, and CGR will be sitting at least the next year of sports car racing out. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande have faced an uncertain future for much of the season. They wanted to go out on a high, but a sensor issue and multiple trips through the pits to resolve it left them a lap down. Even when they got the lap they lost back, the long period of caution-free racing made it difficult for them to make up any ground on the leaders.
Then came that final yellow, the 01 was back in the fight, and it set up a wild ride to the finish. Van der Zande stalked Tandy for 15m before he found his opening, and made a dramatic pass into Turn 1 to take the lead. Behind them, Philipp Eng in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 was attacking Tandy in the No. 7, but it got a little too physical as the BMW punted the Porsche, damaging the BMW and earning Eng a drive-through.
Cadillac was in the lead, and had the pace to stay there. You didn’t think that was the end of it, did you? No, with five minutes to go, the Cadillac, which had had only one headlight most of the evening, suddenly had none, and there was no way IMSA officials were going to allow it to keep circulating with no lights. Flashing the lights and fumbling with switches furiously inside the cockpit while trying to keep the Caddy on the track, van der Zande finally found the solution after several minutes of on-off-on-off.
So Chip Ganassi Racing had its beautiful swan song and rides off into the sunset with a Petit Le Mans victory. Bourdais and van der Zande end their long time as partners on a high. Oh, yeah … and Scott Dixon gets another PLM victory.
What a story. But that doesn’t even take into account the emotional roller coaster of the GTD PRO championship. Laurin Heinrich and AO Racing came into the race with a 104-point margin in the championship standings after taking pole on Friday. The extra five points earned in qualifying would prove crucial.
You want enduro drama? AO Racing brought it at Petit. But from a lap down, they also brought the fight — and it worked. Richard Dole/Lumen
The No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, though, hit trouble early with a bad steering wheel electrical connection causing shifting issues which saw Julien Andlauer drop to the back of the field, and at one point stopped on track. The fix left Rexy six laps down in ninth position. Barring any retirements, ninth was the best they could do.
As far as the championship was concerned, that wasn’t a problem as long the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo finished third or worse. If it finished second, the title went to the team and driver Ross Gunn. Of course, HoR and drivers Gunn, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis were bouncing between second and third all race long. One moment the title was Heinrich’s, the next it was Gunn’s. It went on for hours.
In the final half-hour, Gunn was giving it all, reeling off his fastest laps of the day, half a second better than any other GTD PRO car did all race, but he couldn’t get the Aston Martin into second, and Heinrich, in his first season of IMSA racing, took the title by four points.
This type of thrilling back-and-forth is why fans and drivers love this style of racing, where wins and championships often come down to the final minutes of a 10-hour race or a 66-hour season. And – this is about to get personal – it’s why it’s so much fun to cover.
As a writer, I want to get the story to readers as quickly as possible, so there’s a certain satisfaction in being able to get a good bit of the report done before the checkered flag falls. How many times have I been able to do that with the WeatherTech Championship in the last three years? Exactly once. One time out of 36 races I’ve been certain enough about the outcome of the race to get a good chunk of the report written before the race was over. (If you’re curious, that race was Long Beach in 2022.)
IMSA racing is wild. It’s melodramatic. A race like this year’s Petit Le Mans was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. This race, like so many others, will go down as an instant classic. Fans and drivers – and yours truly – can’t wait for the next one.
Amidst a GTD PRO championship emotional rollercoaster, a Petit Le Mans victory for the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Franck Perera, Jordan Pepper and Mirko Bortolotti was almost lost in the fray as they seemed to cruise …
Amidst a GTD PRO championship emotional rollercoaster, a Petit Le Mans victory for the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Franck Perera, Jordan Pepper and Mirko Bortolotti was almost lost in the fray as they seemed to cruise effortlessly to a 2.361s victory over Risi Competizione.
All eyes were on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO title fight, though, as an early problem for AO Racing put what seemed like a sure thing for the team and Laurin Heinrich in jeopardy.
The Iron Lynx Lamborghini quickly positioned itself as a contender for the race victory. Pepper only had to fend off an attack by Risi’s Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 after the final restart to claim the victory, the first in IMSA competition for Pepper and the Iron Lynx team.
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“It’s been amazing. It’s been two tough seasons, tough years for us. I think we’ve been showing good potential, but we never managed to pull it off, never managed to get the result we got today,” said Bortolotti. “I think it’s a proud moment to be back on the top side of the podium in IMSA. It’s a great championship for us. We always enjoy being here. I think it was about time to have a result like this.”
While the Lamborghini was clearly strong over the long run, the fight with the Ferrari of Serra, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi was tough at times.
“Just an intense, intense battle out there, all stints,” Pepper said. “I think there was a point where we were mixing it up with the GTD cars, and I got to the lead, which was quite good. We had a moment with Daniel. I think it was quite a critical, crucial moment where he got stuck behind a BMW on cold tires where we could regain the lead again. Then it was just head down, full attack, obviously.
“It seemed like they had the pace over us on one lap, but we seemed very strong over the distance, which I think made the difference today. What was really impressive was the guys behind the wall that made some good strategy calls,” he added.
The Risi squad did a lot of work to be in the championship fight. Minor contact early in Saturday’s qualifying session between the Risi Ferrari and the GTD-class No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 left a bit of debris on track. Both cars lost their two best times for causing a red flag, and the No. 62 started 23rd in the GT field.
Rexy’s teeth came out to play, but not in the way AO Racing wanted… Even so, overcoming an electrical issue didn’t stop them from taking a fan-favorite title. Jake Galstad/Lumen
As intriguing as the intra-Italian battle was, the drama of the GTD PRO championship fight overshadowed it. What seemed like it would be an easy run to the title for Laurin Heinrich and AO Racing was turned on its head when the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R had an electrical connection to the steering wheel go awry, which in turn caused a shifting problem. Several dramatic moments with the car that was co-driven by Michael Christensen and Julien Andlauer eventually led to a lengthy pit stop to replace a cable. The No. 77 was suddenly six laps down and in ninth place.
Coming into the race with a 104-point margin to Ross Gunn and the Heart of Racing Team, the championship could now go either way. The No. 23 HoR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo was running in the vicinity of second and third. Second place or better meant the championship would go to Gunn and HoR; Third or worse and the title was Heinrich’s. For hours, the championship went back and forth. After the final restart, Gunn was doing everything he could, including turning the race’s fastest lap, half a second better than any other GT car, as well as a whole lot of laps close that fast one.
In the end, though, Gunn fell less than 2s short of second place, a podium for him, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis the consolation prize.
“I know everyone was pushing for me and rooting for me because my name was there on the championship, but this is a car No. 23 effort,” said Gunn. “We came so close — four points is the difference of one or two qualifying positions, which is really nothing. A sad day to not win the championship, but the greatest thing that I take away from all of this is that we’ve improved so much over the last few years, and I’m so proud of that.”
For Heinrich, who has had a revolving door of co-drivers after a strong start to the season with Seb Priaulx, winning the championship in his first season of IMSA competition was a relief. It came down to scoring pole position on Saturday – the margin prior to that was 99 points, which was more than erased with the contenders’ respective finishing positions.
“What a year. In the end, it’s decided by four points,” noted Heinrich, whose only previous experience at Road Atlanta came in Porsche Carrera Cup. “If I think back throughout the season, what are four points? I mean, it’s all these small decisions to take in a qualifying or in a race.
“I can’t thank my team enough, and also my teammates. I’ve had plenty of teammates this year. First of all Seb Priaulx – he did most races with me. Exceptional driver and I got along with him really well. Also Michael Christensen, Julien Andlauer and Klaus Bachler were all from the Porsche family. I really appreciate their support, because in the end, they joined me, and they were not fighting for their own championship; they were just there to help the team and me win our championship, and I think it really speaks for them.”
Paul Miller Racing took the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title for Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen.
Expect the unexpected at Petit, as always. Conquest Racing came out of nowhere. Jake Galstad/Lumen
Conquest Racing was a surprise winner in GTD. Albert Costa Balboa took advantage of a late caution to get the No. 34 Ferrari 296 into position to attack Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan and earn victory for himself, Manny Franco and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli. It was an impressive result for a team in its rookie year in IMSA GTD competition, especially given Franco’s limited experience that included only a little Ferrari Challenge racing before he stepped into GT3.
“I’ve only had three years of racing,” Franco noted. “For me, it’s an important sign. You can work your way up through smaller series here at IMSA. It means a lot for me, and it means a lot for everyone who was involved in the Ferrari Challenge program because they work a lot in improving us as drivers. Ferrari themselves are very supportive of me as I’ve continued on in my career here.
“To win here at Petit, I’ve been told already by many people that it’s a huge thing for me, it’s a huge thing for the Conquest Racing team and the guys here,” he added.
Conquest moved up steadily from its eighth-place starting position, but never really looked like a contender for victory until after final caution that came with less than an hour to go.
“To be honest, when I did the first stint, I was not expecting to win,” Costa said. “I was expecting to be maybe top five, top four. Maybe if there was a yellow, maybe in the top three. These guys always manage to move forward. They were overtaking [cars on track] all the time. We keep believing; the team [made] no mistakes, and at the end, yeah, the car was a rocket, and this, of course, makes your life a little bit easy.
“We had also to manage the tires because of degradation. In GTD it’s quite high. [In] the first stint I pushed a little bit too much. At the end I was struggling. [For the] two last stints, I didn’t push at the limit at the beginning to keep the tires safe. I think it also was one of the keys to get the win for us.”
Conquest took a 0.718s victory over defending winners Forte Racing with Spinelli, Misha Goikberg and Devlin DeFrancesco. The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson and Aaron Telitz was third, like Risi battling back from the qualifying penalty.
Winward’s championship performance was all but a foregone conclusion. Jake Galstad/Lumen
Given the large points margin Winward Racing came into the race with, they took the GTD championship for Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. With Indy Dontje, Winward claimed the IMEC title as well.
“This is the end goal, right?” said Ward. “You come here, and you want to win races. You want to be competitive. All of us have eyes on the championship. You know, it’s just an incredible result for the team. A lot of long nights. It’s been difficult but exciting at the same time. It’s really good to be able to bring it home.”
In a storybook ending for Chip Ganassi Racing, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon came back from a miserable early race to win Petit Le Mans. With a dramatic dive to the inside of Nick …
In a storybook ending for Chip Ganassi Racing, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon came back from a miserable early race to win Petit Le Mans. With a dramatic dive to the inside of Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in Turn 1 with 15m left in the 10-hour race, van der Zande turned around what had looked like a hopeless day to win the last race before CGR exits the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the time being.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s just, it’s unbelievable,” said an emotional Bourdais after the victory. “You think you got it, you think you lost it, it comes back around. You never know what’s going on. Five minutes to the end, we think we won it, and then both lights go out. I don’t know … I’m speechless. I can’t be thankful enough for the opportunity to have driven that No. 01 for three years. It’s a bittersweet end, but there’s no better send off, and I’m so grateful.”
To add a bit of last-second drama, the Cadillac, which had run much of the evening with only one headlight, lost it’s headlights completely with under five minutes to go, which would have surely earned a mechanical black flag, but came back on shortly thereafter. They continued to go off intermittently, but were on enough to finish the race.
“There was a bit of disco going on, but I like discos,” laughed van der Zande. “This manual we get from Cadillac is a lot of buttons and a lot of options, so I started to press all kinds of buttons this way, and it was still not good enough. Then it stuck more and more and more, then they told me press the white button. So I pressed the white button, and it worked, so we got the lights back.”
Porsche Penske Motorsports finished second and third, the No. 6 963 finishing ahead of the No. 7. The third-place finish earned the No. 7 squad of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr, aided by Matt Campbell in the long endurance races, the GTP championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup. Cadillac Racing closed the gap to the No. 6 team, but in the end fell short of breaking up the PPM one-two in the championship.
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“Big hats off to the team. I mean, it’s really as near to perfect, I think, as you can be,” said Cameron. “Really proud to have all the championships, one-two for both cars. Obviously disappointed for the No. 6 to miss out there, but absolutely so, so pleased to have number four for myself, and obviously outstanding for the group.”
What had been shaping up to be a fantastic race between the No. 6 Porsche and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 – with the added intrigue of fuel strategy that could have brought the No. 7 PPM Porsche into the equation – was shattered, along with an astounding 4.5h of green flag running, with a three-car incident with just under an hour to go. A collision between the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Jan Heylen and the No. 55 Proton Competition Mustang GT3 of Corey Lewis in Turn 5 left the Mustang sitting on the track facing the wrong direction, with no lights, over the crest of a brow.
Several cars avoided the wrecked Mustang, but Ricky Taylor did not. Grazing the Mustang, Taylor removed a big chunk of the left side of the Acura, ending the team’s chance to win Petit Le Mans yet again. Taylor had taken the lead out of the previous pit stop, but slid off track on cold tires, handing the lead back to Tandy.
That set up a potential four-way fight to the finish between the No. 6 Porsche, the No. 01 Cadillac, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 and the No. 7 Porsche, but it proved to be Tandy vs. van der Zande fighting to the checker. The BMW in Philip Eng’s hands looked like it might have something to challenge for a podium, but contact with the No. 7 Porsche not only damaged and slowed the M Hybrid V8, but earned a drive-through penalty as well.
CGR’s Cadillac was looking to be out of the fight due to a sensor issue that caused a mechanical black flag. The team solved the problem, but the fix affected the power processing unit and left the No. 01 down on power and also left the car a lap down. The lap was retrieved, but the 4.5h period of green flag running kept them from making any progress. Only the final yellow, which the team expected, brought them back into the fight.
Stalking Tandy, van der Zande finally found an opening. He had a better run out of Turn 12, and as Tandy shifted back to the left after passing a GT car, van der Zande dived to the inside heading into Turn 1. Tandy lost his run to the apex and the position.
“It was the only move I could make. I was behind Tandy for a while, and he was so fast on the straights. Every time they pulled a gap of like, I don’t know, six, seven car lengths, but in the corners we were very fast. We set up the car a lot for Turn 1 and Turn 3. That’s where I could really make up a lot of ground. The car was awesome there,” said van der Zande before praising Tandy.
“When I made the move on Nick, it’s always a two-way street. I think with professionals like him, you can do these kind of moves. At the same time, it’s risky. I think Scott told me I was locking wheels going in.”
The No. 01 crossed the line with van der Zande flashing the lights, 2.948s ahead of the No. 6. While all three drivers have won Petit Le Mans before, it was the first victory at Road Atlanta for Chip Ganassi Racing as it signs off in its run with Cadillac.
The eventual race-winning TDS ORECA landed itself in the right place at the right time ahead of the championship-winning car from Inter Europol. Jake Galstad/Lumen
TDS Racing with Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea took the victory in LMP2 in dominating fashion to also claim the Endurance Cup. While polesitter Ben Keating led the early portion of the race, his run ended early. Keating, leading at the time, was passing the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 at Turn 6 and spun, possibly after contact. Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R was next on the scene and hit Keating’s No. 2 United Autosports ORECA. Both Keating’s car and the Corvette sustained heavy damage and were taken straight to the paddock. Keating would re-emerge later in the race, but a second crash took the No. 2 out of the race for good.
With McElrea and Jensen closing out the race, the No. 11 was unstoppable, putting gaps on the field at every turn. The final full-course caution brought Riley Motorsports into contact for the LMP2 lead and potentially the championship, but Jensen put the strength that the TDS ORECA had shown all day on full display as he fended off an attack by Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 right after the restart then ran away to a 17.097s victory over Fraga, Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon.
“This one was big because we also won the Endurance Cup, which is my first IMSA season championship,” said Thomas. “I was born in Atlanta, so coming home to Atlanta and winning Road Atlanta means a lot to me. I think that the traffic here for a Bronze is brutal, and it’s like a big puzzle. To me, it’s the most fun race of the year because of the traffic.”
Jensen running away removed any hope of the Riley team of Fraga and Robinson to claim the championship in their rookie year in LMP2. That instead fell to Nick Boulle and Tom Dillman for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. It also gave Boulle the Jim Trueman Award.
After being two laps down, Era Motorsports hauled its way back into the fight as it often does for a third-place finish for the No. 18 and drivers Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch.
In a storybook ending for Chip Ganassi Racing, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon came back from a miserable early race to win Petit Le Mans. With a dramatic dive to the inside of Nick …
In a storybook ending for Chip Ganassi Racing, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon came back from a miserable early race to win Petit Le Mans. With a dramatic dive to the inside of Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in Turn 1 with 15m left in the 10-hour race, Renger van der Zande turned around what had looked like a hopeless day to win the last race before CGR exits the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the time being.
To add a bit of last-second drama, the Cadillac, which had run much of the evening with only one headlight, lost it’s headlights completely with under 5m to go. That would have surely earned a mechanical black flag, but the lights came back on shortly thereafter. They continued to go off intermittently, but were on enough to finish the race.
Porsche Penske Motorsports finished second and third, the No. 6 963 finishing ahead of the No. 7. The third-place finish earned the No. 7 squad of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr, aided by Matt Campbell in the endurance races, the GTP championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup. Cadillac Racing closed the gap to the No. 6 team, but in the end fell short of breaking up the PPM one-two in the championship.
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The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA and drivers Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea dominated LMP2 after the polesitting No. 2 United Autosports ORECA exited the fight in an early-race crash. TDS denying the Riley Motorsports squad their first victory, as the No. 74 of Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon finished second, also preserved the championship lead for Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann and Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports.
Jordan Pepper in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 held off a charge by Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 to take the GTD PRO victory for himself, Frank Perera and Mirko Bortolotti. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis finished third, which wasn’t enough to wrest the title from Laurin Heinrich and AO Racing.
The No. 77 AO Racing Porche 911 GT3R had a rough race, encountering an electrical issue that affected shifting. Fixing the problem put the car down six laps and Heinrich, with Michael Christensen and Julien Andlauer, finished 11th. Had Gunn been able to take second in the race, the championship would have been his. In the end, the points from Saturday’s qualifying where Heinrich scored pole made the difference.
Conquest Racing was a surprise winner in GTD, Albert Costa Balboa taking advantage of a late caution to get the No. 34 Ferrari 296 into position to attack Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan and earn victory for himself, Manny Franco and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli. Winward Racing took the championship with Russell Ward and Philip Ellis and, along with Indy Dontje, the Michelin Endurance Cup, with a ninth-place finish.
The first rule of Petit Le Mans is make to the night, and all but six cars have done so. Of the cars still going, 17 are on their respective lead laps – a lower number than might be expected, however the entire third quarter was caution-free, the …
The first rule of Petit Le Mans is make to the night, and all but six cars have done so. Of the cars still going, 17 are on their respective lead laps – a lower number than might be expected, however the entire third quarter was caution-free, the last green flag coming with 5h32m left in the race.
The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 came on strong in the late afternoon, and Filipe Albuquerque set the car’s best lap of the day as the last vestiges of twilight faded from the sky. Albuquerque led at the three-quarter mark.
The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 is the closest pursuer, usually within 10s, despite having to serve a drive-through penalty for Nick Tandy making contact with the No. 47 Cetilar Ferrari 296. Mathieu Jaminet was wheeling the No. 6 with two-and-a-half hours to go.
The sister PPM Porsche with Matt Campbell at the wheel had a long pit stop to replace a fuel flow meter, and then fell off the lead lap immediately after another stop when he slid off Turn 3 on fresh, cold tires.
Both the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura made it onto the lead lap, but a puncture for the No. 40 dropped it back a lap again, leaving the No. 01 the third and last car on the lead lap.
The No. 7 Porsche is currently on a different pit stop sequence, going 14-15m longer than the rest of the contenders, which could certainly become a factor at the end.
Hunter McElrea had the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA in the lead of LMP2, which portends well for the team as it looks to take the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. McElrea was followed by Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 88 AF Corse entry and the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA driven by Josh Burdon.
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The No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team of Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann and Jakub Smiechowski is fourth, enough to claim the championship.
After an early brake problem, the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R was leading GTD PRO, but was due for a pit stop being off sequence from most of the field. Jordan Pepper was wheeling the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 in second, and that car is looking like a strong contender for the win. Daniel Serra was third in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3.
In the GTD PRO championship picture, AO Racing is still in position to take the title unless Ross Gunn can haul himself up from the fourth place he was running with 2.5h to go and into second.
Winward Racing is in the middle of the GTD pack, but that will be more than enough to clinch the title. Defending PLM winners Forte Racing led the class with Loris Spinelli at the wheel of the No. 78 Lamborghini. Mikael Grenier, who was not feeling well earlier but came back refreshed after a visit to medical, was in pursuit in the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG, followed by Parker Thompson in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.
The only retirement during the third quarter was the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA LMP2 car, leaving the team packing up early after a miserable day.
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 …
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.
Jack Aitken and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing team were generally in control during the first quarter of IMSA’s Motul Petit Le Mans, but serving a drive-through penalty for a pass under yellow put them on the back foot, and the No. 24 BMW M Team …
Jack Aitken and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing team were generally in control during the first quarter of IMSA’s Motul Petit Le Mans, but serving a drive-through penalty for a pass under yellow put them on the back foot, and the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 with Jesse Krohn at the wheel led at the end of the first quarter of the race, although it was off sequence and due for a pit stop.
Aitken explained that he made the pass after the incident, but not after the next flag station, which is why he believed the team was given the penalty.
The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 went off strategy early and was running second in the hands of Jordan Taylor, but like the No. 24, would need a stop soon. The championship-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 was third with Felipe Nasr in the cockpit, followed by Mathieu Jaminet in the PPM No. 6. Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura was fifth, soon to be third.
The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R which has shown pace all weekend received a mechanical blag flag for “Scrutineering System Requirements.” That, plus subsequent stops to replace sensors, had the car a lap down and it would later serve a drive-through after Renger van der Zande hit the No. 20.
AO Racing’s GTD PRO championship bid has been dealt a serious blow with an intermittent electrical issue that was causing a shifting problem. The car stopped on track at one point, and a reset seemed to cure the issue, but the problem reared its head again. The car spent a long time in the pits receiving some new electrical connections. The car emerged six laps down in 12th, a position that would cost Laurin Heinrich and the team the title should the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo finish on the podium.
Alex Riberas was running fourth in the No. 23, while an off-sequence No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the hands of Kyle Kirkwood was leading over Mirko Bortolotti in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, which was looking quite strong with Jordan Pepper at the wheel earlier. Davide Rigon was third in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 for Risi Competizione, but that team was off sequence for pit stops as well.
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Disaster struck for LMP2 polesitter Ben Keating in the second hour, and that disaster took the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R with it. Keating, leading at the time, was passing the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 at Turn 6 and spun, possibly after contact. Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette was next on the scene, hit Keating’s No. 2 United Autosports ORECA, and then went off track and hit the wall. Both Keating’s ORECA and the Corvette sustained heavy damage and were taken straight to the paddock.
Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA led LMP2 after 2.5h over Lila Wadoux Ducellier in the No. 88 Af Corse entry. Hunter McElrea had been running quite strong in the lead in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, but a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after contact with the No. 45 WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan pushed the No. 11 down the order.
Wright Motorsports led GTD with the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R, Elliott Skeer having taken over the car from Jan Heylen. Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus was chasing, ahead of Anders Fjordbach in the off-sequence No. 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche.
The first quarter of the race has had three cautions for a total of 33m. The first came for Scott Andrews putting the GTD polesitting No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG into the gravel at Turn 5. The second was for the incident between Keating and Milner, and the third was for Sheena Monk spinning the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, the result of making contact with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S right after she pitted and was on still-cold tires.
The only official retirement in the race is the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage Evo, which suffered a half-shaft failure only 30m in.
With 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans qualifying concluded, RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais finish off the day with the last Hamburger and French Fry show of the year. Presented by RACER’s Trackside Report is presented by …
With 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans qualifying concluded, RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais finish off the day with the last Hamburger and French Fry show of the year.
Presented by
RACER’s Trackside Report is presented by Mazda Motorsports. Mazda supports racing and racers at every level from regional track days all the way to the IMSA WeatherTech Championship. At Mazda, racing isn’t just what they do; it’s who they are. click to learn more about Mazda Motorsports and the Mazda MX-5 Cup.
Two was the number of the day to cap the 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season in Friday’s Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Matt Plumb finished second Friday in the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which was enough to …
Two was the number of the day to cap the 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season in Friday’s Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Matt Plumb finished second Friday in the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which was enough to secure his second Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class championship and first since 2013.
It nearly would have been the No. 46’s second win of the year, except for a late-race pass by Riley Dickinson in the No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport.
That move wrapped the second win of the season for Dickinson and co-driver Michael McCarthy. The pair bookended the year having also won the season-opening four-hour race at Daytona International Speedway in January.
The No. 46 Aston Martin that Plumb shared with Paul Holton was in a strong position entering the race, needing only a sixth-place finish to clinch the championship. Holton solidified their spot when he won the Motul Pole Award late Thursday.
Like the season, the race featured a battle with championship rivals RS1 and co-drivers Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche.
As McAleer and Holton contended for the lead early in the race, they briefly ceded the position to Zach Veach in the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo after he made a bold three-in-one pass to the inside of Turn 10 in the opening 15 minutes.
Veach controlled the pace before the second full-course caution of the race, which shifted the strategies as teams dived to pit lane just after the 40-minute minimum drive time had elapsed. Crucially, that included both McAleer and Holton, who leapfrogged the handful of GS class cars that stayed out prior to the caution.
The order shifted a bit as a handful of Touring Car (TCR) class cars moved to the overall lead before they shifted to fuel-save mode to make the race on one pit stop rather than two.
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GS cars, having made their final stops anywhere from 47 to 53 minutes before the checkered flag of the two-hour race, then charged back through the TCR cars ahead in order to retake the overall lead.
There was a further wrinkle in play with the second Team TGM entry, Bronze Cup GS class champions Ted Giovanis and co-driver Hugh Plumb, in their No. 64 Aston Martin. Hugh Plumb led the race for the balance of the second half before needing a splash of fuel in the final 10 minutes of the race.
Dickinson’s pursuit of the leaders included battles with both GS title contenders. He made slight contact with the fellow Porsche of Hindman, although the action was reviewed with only a warning. Hindman and McAleer eventually finished sixth.
An easier, cleaner pass of others in the GS field including Matt Plumb on lap 64 of 74 was for second place on the road and the net lead once Hugh Plumb pitted.
“I hate to have that contact happen,” Dickinson said. “I had to come through the field, I knew we had the pace advantage. I knew every lap I’d be stuck behind other cars compared to the No. 46, I’d run out of time. It’s a race we wanted to go win, and we did.”
Ultimately, Dickinson held on to capture the victory by 1.849s over Matt Plumb. Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister, winners last time out at Indianapolis in the No. 39 CarBAhn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 finished third to complete the podium.
For Plumb and Holton, second matched the theme of their season – consistency – en route to the title.
“It sounds pretty good considering what a competitive year it was,” Plumb said. “We have had a long and productive season. Things have worked out well. It could be winning, or be sixth.
“With this level of competition, we have to settle sometimes. We may have settled for second in the race today, but it worked out.”
No. 98 Hyundai squeezes every drop of fuel to win in TCR, No. 17 Audi locks down title
Jake Galstad/Lumen
The Touring Car (TCR) class warranted watching from start to finish, literally. For the second year running, the season’s team and driver championships were decided at the drop of the green flag.
Last year, the championship-leading (and pole-winning) No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR suffered a mechanical failure while bringing the field to the green and the team could only watch as Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi won the race in the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR, with teammates Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker finishing fourth to clinch the driver, team and manufacturer TCR titles.
It was more than a little ironic Friday when, with Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor needing to finish 11th or better in the No. 17 Audi to claim the driver and team TCR crowns, the 12th and final starter in the class (the No. 73 Racers Edge Motorsports Honda Civic FK7 TCR) was unable to start the race after experiencing mechanical problems of its own. Mission accomplished for Miller and Taylor.
Fast forward to a race dominated virtually from start to finish by the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Hyundai of Tyler Gonzalez and Morgan Burkhard. Virtually is the key word, as the white flag waved to signal the final lap, Burkhard peeled into pit lane for a splash of fuel, handing the win to Wilkins, Filippi and the No. 98 BHA Hyundai.
“We were all in the same boat trying to get to the end,” Wilkins said after he and Filippi won their second straight race of the season and second straight at Michelin Raceway. “It was a battle of who did a better job of getting there.
“The No. 99 is the same car, and I didn’t know where they were [on fuel]. I was just trying to gauge off of everybody else, honestly. I felt like we were all so similar. I didn’t know if he was going to make it or not. It looked the way he was driving that maybe he had a shot to make it to the end, so he had to push, obviously a little bit more. I think we did a good job earlier in the stint to allow ourselves to run a bit more aggressive at the end, to put some pressure on him. I guess they were waiting for a yellow that never came.”
Although sixth place was a disappointing and uncharacteristic showing for a team that amassed four wins and stood atop the TCR standings from the opening round of the season at Daytona International Speedway, there was plenty of joy to be found in the JDC-Miller compound after the race.
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“No question, last year was heartbreaking,” said Taylor. “The whole team set out to make amends for that this year. We had a great year but it wasn’t easy. Some rules changes in the middle of the season meant we had to redevelop the car. Even this weekend wasn’t easy by any means. We had an off in qualifying that damaged the car, so the team was here until midnight repairing the damage. Even when we found out the [No. 73] wasn’t starting the race, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Although the other shoe never dropped, Miller, Taylor & Co. had a tough day at the office, so to speak.
“Of course, it was in our minds that we’d won the championship,” Taylor continued. “But we’re here to race, and we wanted to finish the season on a high note. Although the crew did a fantastic job fixing the car, we didn’t have another session before the race to test the repairs and the car was not exactly right today. The Hyundais had more speed and, obviously, a couple of them went the distance on one pit stop, where we had to stop twice.”
Meanwhile, the race win vaulted Filippi and Wikins into second place in the driver and team standings and added another feather in the proverbial cap of Hyundai, which had already clinched its fifth consecutive TCR manufacturer championship.
“It’s been a tough year,” said Filippi. “We had a lot of ups and downs and at the end we just went for it. The synergy within the whole team has been amazing. We’ve been working on fuel save all last year and this year. The Hyundai is really good around here, fun to drive and, after winning the last race, Mark and I were just saying, ‘What if?’ It’s really cool to win and get second place in the championship.
“For Hyundai to win a fifth manufacturers championship is really amazing. There’s a lot of tough competition in TCR, and to win five straight championships is a tribute to Hyundai’s commitment to the series and their support of our team.”
