The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship lands in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin this weekend for IMSA Sportscar weekend. The event this weekend will features all 5 championship classes. Road America ahs recently undergone a major renovation with a newly repaved surface. While there have been a few major series that have visited the venue prior to this weekend. The pavement is still very much rubbering in. Whether this will be a factor this weekend is yet to be seen but new pavement means conditions may be unpredictable. Practice sessions will be of the utmost importance as driver relearn the nuances of the track.
GTP, LMP2 and LMP3
Currently Whelen Engineering holds a 10 points lead over the No. 25 RLL Racing BMW M. The Konica Minolta Acura sits in third place with three rounds to go and a 29 point deficit to cover for the top spot. With three races to go the championship is very much wide open in the GTP class. A mistake at Road America could prove costly.
In LMP2 the Crowdstrike by APR No. 04 car leads by a marginal 3 points ahead of the NO. 11 TDS Racing car. In third is the No. 52 of PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. The top three cars are separated by a margin of 6 points total. There is room for the in class standings to change drastically. A win this weekend will be imperative to maintain hold of the championship.
In contrast LMP3 the No. 74 Riley Motorsports car has a bit more of a cushion. The team is by no means a shoe in for the championship however. The No. 17 AWA car is looking for any and every opportunity to pounce on the top spot. AWA has been in good form in terms of pace and with Road America being a high speed track will see see if their thought top speed advantage from early in the season will play a role in how they perform this weekend.
GTD and GTD Pro Class Breakdown
In GTD Pro the No. 17 Vasser Sullivan car has a decent lead over the competition. However, there are 4 more rounds for the class this season and it is hard to make claims on a clear leader in class when there has been a lot of movement at the top of the table this season. This weekend will be the first of a 4 race stent for Vasser Sullivan to run away with the the title. Given that there are only sprint races until Le Mans Petit; the season finale. Any and all mistakes can be costly.
In GTD similarly there are 4 more races but the championship lead is a bit more lopsided in the favor of the No. 01 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. Statistically the Paul miller car cannot secure the championship this round but they can definitely make it very difficult for the competition as we head towards the end of the season.
With everything up for grabs this weekend we will report throughout the weekend on any developments that may influence the outcomes of the weekend.
The first practice for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America begins at 12:05pm Eastern on Friday (11:05am local time). Qualifying, carried on IMSA.tv, will be Saturday at 2:15pm ET. The race, broadcast live on USA Network and streamed on Peacock, is scheduled for a green flag at 11:10am. ET.
IMSA Sportscar Weekend
Road America – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Aug. 4-6, 2023
- Race Day/Time: Sunday, Aug. 6, 11:10 a.m. ET
- USA Network Coverage: LIVE – 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
- Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 11:05 a.m. (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive)
- Live Qualifying Stream: Saturday, Aug. 5 – 2:10 p.m. on Peacock (in the U.S.) and IMSA.com/TVLive (outside the U.S.)
- IMSA Radio: Select sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Sunday, Aug. 6 at 11 a.m. (XM 207, Web/App 992)
- Circuit Type: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course
- Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)
- Race Length: 2 hours, 40 minutes