Red Flag Plagued Practice Sessions on Day 1 at Road America Throw Teams for Loop

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship kicked off IMSA SportsCar weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. As the two practice session commenced the drivers found themselves in a bit of an odd predicament. Multiple red flags were flown as the teams attempted to get acquainted with the new pavement surface at Road America. There didn’t seem to be a groove amongst the drivers on grid on day one’s activities. Multiple cars exceeded track limits, missed breaking zones or got caught out due to liquid on the track. The new tarmac has proven to be a challenge for the drivers to navigate prior to qualifying which will take place this afternoon starting at 1:15pm local time.

Conditions are expected to be similar to Friday with some clouds in the forecast. However for the race on Sunday it looks like rain is a big possibility. The teams relay on data gathered from practice and qualifying to make optimum changes to the cars come race time. If it rains that data becomes less useful and teams will have to make changes on the fly to adapt to the changing conditions.

In addition to the weather throwing the teams for a loop. Multiple fans suffered tent and canopy damage due to the night time wins and rain heading into Friday morning. The weather seems to be a bit more tamed as we head into Saturday night. With IMSA and Road America reporting that camping has been sold out. We anticipate local stores to also be sold out of camping gear as many will need replacement gear to make it through the weekend. If you are attending the event plan accordingly!

IMSA Sportscar Weekend Practice Notes

Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing ran fastest between the two practice sessions setting a 1:47.986 ahead of the No. 10 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R. Whelen was the only car to dip into the 1:47s lap times in practice. The Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 rounded out the top 3 in GTP.

In LMP2 the No. 11 the LMP2 championship leading TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 topped the table in practice one but as pace picked up they fell to the back of the group in practice 2. Additionally TDS Racing have their work cut out for them as both the No. 11 and No. 35 cars were heavily damaged. The no. 34 crashed out of practice one and the No. 11 had an almost identical crash in practice 2. Both cars were retired from their respective sessions. A quick turn around for repairs will be required to get the cars rebuilt for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

The No. 18 Era Motorsports car ran fastest in class setting a 1:52.244

LMP3/GTD Pro/GTD

Garett Grist was fastest in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) at 1:58.069 in his No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320. Awa Racing No. 13 Duqueine D08 ran second fastest just over 4 tenths behind. Despite the on track drama the LMP3 class avoided the majority of the incidents. All cars in class finish the practices sessions.

GTD Pro was led by the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Jason Taylor and GTD by the No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Team Korthoff Motorsports.

The Results of each session can be found below:

Practice Session One

Practice Session Two

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

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship lands in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin next week for IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America. The race details are below.

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

The weekend will feature all 5 WeatherTech Sportscar Championship classes included, GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD. The race will run for 2 hours and 40 minutes. It is the second to last sprint race of the season ahead of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the season finale Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The full entrant list is below.

The Heart of Racing Team secure double wins in the GTD and GTD Pro classes this weekend at the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The double win comes after the team completed 168 laps in both cars. In GTD Pro the team beat out rivals Vasser Sullivan in the No. 14 car by 0.336 seconds. The victory in GTD for the No. 27 car was 0.555 seconds. This is the first podium since the drivers finished on the podium at the Rolex 24 earlier this year. The win cut Paul Miller Racings GTD lead to 86 points with 4 rac weekends to go this season. Of the 20 cars between the two classes there were 3 retirements.

Ross Gunn, Heart of Racing GTD Pro driver stated, “This was mega important,” after celebrating his sixth victory. “We’ve been searching to get a clean race in for quite a while. It’s been such a tough year, and things just haven’t been able to click. But this weekend, everything came together. We had an awesome car in the race, which wouldn’t have been possible without the team.”

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Wisconsin for IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, August 3-6. Racing will include the GTP, LMP2, LMP3 GTD and GTD Pro classes.

Unofficial Race Results are Below

Michelin Pilot Challenge

Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian secures a 1-2 finish in the Michelin Pilot Challenge for the Lime Rock 100. The Hyundai Elantra N TCRs finished ahead of the LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic FL5 TCR in third. The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian checked out at the front of the pack. Winning the race by a margin of 20.587 seconds.

Unofficial Race Results are Below

Qualifying results for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix are decided. The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship only hosted two classes during the session. GTD and GTD Pro included 20 entries this weekend. After 15 minutes of qualifying which will set the grid for Saturday’s race. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Ross Gunn secured GTD Pro pole in class. In P2 sits the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Jack Hawksworth in P2. Th No. 03 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD finished third in class. The 5 GTD Pro cars topped the table ahead of the GTD class entrants.

In GTD the No. 32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 secured pole with Mike Sheen at the wheel. The No.70 Inception Racing McLaren 720s GT3 EVO ran second fastest in the session ahead of the Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. It is a short weekend of events with racing and concluding ceremonies tomorrow evening and no racing on Sunday. With the grid set our pole sitters will push for the 2 hour and 4 minute race to remain on top.

Qualifying results for the Michelin Pilot Challenges and VP Racing Sportscar challenge are available at IMSA.com. FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix action kicks off at 12:05 PM ET tomorrow morning.

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship heads to Salisbury, Connecticut at Lime Rock Park for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix Presented By Liqui Moly. The WeatherTech Sportscar Championship will be truncated this round. Only the GTD (15 entries) and GTD Pro (5 entries) classes will be participating this weekend. They are accompanied by the Michelin Pilot Challenge and VP Racing Sportscar Challenge support classes. The spotters guide for this weekend is below.

Lime Rock park is a 1.50 mile circuit that features 7 turns and a long high speed straight. Drivers will benefit from the lack of on track traffic. The LMP2, LMP3 and GTP cars not being present during the race. The Michelin Pilot Challenge will feature the TCR class (14 entries) and the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge will host both the LMP3 (6 entries) and GSX (11 entries) classes.

Action starts at 10:05am EST on Friday July 21st 2023 with practice sessions. The races can be streamed on Peacock, IMSA TV and USA. More broadcast information can be found here: IMSA Lime Rock Park Broadcast Schedule

IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship Entry List

Sean Creech Motorsport announced this morning that they will be entering an LMP2 car in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The move comes after IMSA announced that the LMP3 class will be moved to the VP Fuels Sportcar Challenge.The team will enter a Ligier JS P217 that they are currently awaiting shipment for.

Sean Creech stated, “We’re happy to have our program set for 2024. We wanted to stay in the prototype classes and our existing relationship with Ligier opened the door to staying with them. It’s the same number of races as LMP3, and the logistics are very similar to the program that we’ve been running the last few years, so it made sense to go with LMP2.”

Creech continued on the Future of the Program

“We have a lot of crew members who have worked on the Ligier LMP2 car, so the changeover won’t be difficult at all. Our engineers are working to get all the data we need to start a testing program – the lead time to get a Gibson lease engine is long so hopefully we can get something going before that. We’ll look to get as many miles as possible over the winter to get completely up to speed on everything before Daytona.”

No official driver lineup has been release. We don’t anticipate this decision being made until the team has had some time to shake down the car.

Lamborghini S.p.A. has unveiled their SC63 LMDH Prototype car. The SC63 will compete in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Events in 2024. The review came with great anticipation as rumors have been flying of the design of the car all year. Lamborghini will partner with the Iron Lynx Racing team as an extension of their previous collaborative efforts in the GTD and GTD Pro IMSA classes. The development of the car is part of the clean energy initiative to develop more sustainable race cars. The SC63 will feature a 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 hybrid engine.

From the press release, “The SC63 is the most advanced racing car ever produced by Lamborghini,” says Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini Chairman and CEO. “The opportunity to compete in some of the biggest endurance races in the world with a hybrid prototype fits with our vision for the future of high-performance mobility. The SC63 LMDh is the step into the highest echelon and into the future of motorsports for our Squadra Corse.” Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr added, “Motorsport is, to us, a valuable and demanding proving ground for our technology. The SC63 is an exciting challenge from both a technical and a human standpoint. The development of our internal combustion engine, aerodynamically efficient bodywork, and the overall technical package is a process that has pushed us to constantly raise our own standards.”

What’s Next for the Lamborghini SC63 Project?

The car will compete in the GTP class of the 2024 IMSA Sportscar World Endurance Cup Championship. Lambroghini will also enter the car in the FIA WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hypercar class. IMSA reports that Lamborghini factory drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli. Former Formula 1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat are also linked to the project. An official driver lineup has not yet ben announced. The SC63 will begin on-track testing year as the team will set its sites on the Rolex 24 at the beginning of next season.

Images Courtesy of Lamborghini S.p.A.

The #60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 with drivers Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun survived multiple yellow flags to win the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). The win marks the teams second win pending any further investigations since the team won the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year. The win at CTMP did not come without drama. In the last hour and a half of the race there were 4 incidents that resulted in cautions on track. The race ended under a yellow flag after an incident with the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with 5 minutes remaining. All GTP cars on grid completed 120 laps with the exception being the No. 01 Cadillac.

The Meyer Shank Racing drivers had the following statements for IMSA.com:

Tom Blomqvist – Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Acura ARX-06

“The racing gods were looking down on us a little bit today. We rolled the dice (with pit stop strategy) to try and go long, and the only way we were going to win that race was if the yellows kind of played into our corner. Thankfully, they did.”

“I’m just so happy for the guys. They’ve worked their back sides off all year long, really. This car has been a lot of work. We haven’t had the greatest run of recent races, so to get the pole yesterday and finish the job off today is just amazing.”

Colin Braun – Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Acura ARX-06

“I’ve just always loved this place and it’s got a great rhythm to it. When you kind of get that confidence that it’s going well, you can go out and attack straight away, and when it works, it keeps the confidence high.”

“Everybody did a great job. The Acura cars have been fast all week, and our team specifically worked hard. Those yellows played into our favor and I still had a bit of fuel to save, but I knew if I could get a good jump and kind of push hard and build a gap for a lap or two, I could settle in and hit the fuel number. It was a lot of fun.”

Wayne Taylor Racing’s Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 took second place securing a 1-2 finish for Acura. Driver had the following words, “Before the race, the theme of the weekend was we need to put together a weekend like we are used to and just get back to normal. It just so happened the No. 31 had a bad day and the points came together. We’re happy about that, and happy to get back on a roll of positive momentum. We’ll take a second place to the sister (Acura) car very happily and try to build on that for Road America.”

The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 shared by Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly claimed their 4th podium finish in the last five races. RLL racing is 10 points off of the GTP championship lead.

LMP3

Felipe Fraga made it 3 straight Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) victories for Fraga, Gar Robinson and the No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P320. The No. 74 car held the lead for the majority of the race but briefly lost the lead only to reclaim it int he final minutes of the race. Fraga stated, “It was a crazy race. Today, I think they were a little bit faster than us, especially in the straights. … In the GT traffic I basically caught him like 2-3 seconds in two laps. Then I just had a gap, like he opened into the last corner and I think he didn’t expect me to try in the last corner, and I did it.” The move paid off. However with every winner there is the flip side to the story. Fraga made a late move on Garett Grist in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier similarly to a move made at the 6 Hours of Glen. The stewards deemed no further action was necessary however Crist had other thoughts.

“It’s pretty clear what happened so there’s really not much to say, I guess. I mean, Watkins Glen I raced clean, here I raced clean…I guess we know how we can race, though. Three rounds left.”

GTD/GTD Pro

Corvette Racing continued its in class form extending their championship points with the No. 03 car. The car now sits in third place. The Pfaff Motosports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) finished second ahead of the WeatherTech Racing No. 79 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The No. 79 car is currently in second place in the championship behind the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan. In GTD the No. 01 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 took the win ahead of the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in second and the Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 in third.

The next race is IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America August 3-6 2023. Full race results from this weekend at CTMP are available below.

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 secured pole position for tomorrow’s Chevrolet Grand Prix sprint race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The rival No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 finished P2 securing an Acura 1-2. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R finished third fastest in qualifying for the GTP class. All of the GTP cars in the session posted times with no major incidents on track.

In LMP3, Riley secured pole with the No. 74 car ahead of the No. 13 AWA Racing Duqueine D08. The Sean Creech Motorsport car was the slowest of the LMP3 pack. The No. 33 car finished last in class and running a best lap nearly two seconds slower than the group leader.

Vasser Sullivan continues dominant form in GTD Pro as the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 finishes first in class ahead of the No. 79 WeatherTech racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. It was a good day for Vasser Sullivan and the Heart Racing teams in GTD as well. The NO. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin took pole with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 car taking P2. Ahead of the No. 01 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.

For more action from the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian tire Motorsports Park can be found at IMSA.

Full Qualifying Results are Below