The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship is at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this weekend which a shorted field ahead of the season closers. At VIR only the GTD and GTD Pro classes will compete before all 5 WeatherTech classes return to action later in September in Indianapolis. There are currently 15 GTD cars and 5 GTD Pro cars registered for the event. You can find the spotters guide for the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship Michelin Gt Challenge and the Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The championship race in the GTD and GTD Pro classes is close. With three races to go this season the top teams all have a shot at the title. The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 currently leads the GTD Pro class. Only 5 cars have participated in the full season. The margin from first to fifth is 342 points. With three races to go anyone in the top 5 has a chance at the championship. A win at VIR will be very important. It is the last race that the GTD and GTD pro classes will not have to fight through GTP, LMP2 and LMP3 traffic on track.
In GTD the No. 01 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 leads the Heart of Racing No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 by 205 points. A lead that could be extended or reduced to nothing depending on how the weekend plays out. Qualifying action starts on Saturday with practice sessions starting Friday morning. Check out the IMSA broadcast schedule here: IMSA Broadcast Schedule
The weather reports place temperatures in the high 80s low 90s for the weekend. Tire management will be of the utmost importance in this sprint race.
As we approach the IMSA season closer at Le Mans Petit another driver lineup had been announced for the competition. Porsche Penske will employ two time Indy Car Champion Josef Newgarden. The team announced today that Newgarden will join season committed drivers Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr. The drivers will pilot the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 at Road Atlanta Michelin Raceway for the 2023 season finale. Le Mans Petit is a 10 hour endurance race that will feature all 5 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship classes.
In an interview with IMSA.com Newgarden stated, “I have a lot of respect and admiration for both the Penske and Porsche brands, and the combination between the two through Porsche Penske Motorsport is a dream scenario for any racing car driver and is an absolute honor to be a part of. Watching the dedicated teams build this program from the ground up over the last couple of years has been exciting to watch, and seeing both Porsche 963s get wins this year and compete for championships shows that all the hard work has paid off. My goal is to add to the program and help support the tremendous efforts that Porsche Penske Motorsport has put in place. With some good fortune, I’m sure we can turn effort into results together.”
Words from Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid
Newgarden has the necessary experience but it will be a change up from his normal routine in Indy Car. Jonathan Diuguid, PPM managing director, stated. “Josef has increased his exposure to sports car racing already in 2023 with a test in the Team Penske LMP2, as well as raced in Daytona in 2023. In addition, he got his first exposure to the 963 in early June at Road America. With several testing days for the team at Road Atlanta, we are confident that both Laurens and Josef will be fully prepared to deliver for the team and have a positive result in the final race of the season.”
The move will provide plenty of time for Newgarden to get acquainted with the car. Le Mans Petit is a 4 day event with the main race taking place on Saturday October 14th 2023.
The Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing team announced earlier this year that they would be entering a second car into the GTP class for the 2024 season. Today we have more insight as Wayne Taylor Racing has announced their driver lineup up. Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz will join Wayne Taylor Racing in 2024 manning car number 2 for the team. The move marks Taylor’s return tot he team co owned by his father.
Taylor provided the following comments to IMSA.com. “I’m super excited to be coming back to WTR, now partnered with Andretti Autosport, to go back and fight for overall wins with Acura alongside Louis,” Jordan Taylor said. “I’ve spent the last few years in GT cars, so there will be a lot to learn coming into GTP, but I can’t wait for the challenge. I loved my time competing in GT with Corvette Racing alongside Antonio these past few years. We had a lot of success together. I’ve learned a lot and grown as a driver, so I’m looking forward to bringing that experience back to prototype racing.”
Deletraz stated the following to IMSA.com, “I am extremely happy to continue with WTRAndretti in a full IMSA GTP season role. I have really enjoyed working with the team, Acura and HPD this year, and the 2024 two-car program makes it even more exciting. Sharing the car with Jordan is fantastic, having a multiple IMSA champion in prototypes and GT, I couldn’t ask for a better teammate, and I think with our different motorsport experiences we will have a strong package with hopefully many successes.”
The No. 7 Porsche Penske Porsche 963 secured its first win of the season at IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America. The car benefited from the beginning of the race when it was announced that the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R would start from the back of the grid after crashing out of the morning warm up session prior to the race. The No. 07 Porsche would never look back; holding the lead for all but one lap of the race. Driver Matt Campbell had the following words for the IMSA media, “
“Obviously, we got a little bit lucky with the No. 31 having an incident in the warm-up,” said Campbell, who claimed his third career victory at Road America – the first in a prototype. “I had such an incredible lack of traffic at the beginning and that’s why the gap got as big as it was at times. We’ve been fast on quite a few occasions, but luck has never been on our side. Today we just executed perfectly and it’s nice to get a win on the board after a tough year.”
“I’m just happy everything finally came together this weekend,” added Nasr. “We came close several times this year; the speed was always there, but we had a couple reliability issues, a couple mistakes, and some bad luck. It’s a big relief for the whole team. I know how much work the No. 7 crew has put in, and it was about time, I would say.”
The Team RLL Racing No. 25 BMW M entered the race weekend in second place. Starting driver Conner De Phillippi made contact with the wall on the second lap just before turn 11 which required the car to pit. The car would be released again down 58 laps behind the race leader and ultimately would be retired. The car will definitely relinquish their championship position. Neither car from the RLL Racing team finished the race this weekend. The No. 24 car completed 55 laps before retiring due to an electrical issue. The team did not included a statement regarding the car failures in their post race press release.
Meyer Shank Racing claimed second place in the race. The No. 60 Acura ARX-06 held on to the No. 07 Porsche for the majority of the race but never showed that it had the pace to pass it. The team finished 4.635 seconds behind the No. 07 Porsche. Acura had a great day as a manufacturer securing two podium positions. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura Arx-06 rounded out the podium in third.
LMP2
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports took the win from P4 on the grid. The win comes during a very tight race for the LMP2 championship. The win will place the team at the top of the table pending any post race changes to the finishing order. With two races to go in the season wins are all that matter. The top 3 in the class were separated by 6 points as the teams entered the weekend. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports started the weekend in 3rd place.
PRI Mathiasen Motorsports driver Ben Keating stated, “I had a really good start, didn’t make mistakes, got up to the front. Our car was better in the race than it was in qualifying. I think I did a lap close to my quali lap with a lot of fuel and on used tires. A great day for the championship.”
The TDS Racing team rounded out the top 3 after a treacherous opening to the race weekend. Both cars were heavily damaged in practice sessions but the teams got the cars turned around and their efforts resulted in a double podium for the team. All top 3 cars finished the race on the lead lap.
LMP3
Riley secured their fourth straight win with the No. 74 Ligier JS P320. Riley won the in class race by a margin of 11.785 seconds ahead of the Sean Creech Motorsport No. 33 car. The No.13 AWA Racing Duqueine D08 finished third. The championship seems all but decided for Riley this year. The team came into the race weekend with a 181 point lead. With this win that margin will only be extended. Final standings will be released at a later time. 4 cars in class finished on the lead lap.
The No. 74 Ligier JS P320 wins the LMP3 Class at IMSA SportsCar Weekend. Photo By Ramon Jones/Chroma VisualGTD Pro/GTD
In GTD Pro the Heart of Racing Team No. 23 wins again in back to back wins this season. The win came form pole position. Driver Ross Gunn stated after the race, “We seem to have found something that’s working very well for us. But to be honest, throughout the whole season we’ve had a package that has been quick enough and competitive enough to be at the front, but it just hasn’t clicked. Now things are starting to work.” The No. 23 car was the only car in class to finish on the lead lap of the race. In second place was the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 followed by the No. 03 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD.
In GTD Paul Miller Racing continued their dominance maintaining the top spot in the championship race. The team finished 2.261 seconds ahead of the Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. The Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 finished third in class.
The next stop for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is August 25-27 at VIRginia International Raceway with the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR featuring the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GTD classes. The Prototype cars rejoin the championship race for the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sept 15-17.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying sessions at Road America have ended. The weekend has been plagued with red flags which has severely limited the on track time the drivers have had to get accustomed to the track. However, qualifying seemed to move much more smoothly as drivers have had the opportunity to get acclimated with the new surface. Despite the limited track time for the drivers lap records were broken in the GTP, LMP3, GTD and GTD Pro classes.
GTP
Pipo Derani (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) set the new lap record at 1m47.730 seconds (135.271 mph) to claim pole position in the GTP class. The No. 07 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 finished P2 setting a time 0.068 seconds behind the Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. The margin was small but the Cadillac prevailed. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R claimed P3.
After the session Derani stated the following to the IMSA media, “It’s been obviously a very good weekend so far for Cadillac Racing. We unloaded from the truck with a very good car, but with the field so tight as we have seen in every practice, we had to keep working hard for qualifying. To prove the results we had in practice with a pole position shows we were working in the right direction.”
Despite the weather report showing rain in the forecast earlier this weekend it appears that risk has subsided. The drivers should enjoy optimal conditions as long as they don’t deviate from the main racing line. Due to the fact that Road America was repaved earlier this year. The track has yet to be rubbered in for maximum grip. The drivers mentioned the areas off the main racing line being very slick. This will play a role come race time as the 45 car grid navigates traffic to fight for the win.
LMP2
LMP2 was the only class to not see a new lap record at Road America. Crowdstrike Racing by APR claimed in class pole ahead of the No. 8 Tower Motorsports car. The margin between the two was 0.508 seconds. The No. 11 TDS Racing car bounced back after crashing in practice on Friday. The car was heavily damaged but the crew was able to get the car turned around and repaired for the subsequent practice and qualifying without worry.
LMP3
18 year old Nico Pino driving the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 claimed LMP3 pole setting a time of 1:57.930. Pino also broke the in class track record. The time was almost 1 second ahead of second place finisher in the No. 29 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320. In third was the No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P320 0.364 seconds behind. If Sean Creech is truly 1 seconds ahead of the competition it may be smooth sailing for the team during the race. We will see how pit stops come into play as teams make their final adjustments from data gathered during qualifying.
The No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports claimed pole in the LMP3 class at Road America for IMSA SportsCar Weekend. Photo by Ramon Jones/Chroma VisualGTD Pro/GTD
In GTD Pro on 5 cars entered the competition. Alex Riberas set the lap record in GTD Pro aboard the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Riberas set a 2:02.918 lap time which was 2 seconds faster than the previous record. Riberas stated, “This place is a dream for any race car driver, to be honest. It’s so enjoyable. The track is full of ups and downs, fast corners, slow corners and heavy braking zones. It seems like you have everything in one place.” The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 finished in second position. Followed by the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 calimed pole with a record setting 2:03.291 lap time. The No. 01 BMW claimed pole by a margin of 0.091 seconds ahead of the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. The Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 claimed third position.
Racing coverages begins at 10:00am local time/11:00am EST at Road America on USA Network.
IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America Qualifying Results are Below
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.