TDS, PMR BMW and Af Ferrari Lead Additional Classes
By Tony DiZinno
BRASELTON, Ga. – In front of a record crowd on a sunny Saturday morning from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship-leading No. 6 Porsche 963 is out front after four hours in the 28th Motul Petit Le Mans. Race coverage continues on Peacock, IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.
The battle in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) is twofold between Porsche and Acura in both the 10-hour race itself and for the season-long GTP manufacturer’s championship. Mathieu Jaminet leads in the No. 6 Porsche over Colin Braun in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 by 4.381 seconds with Kevin Magnussen third in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8.
Jaminet and Matt Campbell led teammates Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy in their No. 7 Porsche 963 in the full-season WeatherTech Championship driver standings by 131 points entering the weekend and 128 leaving qualifying. A top-eight finish will assure the No. 6 Porsche 963 pair the title.
However, Porsche led Acura by only two points among manufacturer’s leaving qualifying, meaning whichever is the higher finishing manufacturer entry wins that title.
The Porsche Penske Motorsport race was affected before it even began. In a statement before green flag, the team announced that Julien Andlauer will not compete in today’s race in the No. 6 car. Laurens Vanthoor, who is already entered to drive the No. 7 car, has been added to the driver lineup for the No. 6 car also. Vanthoor will be required to achieve minimum drive time in each car, but only will receive championship points in the No. 7.
Vanthoor was running ninth in the No. 7 Porsche at the four-hour mark, fulfilling the first of his two drive-time requirements in that entry before he runs a stint in the No. 6 car at some point in the race’s remaining six hours.
In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), TDS Racing has completed a last-to-first run to the lead courtesy of a monster first stint from Bronze-rated Steven Thomas in his last anticipated WeatherTech Championship start for now. The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07, which won last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and also last year at Michelin Raceway, still leads in the hands of Hunter McElrea with Mikkel Jensen likely due to finish the race. The championship contending No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA of Paul Di Resta was second, having taken over from Daniel Goldburg. Goldburg entered the race 87 points behind AO Racing’s PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron in their No. 99 ORECA. The No. 99 car was delayed with a right rear tire puncture after contact from another car.
Paul Miller Racing again maximized its result at the four-hour mark in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), with Connor De Phillippi out front in the No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO ahead of the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3. The American driver is splitting both that car and the No. 1 car this race. In the championship battle, the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 ran third, just one spot ahead of the title-leading No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Ferrari ran 1-2 in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) with the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Pier Guidi out front ahead of Triarsi Competizione’s No. 023 Ferrari and the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
Five full-course cautions flew during the opening four hours, the most eventful of which was a five-car GTD incident (Cars 34, 44, 66, 70) that occurred through the esses at Turn 4 for 20 minutes before a second yellow for debris.
Four of the five drivers involved in the first incident either returned to the pits or were all evaluated and released. Manny Franco in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation but later updated from his Conquest team to be “doing well and remaining in good spirits.”
The first of three segments in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup this race is complete too with points awarded and title battles very close here. The top three scorers get five, four and three points respectively at the four-, eight- and 10-hour marks. All others get two points per segment.
In GTP, the No. 7 Porsche 963 now leads the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 by just one point (41-40). In LMP2, the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 leads the No. 11 TDS ORECA by three (40-37). In GTD PRO, the two PMR BMWs are separated by one point (43-42) with the No. 1 car ahead of the No. 48 car. And in GTD, with the No. 70 Inception Ferrari 296 GT3 out, it’s now tied with the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 (36 apiece).
Two More Titles Wrapped at Four-Hour Mark
The number of cars impacted and retired ensured the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 would finish high enough in the 19-car GTD field to unofficially wrap the second straight WeatherTech Championship title for Russell Ward and Philip Ellis.
“It really doesn’t change our approach to the race when it comes to strategy and stuff like that,” Ward told the IMSA Radio broadcast. “According to what we’d been calculating, if one car retired, we’d win the championship. It’s basically the exact same position as last year. Familiar territory. But for us, it really doesn’t change our approach in the race. We’re gonna try to go as fast as we can to win the race.”
In the two-car battle for the Bob Akin Award – presented to the top-finishing Bronze-rated driver in GTD and includes an invitation to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – having taken evasive action to avoid the opening-lap incident, Orey Fidani’s No. 13 AWA Corvette will finish ahead of, and thus break a tie with, Brendan Iribe’s No. 70 Inception Ferrari. The No. 70 car was officially retired in the second hour.
“It’s really unfortunate for the No. 70 guys,” Fidani admitted.” You don’t want to win that way. But that’s how racing goes sometimes. I’m super happy to go back to Le Mans. There’s a lot to look forward to next year with a new team (13 Motorsports), a new shop, a lot of new things for a new year, and we get to go back to Le Mans.”