Weekend Recap: IMSA Champions Crowned at Motul Petit Le Mans & More
Recaps from last weekend's title-deciding races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and Zandvoort...
MSR Wins Petit Le Mans; Action Express Claims GTP Title
Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims have claimed the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title following a wild season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans that saw Meyer Shank Racing win in its final race with Acura.
Braun took the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 to the checkered flag while under a full course caution following a fire for the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen shortly after a restart with five minutes to go.
The action-packed conclusion saw the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Renger van der Zande finish second, giving Cadillac the manufacturers’ championship, despite going more than 90 minutes on a single stint of energy.
Braun shared top race honors with Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves, marking the Ohio-based squad its third victory of the season.
The trio fought back from a two-lap deficit after sustaining toe-link damage due to contact with the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Corey Lewis in the second hour.
Derani, meanwhile, crossed the line in sixth in the championship-winning Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac, provisionally winning the title by 21 points over Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque.
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WeatherTech Mercedes Beats Pfaff Porsche to GTD Pro Honors
WeatherTech Racing won the GTD Pro class at Motul Petit Le Mans after Mercedes-AMG factory driver Daniel Juncadella held off Porsche ace Kevin Estre at the end of the ten hours.
Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Maro Engel claimed the No. 79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo’s fourth win of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, making the Proton Competition-run operation the most successful GTD Pro team in terms of wins.
The Pro championship, however, went to Lexus drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat who clinched by taking the start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The Proton crew vaulted Juncadella from third into the class lead when all GT cars pitted under a caution period with an hour and 20 minutes to go.
Any possibility of a fuel-saving race to the flag was thrown out by another caution — the 11th of the day — after an incident between two GTP contenders at Turn 1.
The GTD Pro contest instead turned into a flat-out battle between Juncadella and Estre, who was drafted into the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R for the WeatherTech Championship season finale alongside Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler.
Estre remained less than a second behind Juncadella until another caution occurred with 14 minutes to go, but the Frenchman didn’t find a way past the Mercedes-AMG in the brief time before one final interruption caused by drama further back in the field.
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Turner’s Foley, Barletta Claim Pilot Challenge GS Title
Motorsports In Action’s Jesse Lazare drove to victory in Friday’s Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, giving the McLaren Artura GT4 its first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge victory.
A provisional 11th place finish for Robby Foley and Vin Barletta, meanwhile, was enough for Turner Motorsport to take the GS class championship, declared nearly 30 minutes after the checkered flag after much debate.
History was made in the TCR class, with Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker claiming the TCR class title.
Foley originally crossed the line in 13th but both the No. 14 Ave Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO and No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota were given post-race time adjustments due to being unable to serve separate drive-through penalties as the race ended under yellow.
It promoted the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 to an 11th place result, compared to their closest title rival, Robin Liddell and Frank DePew in sixth, who finished ten points behind Foley and Barletta.
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Drudi, Feller Win Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup Title with Zandvoort Sweep
Ricardo Feller and Mattia Drudi sealed their first Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup title by taking back-to-back Zandvoort victories, while rivals Akkodis ASP retired following a collision on the opening lap.
The No. 40 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II finished 3.563 seconds clear of the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts to win, with newly crowned Gold Cup champions Calan Williams and Niklas Kruetten completing the podium.
It marked the first Sprint Cup title for the Swiss-Italian duo, while it brought an end to a streak of three consecutive championships for Vanthoor and Weerts.
The No. 40 crew also became the first team to complete a weekend sweep of overall victories this season, bringing their win tally to four following previous triumphs at Misano and Hockenheim.
Drudi started the race behind direct title rivals Akkodis ASP, but the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo retired from damage sustained on a collision on the opening lap.
Timur Boguslavskiy ran ahead of Drudi when he was tagged into a spin by Tresor Attempto Racing driver Lorenzo Patrese at the Hans Ernst Bocht.